KZN/Lesotho road trip: Day 24 - Port Elizabeth to Calitzdorp Spa

It drizzled during the night but the threat of a thunderstorm over land fizzled out. Ooooh I seem to like the zzzzzzzs.

First port of call on our way home was to say hello to Heather in Plettenberg Bay. She was at the main beach where the surf ski races were being held for the weekend. 2 hours later we caught up with her and had a bite to eat. Saturday’s ski race was under way and we waited until the race was over. Fish Hoek paddlers did very well today with Dawid and Jasper Mocke coming in first and second and Kirsty Flanagan (15) winning the ladies race. Well done to them. Heather and her friend, Kirsten, were going to tackle a race the next day in a double ski, so she was very nervous about that.

After we left Plett, we had to track down Lesley’s Aunt Bessie and Uncle Boy next. They live on a farm in Calitzdorp but seeing it was the Easter weekend it was likely they were on holiday. So after a call to her Aunt Dawn in Johannesburg to get her cousin, Neville’s, phone number we found out that they were staying at Buffel’s Bay which is just outside Knysna. We got directions, there are apparently, only 199 houses allowed there and it was not long before we found them.

Lesley spent a couple of hours catching up with family gossip while I watched the surfers and walked around the place a bit. I had never been here but, Lesley remembers some family holidays here many years ago. It seems to be very popular with the local surfers as well as upcountry folk as the caravan park was packed. Lesley’s aunt and uncle have been coming here since 1965.

We had sort of planned to stay at Calitzdorp Spa initially but had not booked so we decided to take a chance there anyway as no-one was answering their phone. The weather was cold and wet so if we had to camp, we, at least had hot pools to keep warm in. The drive through the Outeniqua Pass was in heavy rain at times with a lot of traffic heading to George. The KKNK (Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees, Little Karoo National Arts Festival) was taking place in Oudtshoorn and there were a lot of people travelling to and fro.

Oudtshoorn had some detours to get through the town, but we got through unscathed. GPSs are wonderful sometimes. We carried on towards Calitzdorp and seemed to be driving out of the rain, but the sun was setting and made seeing the wet cement road, rather difficult. I was following the GPS for the turnoff to the spa when we went past the first turnoff. I decided to turn the bakkie around to go back to the turnoff and …. What an amazing sight! The way back was dark with a wonderful double rainbow. I think there is a life’s lesson in that. L: Very deep, Steve, ha ha……S: We had to stop and take a photograph.

Then it was a drive along the bad concrete road until we reached the spa where we found the place booked out except for the camping place, so that was what we did on our last night. At least we could laze around in the hot pools to keep warm, so we took full advantage of it and really enjoyed the warm water until it was time for bed.