Mossel Bay, Plett and Storms River

We took a quick trip up the Garden Route on the east coast of the cape peninsula. Mossel Bay is a popular spot for vacationing farmers from inland provinces. They all camp out next to the beach creating quite a chaotic beach scene. We found this super fun swimming hole - the waves come crashing in, bash against these vertical rock faces and fill up the spaces in between. You time it so that when you jump in (they have diving boards built off the rocks) the current carries you down the shoot. When we first arrived these kids had climbed out onto the rocks and were jumping from the rocks - totally insane! A quick stop for lunch in Kynsna (nizna) and then onto to Victorias Bay. We were expecting a quiet beach scene but it was a bit crazy so we headed onto Plett - an upscale beach town that was quiet and pleasant. The next day we headed up to Storms River National Park. This is where the Storms River meets the Indian Ocean. We hiked to this suspension bridge to view what was supposed to be a tumultuous meeting of the two water bodies.....beautiful yes, tumultuous no. A quick swim, some lunch and an 8 hour drive back to Cape Town with an overnight stop in the Afrikaans town of Swellendam. We were expecting the garden route to be lush and pristine but the hillsides have been mostly stripped of trees (nice African yellow woods and other hard woods have been pitifully replaced with dinky pines) and the towns developed with second homes. We heard about the famous Oregon Pine that is a sought after material used for cabinetry - pretty wild considering most people have no idea where ORYGON is!