Roadtrip Day 2: Knysna to Grahamstown

Knysna is one of those must-see small towns in SA and a fairly obvious place to stop a (short) while. It is famous for the local oysters, stunning scenery and laidback way of life.

The Pink Loeries are also becoming quite an event to visit the town for. It is the 10th anniversary this year and we were assured that the festival is becoming one of the premier gay festivals in SA, especially for the ladies (Knysna seems to be crawling with ladies in sensible shoes, by the way).

After a lovely two days there, which made us reflect forwards quite a long way (great place for Your Golden Years etc), we hit the road again.

Destination: Grahamstown, the ‘Oxford of SA’.

Soon enough, we could not resist a stop at Bloukrans Bridge, claimed to be the highest bungee jump in the world (216m).
We knew it was too soon in the journey to stop and too early to be drinking beer, but … well … what can I say … we have left that life behind for the moment.

It was really worth the stop at the Cliffhanger bar, from where you get an excellent view of the jumpers in the flesh as well as on a large screen in the bar.

It was 11am but we could not resist a pint of the local brew, Mitchells draft. Bronski Beat and Dead or Alive reminded us that we are 19 again. The cast in this whacky little movie was a motley crew of furry backpacking types, ageing rockers and Middle aged Swedish bikers.
Highly recommended!

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Next stop, Jeffreys Bay (kilometre count now 745km from Cape Town)
If you feel like catching a wave, watch others play in the waves, or are searching for some discounted surf wear (only if you are a size medium or smaller if my experience is anything to go by), then definitely stop at J Bay.

Otherwise keep moving. Grahamstown is a mere 2.5 hours drive away. And we ended up wishing we had more time in Grahamstown after being somewhat underwhelmed by J Bay, the famous surfers’ paradise. It is probably still a mecca for the diehard surf crew because of the excellent waves (I am told) and discounted surf wear (quite a few factory outlets, including a big Billabong factory shop), but we did not find much more to write home about.

You can’t tell the holiday cottages from the RDP housing and it all looks a bit down on its luck. Oh well that is J Bay ticked off.

Grahamstown

Grahamstown, on the other hand, is a great place to stop, drink a coffee, have lunch, go for a walk, admire the architecture, cruise a student, whatever. Excellent people-watching potential, nice architecture - I had the sense of a certain style and grace that keeps itself to itself. All in all, a good choice of stopover.

This was my first visit to Grahamstown and it brought me back from the brink of abandoning small town SA for ever. The town also brought lots of childhood sensory memories flooding back (Harare and Johannesburg in the Seventies). Wide leafy avenues, space, a hot stillness and calmness – a reminder of more genteel times in the suburbs (childhood perspective, for whatever it is worth.)

We had a lovely breakfast with Anne and Robert at the Red Café in Grahamstown. Anne had offered us two choices: a chi chi deli or Real Grahamstown. We opted for the latter and were pleased we did. Very tasty breakfast, cute little restaurant, friendly service and lots of second hand books for sale. It was a lovely hot morning and we sat in the shade on a verandah on the first floor.

Read about day 1 Cape Town to Knysna

Photos ...and more photos of the trip