South Africa: Coast to Coast

[RudiGreyling]

Hi Guys, thanks for your kind comments, yes it was a Fantastic Experience?Below is day 3 photos and story,

Day 3:
Route South out of Stellenbosh until the coast then East all along the coast non stop to Port Alfred. The route is +/- 550 Miles and took us just more than 3 Hours.


Once again we left just after sunrise. The Weather Office said we would encounter broken cloud with a 2,000 ft ceiling initially making VFR along the cost flying possible. It would be impossible to go VFR inland initially in any case since the clouds was pushing up against the mountains. The Weather Office also said it would be clearing within the first 50 miles. The take off sight out of Stellenbosh was awesome. As soon as we were airborne the sun reflected between the see, cloud ceiling against the mountains. Spectacular! Just a pity my cheap camera could not capture the full glory.




We turned the corner going east and the clouds started breaking up. Mountains, Beaches and Valleys WOW! We flew over an area called Nature's Valley, ever wonder why?






These parts of the coast have lots of towns and holiday resorts scattered along it for our entire day 3 trip.






I think this is the ?Van Staden?s? bridge. People use it to bungee jump off, deep into the valley, or at least people use to 10 years ago when I was here by car.


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[RudiGreyling]

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Some more scenery along the coast










Knysna and the Knysna lagoon. The Knysna Heads protect the lagoon, and many skippers have miss judged their entry into the lagoon, so apparently many shipwrecks lie beneath the mouth.




St Francis airfield, a place I will be visiting soon again.


We arrived at our destination, Port Alfred, safe and sound. We paid a visit to their wonderful beach


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[RudiGreyling]

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Our hosts were Fantastic, going out of their way to make it enjoyable. Thank you Dirk, Mariaan and their son. We will be definitely visiting you again.




The best picture of the day is the also the first picture we took, larger for your convenience.

?day 4 to continue soon, the Wild Coast!

Regards
Rudi

[RudiGreyling]

Originally Posted by TSwezey

What a beautiful country! You have everything there! How cold is the water there in the summer (now I guess)? Thanks again!

Hi TSwezey,
The Western side we have tha Atlantic Ocean which is COLD, hence few people on the beach on day 2. In comparision the Easter side we have the Indian Ocean which is tropical and warm as you go up, hence more people on the beach.
Regards
Rudi

[RudiGreyling]

Originally Posted by N395V

Great Pics Rudi. Looks like you had an enjoyable trip. Ready to do it again?

Hi Bearcat,
Yip it was fantastic. I will do it again, but not the whole trip, well maybe with a flying buddy next time 2 airplanes . I know now where all the nice places are, so in future I will only fly portions of it and stay over longer in one place. And have more of a holiday than a full packed flying expedition.
Regards
Rudi

[N395V]

Originally Posted by RudiGreyling

Hi Bearcat,
Yip it was fantastic. I will do it again, but not the whole trip, well maybe with a flying buddy next time 2 airplanes . I know now where all the nice places are, so in future I will only fly portions of it and stay over longer in one place. And have more of a holiday than a full packed flying expedition.
Regards
Rudi

This is simply the best trip writeup I have ever seen. Great job Rudi.

[rv7boy]

Great Job, Rudi!!
If someone had told me Rudi Greyling was going on a trip around South Africa in his RV-7, I would have anticipated fantastic photographs. And that's what we got!

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your photos and descriptions with us.

Beautiful country, Beautiful scenery, Beautiful airplane...and might I add...Beautiful Wife! What more could you need in life, Rudi?
Best Regards,
Don Hull

[ScottSchmidt]

Awesome trip write-up.
Thanks for taking the time to post it and add your route.

Looked like alot of fun and great adventure.

What were they doing with those boats with the rope looking loops around the boats?
You mentioned diamond mining. Were they dredging?

Anyway, great job and thanks for sharing.

[RudiGreyling]

Hi Guys, below is final day 4 photos and story,

Day 4:
Route Port Alfred all along the Wild Coast to Margate, then Inland back to Home Johanneburg Springs. The route is +/- 620 Miles and took us just less than 4 Hours.


Once again we left just after sunrise. The Weather Office said the weather would be good in the morning, but deteriorating in the afternoon and staying like that for 2 days. We wanted to fly all the way to the north coast, but predicted weather and not knowing 100% for sure if we will find accommodation further north, we decided to cut the trip a little short. I will always be able to fly the north coast on my Next big trip, cause it is relatively close to home.

We expected some thin broken cloud with 2,000 ft ceiling on the first part, clearing very shortly. I liked this hole in the sky with striped clouds above.


The are we will be flying is called the Wild Coast, due to it?s unspoiled pristine condition. There are very little settlements along this pretty coast line.








There are a couple of unique attractions along this coastline. The first is ?The hole in the wall? a rock formation just off the beach with a big hole where the sea crashes through.







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[RudiGreyling]

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The second is a runway that ends on a cliff into a narrow valley with a river running into the sea.






Also unique are 2 waterfalls directly into the sea, apparently there are only a few places in the world where a waterfall goes straight into the sea. Here we are lucky to have 2 of them in close proximity. The First one:




The Second one:




On the northern border of the wild coast is a popular tourist attraction, the Wild Coast Sun. From here on north you can start to see normal civilization again with tradition buildings and roads.


The arch bridge leading to the Wild Coast Sun. There are rumors of dare devil pilots flying underneath this bridge.

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