Garden Route
Mossel Bay is on the edge of the Garden Route, a stretch of coastline all the Zimbos I talked to about South Africa went ape for. The Lonely Planet too, likes it a lot. I wasn’t overly impressed. Sure, the scenery is attractive, and although Mossel Bay was enjoyable enough, Knysna and George were nightmares, even now, in winter. With Steers next to Ocean Basket next to KFC next to Nando’s next to… the towns appear to be huge outdoor malls, if anything.
We quickly made our escape from Knysna northwards, towards the N9 and Graaff-Reinet.
Shortly after leaving Knysna, we drove up through the Diepwalle & Gouma Forest, visiting ‘The Big Tree’ (also known as the King Edward VII tree, why?) and driving up Spitskop for an excellent view, before heading down to Uniondale and the N9.
Getting up Spitskop was a bit of a tricky ride, but Betsy, who drove on this stretch, did well and the view was worth it.