It’s Sunday morning and we’re out kayaking, just off Paternoster, one of the oldest fishing villages on the west coast of South Africa. The water is crystal clear. Huge smooth, grey boulders loom above us, covered in sea birds, all squawking and calling. Black Oystercatchers, with long red legs, forage for food among the rockpools. Cormorants, with their wings spread to dry, sit in the morning sunshine. Gulls swoop and dive overhead. We see the spray from a humpback whale surfacing, and two Heaviside’s dolphins, with their striking black, grey and white markings, dive in and out of the water beside us. There can be as many as 400 whales in the bay during the season we were told, though we’re delighted with one! A perfect morning, a perfect way to start the day – all part of a perfect weekend in Paternoster.
About a 90min scenic drive from Cape Town, through fynbos, wheat fields, wildflowers and the West Coast National Park, Paternoster is a wonderful destination for a weekend away, a mid-week break, or part of a longer itinerary. Known for its lobster, and the white-washed fisherman’s cottages that fringe the cobalt-blue waters of the bay, Paternoster is a friendly vibrant little town full of colour and charm. With a coastline of sandy dunes and beaches, this is a really beautiful spot on the South African West Coast.
After our morning’s kayaking, and after drying our damp clothes, we visit the Art Shed at the Crayfish Wharf, for locally made crafts, paintings, ceramics and jewellery. I’m really only ‘window shopping’, as I’ve no spare space to speak of in my luggage for anything extra when I fly out of the country in a few days’ time. I call in at the eclectic antique shop. It’s full of old toy cars, model trains and an interesting mix of other bits and pieces. There’s shop had a sign outside that reads ‘husband’s day care centre’, I wish I’d seen it a little earlier, as I might have had a bit more success shopping without my husband in tow, and being ‘practical’ about luggage space every time something took my fancy! Retail therapy complete, it’s back to the hotel to freshen up before we’re off to an operatic concert at the atmospheric Die Koelkamers Teater (theatre), also housed in the Crayfish Wharf.
Concert over, we headed to lunch at Leeto Restaurant. Leeto, with renowned Chef Garth Almazan at the helm, focuses on contemporary West Coast cuisine, with…
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