Entries about landscapes

It's 6:30 am, and although we've just left home, we make our first stop.
Refuel the car, perform another pre-trip inspection & start the trip log.

Breakfast on the road, so since we're on holiday, we opt for something healthy.....Mcdonald's it is!

The sun is well above the horizon as we make that right-turn east-bound onto the N2 National Highway. It runs directly from the Cape Town city centre, all the way into Durban. This is the direction we will be heading.

Ascending Sir Lowry's Pass, we're officially on the outskirts of Cape Town & the trip has begun!

We stop to take pics & admire the beautiful scenery as we pass multiple towns along the way.

Stacks of hay bales on a farm just outside Riviersonderend.

Beautiful vast open fields in Stormsvlei.

Amongst others, we drive through Grabouw, Caledon, Riviersonderend & Stormsvlei, before our next brief comfort-break stop in the historic little town of Swellendam. Swellendam is the third oldest town in South Africa & has over 50 provincial heritage sites. The first two official towns being Cape Town & Stellenbosch, respectively.

At this point, we're roughly about halfway through today's journey. We continue along the N2 towards our next fuel stop in the harbour town of Mossel Bay, the beginning of the Garden Route.
The Garden Route is aptly named as a result of the diverse vegetation and wildlife, and abundance of lagoons, lakes, mountains, forests, and beaches found along its winding roads.

For the next 100 km's until Knysna, our stop-over destination for today; the N2 will mostly run alongside the Indian Ocean shoreline passing through various little towns while deviating away from the coast for a short stretch as we pass George, the second-largest city in the Western Cape Province.

As we enter the town of Wilderness, we pull over and park alongside the Kaaimans River to appreciate the serenity & peace of the sound of the river flowing slowly towards the mouth at the Indian Ocean.

Kaaimans River in Wilderness.

We make a lunch pitstop and take some time to briefly explore the Wilderness National Park.

Picnic spots at Wilderness National Park.

Wooden river cabins at Wilderness National Park.

We arrive in Knysna at roughly 15:30, and then proceed to unpack the car at the guest apartment we'll be staying at.
After freshening up, we take a drive out to explore the Knysna Lagoon & Quays, and watch the sunset from Thesen Island.

Aerial footage of Knysna Lagoon & Thesen Island

Travel time for today including stops: 8 hours
Approx distance travelled: 500 km