Plettenberg Bay

November 24, 2025 to November 25, 2025

Monday the 24th of November 2025

We woke up to the sound of a gentle drizzle on the tent. Fortunately it stopped before the sun rose and although we had to pack up wet tent as managed to stay dry.

We had three big climbs today with lots of smaller ups and downs in between. The first climb of over three hundred meters started from the entrance to the campground and this set the tone of the day. Each of the three climbs had gradients over ten percent which were all rideable but the third climb had me walking about two hundred meters up a section of over fifteen percent. The road surface was pretty good until before the third climb at which point the it changed from packed earth to loose gravel with lots of corrugations. Thankfully the tar returned for the last seventeen kilometers of the ride.

Looking northwards as we climbed out from De Vlugt.

A sign advertising the coffee shop near last night's campground. Eschewing all things sophisticated, they claim to sell damn nice cake and strong coffee and have a rather rudimentary toilet.

Making my way slowly up the second climb.

We have a very comfortable cottage near the Keurbooms Lagoon in a quieter part of Plettenberg Bay. In two days time Plett Rage, a large multi-day festival for high school graduates to celebrate the end of their school careers, starts and the town will become mayhem. We are very happy that we will get out of here before it starts.

Keurbooms Lagoon, just a stone's throw from our digs.

Tuesday the 25th of November 2025

We strolled down to Lookout Beach on the far side of the lagoon for breakfast. The couple of kilometers of walking and dipping our toes into the Indian Ocean was good therapy for our tired bodies after yesterday's hills.

We are only about 230 kilometers away from home if we head straight down the N2. In January 2021 we did that section in three days but this time we have some terrible easterly winds forecast for Thursday and Friday so realistically we need four days. There is very little accomodation available along the route but on a whim I phoned a coffee shop not too far east of Storms River and persuaded the owner to let us camp there on Thursday night which allows us to do shorter distances on the two windy days.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,697 km (1,054 miles)

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