Elands Bay

So when I let Paternoster; filled with optimism and the random goodwill of others, I was a bit disappointed when the sky went from a crisp pool-blue to a kind of disappointed feather-grey. Worst of all, once I had circumvented the bay, climbed up a mountain in dress pants to get a good picture, and headed up the mountain pass away from Elands Bay, the clouds decided to take a momentary leave of absence. I would just like to say thank you nature for being a bit of prick. I mean I understand hurricanes, tsunami's, earth quakes and volcanoes. They have great special effects, wonderful marketing and powerful titles. However, people underestimate the life-destroying consequences of A Little Bit of Unfortunately-Timed Overcast Sky, now do they. Do you see how devastating it is, I can't even complain about it without sounding like a prat.

Oh well, back the story, let me tell you all about Elands Bay whilst trying to be a little bit funny, and entertaining enough to make you think I know what I am doing. This town feels untouched the raving need to build hotels and guest houses on any piece of beach that connects to major road. Which is weird because that is what the place is mostly; a very long strip of very pretty beach. It is 200 km out of Cape Town, which I found hard to believe. I know it did not take me that long to drive there, but I did put a few days into it. It was astonishing to me how much variety and natural splendour can be packed into such a small area. Perhaps the Garden Route really has been that long ago for me.

Once you arrive there are many things the website says you can do there, such as rowing, sailing, surfing, rock climbing, mountain-biking, bird watching, whale watching and fishing. Sadly I am rather adverse to getting wet, I don't really fish (oh I gave it a try but I just hate touching the things), so I took photographs instead.

Weirdly I found some of my favourite graffiti there. Not for the amazingly complex artistic talent it showcases, but for the reason I use for any kind of art, because I like it. To be fair, making me laugh did count in its favour.

The higher and higher I got up the coast, the more the grandeur of commerce felt like it was slipping away into a surrender to the grandeur of nature; where beaches are not beautiful from hotel windows, nor the mountains in need of illumination throughout the night. I am sure every one knows about the place, and of course there are very nice places you can stay and enjoy a high level of comfort; but it still surprised me. It almost made me feel like I had been living in the Soap Opera South Africa up until then, with its cosmopolitan expectations. If your not making thirty grand a year you're nobody. BMW is the only acceptable car to drive. To which country are you going to escape this terrible winter. Of course I am secretly shallow; if the woman does not look good on my arm then how can I expect to be respected, let alone be happy. These are the gross kinds of inaccuracies that get peddled blindly amongst the few who can afford to entertain them. Alas they would be trite and pathetic in almost all of South Africa, were the very few think they are the real face of the many.

Seekombuis

Now, I have already gone into the general appeal of Paternoster, but let me tell you about the one place that really made this little fishing village a great memory for me. Seekombuis  is right by the entrance for Tietiesbaai. If they ask you to pay at the boom, just tell them you are going to the restaurant and they will let you in for free. 

It is an open-area restaurant on the beach; the smell of the ocean mixes with the smell of freshly-baked bread, the smooth rocks stick out of the ocean like silent titans, old crayfish boats have been converted into tables. It all comes together to create an amazing atmosphere. Not only that, but the people who run the place are among the nicest people I have met along my travels. If you need some insider information on which routes to take then they will be able to help guide you in the right direction.

They have only been open for a year, but already they have got a strong local following. Perhaps you don't understand how friendly these guys are. So let me tell you about my experience there.

I stopped over for a beer, and told them about my plan to camp at Treckosskraal. They advised me on which road to take, but also told me that if I wanted to camp on the beach by the restaurant, I was more than welcome. Come now, if that is not the nicest thing ever then I don't know. Oh but wait, it gets better. So after I go and check out Treckosskraal, I come back, and decide that I would rather chill out there, chat to some people, have a few beers, and sleep on one of the most beautiful stretches of beach I have ever seen in my life. Things can't get any better than that right? Boy was I mistaken.

So at six in the evening fresh loaves of bread come out and the dinner service starts. Now, without provocation they told me that I have to taste their food, and they did not need me to pay for it. I realise that I told them was on a road trip and that I was doing reviews of places, but that was a surprising act of kindness. What was even better was the food itself. Smoked snoek pate with home-made apricot jam on bread that had only been out of the oven for five minutes. I was close to tears the food was so good

As the night died down, and we all made our way to bed, One of the ladies there gave me three beers, a big packet of chips and a chocolate milk for the rest of my trip. By that point I was so full of kindness if some one had pricked me I would have popped.

I woke up to one of the greatest views a person can hope for. I would like to thank every one at Seekombuis for making my time in Paternoster amazing.  

What I saw when I woke up

Paternoster

For the last few months I could not so much as make a glancing gesture towards the West Coast. Part of my trip without some one mentioning Paternoster. What I found strange was the fact that they did not tell me anything about the place. The just mentioned it. Like knowing that it is there cements their pedigree.

"I am heading down the West Coast soon."
"Oh, ja, Paternoster and those places, lovely......"
"Riiiiiiight....what's it like down/up there"
"Oh its wonderful."
"No he's right hey, it's stunning, you can't miss it."
"Okay... I won't miss it then; I will be back in a moment, I think I hear my beer calling me."
                -Actually Happened

 The responses I got were more vague than when guys asked my if I was a virgin at 17, or when my mother asks me what I did during the weekend. A part of me might have gone up the West Coast just to see what the bloody fuss was.

I got into the town, and realized that almost all of the brands that I had come to recognize in the little towns were absent. The houses were in the style I only get to see in naturally sepia photographs, taken back when beards were cultivated with love and white people constantly stressed about unruly natives attacking their farms. I drove to a beach that had all the makings of a phenomenal photoshoot -- in the hands of a better photographer of course. The boats were coming in, and the locals were tying their motor-less boats to bakkies as they were pulled along the beach. Again I felt like I was seeing something that had been kept out of reach by movies and other fictions that told you that things a like this happened in the world, but you will only ever see them from the comfort of your couch and by the whims of your television. I was jolted back into reality by ever passer by trying to sell me crayfish. I don't eat shellfish, so it was easy to dismiss them.

These guys kept trying to sell me crayfish

There is not a lot to tell people about Paternoster, I will admit that. Though there are definitely things worth telling. If you go to Tieties Baai there is a Light-House that gives you a panoramic view of the whole area. Tieties Baai got its name, not for the smooth rocks that resemble a certain part of a woman's body, but from a pastor who lived in Jacobs Baai, named Titus. He was fishing outside Paternoster and sadly drowned. The bay was named after him. In Afrikaans Titus is pronounced Tietus. After many years of oral history, Tietus became Tieties. There is also a must see restaurant called Seekombuise, but I will dedicate an entire article to that next.

So why do people remember this as the Beacon of the West Coast? It could be the architecture, the beaches, the working lighthouse, the suggestively named beach; or it could be the fact that the place looks like it does not need you to go there and look at it. It is a town that does what it does. It did it before you rocked up, and when you leave it will carry on. In a way it feels untampered with. So I guess I am going to fall in with the people that will tell you to go to Paternoster when next you head up the West Coast. At least I gave you a good reason.