I am a big Dalene Matthee fan. She is a South African author who hailed from
Mossel Bay and wrote about the destruction and reckless killing of animals in the
Knysna forest. Her books were magical,
especially the connection between Saul Barnard and his animal brother Oupoot, (Old Foot) in “Circles in a Forest.” Through her books I could feel the heart of
the forest beat in my heart as well.
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| Jubilee Creek Waterfall |
We decided to go for a picnic at Jubilee Creek in the Knysna Forest recently to
celebrate Mother’s day.
We sat off from George in strong drizzle. The rain lifted though and we could stop at
Sedgefield for our first tea and snack of the day.
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| View towards Gericke's point |
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| Mosaic art at Sedgefield viewpoint |
The views towards Gericke’s point over the
lagoon from our pit stop was lovely.
From there we drove past Pili Pili, a cute pizza restaurant perched on
sand. Pity it is behind a sand dune
though. I ate here previously and can recommend
the pizzas.
We drove through to Knysna to buy salt bread at 34
South. It was hot out of the oven. Sadly it was almost finished before we
reached the car!
Knysna stays one of the most beautiful towns in the
country. The reflection on the lagoon is
different every time. There are so many
restaurants to choose from as well, you really are spoiled for choice.
After this stop we turned back onto the N2 and took the
Rheenendal turn off. At the Sanparks Nature
gate there were a couple of baboons foraging through the autumn leaves. Entrance fee without a wild card is R19 per
person.
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| Jubilee Creek Picnic Site |
We then took the lovely road through the forest to Jubilee
creek. You go past Krisjan se Nek which
has a memorial for Dalene Matthee and also have a picnic area. Jubilee Creek is also a lovely picnic spot with braai facilities, seating, toilets and recycle
bins. BB loved splashing around in the sparkling
clean river. I heated some soup and we
had what little was left of the salt bread with the soup in a soft
drizzle.
When the drizzle stopped the
forest really came alive in the sunlight.
Little droplets and spider webs sparkled in the sun.
I took the short 3.2km hike to the waterfall. It was quite muddy and I had to cross the
little river three times. It was a
lovely hike past exotic fungi and ended in a small waterfall.
Arriving back my special ladies tucked into the individual
cheesecakes I’ve made.
I made us some
coffee and we took the gorgeous Garden Route road back to George.
