Natures Valley

We took the kayak with us on our weekend adventure to Tsitsikamma.  It was fun to paddle around the river together.  We even were able to leave right from our hut and pull up on the beach to relax for a while in the sun before paddling back for Bruce to cook another amazing meal on the fire. 

We saw this cove while on our walk up to the top of the hill and immediately decided we would get the snorkeling stuff to come back and swim. 

Well we did come back and somehow had the place to ourselves.  We did a little snorkeling, a little swimming, and had fun jumping in off the rocks.  It was the perfect little spot because when we walked out we realized it was actually really windy and starting to cloud over, but protected by the rocks it was an amazing day at the beach!

  

to the top

As we were walking along the beach at Nature's Valley we saw some people at the top of this hill, on the ledge near the ocean and thought how can we get up there.  Well, this is actually the last part of the 5 day Otter Trail hike I mentioned before.  We saw a couple people walk into some brush and then a few minutes later saw them half way up so we thought why not, so up we went! The view was great and we were the only ones at the top!

This is the view from the top towards the campgrounds.  The ocean is on the bottom and then on top of the beach is the lagoon and river that goes along the campgrounds.  The river was actually right outside out forest hut.  Even though it was a little cloudy, the view is still amazing!

the waterfall

The first morning we went to Tsitsikamma we went on a hike.  This trail was part of the first day of the 5 day Otter Trail hike that Bruce's family did a couple times together.  It is about a 2 hour hike to this amazing waterfall that you can swim around in.  So we packed a lunch and spent the day sitting around the waterfall and swimming in the very very cold water.  I thought the ocean was cold, but it didn't compare to this!  Maybe one day we will try the full Otter Trail, but for now I think I will stick to my day hikes. 

  

Tsitsikamma

Last weekend we went cabin camping, well Forest Hut camping actually in an area called Tsitsikamma.  The weather was perfect and we had a great time.  Bruce's dad and Jenny came with us the first night to Storms River and then we went on the next day to Nature's Valley.  Both places were right on the water and we got to go on some amazing little hikes, found another quite swimming cove, and cooked some great food on the fire.  A great weekend all around!!

day trip

One day we drove to Cape St. Francis and St. Francis.  It was absolutely beautiful. There were several canals and tons of houses with personal boats and jet skis, little sand beaches for their backyards, it was pretty amazing.  People definitely live a life of leisure there.  Here are a couple pictures of the harbor and the beach there, none of the houses though, I was looking at them too much to remember to take a couple pictures. 

the beach

Over the last week or so we have been able to spend lots of time at the beach!  It has been great!!!  I even went snorkeling for the first time and Bruce was a great teacher and I tried to figure it all out.  A couple days later we walked the other direction at the beach and found this perfect little pool that was like our own private beach!  It was so nice and the water was warm and calm.  Where Bruce's dad lives you can see the ocean from his house so everything is really a great view, but the other day we went down to the beach at sunset and got an even better view. 

Lisa's first time snorkeling

our private beach