Ten good friends set out on Monday morning to hike the Oystercatcher Trail. We had spent the night in Mossel Bay and started our walk full of enthusiasm and excitement at what lay ahead. Our route took us south to the St Blaize Trail which hugs the cliff top to the west of the town. It was a good day for walking and Alicia, our guide, was a mine of information, stopping frequently to point out interesting features of the landscape.
Ready to set off!
We were soon within the Pinnacle Point estate and were somewhat bemused by the opulence of the housing there. Each new builder seems to strive to make something bigger and better than any other and it all appeared to be an exercise in bragging. Luckily we had to go past the clubhouse, and made the most of the opportunity to down a cold beer as we were pretty tired by this stage. A few kilometres further on we arrived at Dana Bay, our destination, having completed 14 kms and feeling every bit of it as the route had taken us over some rough ground, which was hard on the aging legs and feet!!
We returned to Mossel Bay for the night, having been let down by our original Dana Bay accommodation, but returned the next morning for our hike to Boggomsbaai. This entailed 14 km of beach – a doddle some might say, but the tide was coming in and this made for soft sand underfoot and we were once again a bit bushed by the end of the day, especially as it was a hot one and we had to climb up to our accommodation at the comfortable Sandpiper cottages. There we were very well looked after and had great food! Alicia had been joined by Chris, and between the two of them, we were kept apprised of our surroundings.
We were scheduled to walk 21 km on the last day, but sore feet dictated that we reduce that distance by 10 km, so we started from Fransmanshoek and completed the last 12 km to our pick-up point on the bank of the Gouritz River, whence we were ferried across to the right bank before returning to Boggomsbaai for our last night. There we had another excellent meal preceded by fresh oysters and champagne – what a pleasure!! Well done to the team and well done to the Trail staff. We enjoyed it all!
roncorylus 
Cool man, looks awesome. Will have to try it one day.