30 Aug |
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Paaaaaarp! Parp! Paaaaaarp! The warbling sound bellows out of a curling kelp horn and wafts along the cliffs that hug the edge of the Indian Ocean. There’s a crowd of tourists gathered around the source of the noise, but I can see from the sandwich-board strung about Pasika Noboba’s shoulders that his kelp-cacophony – one long, one short, one long – means that the whales have been spotted off the Old Harbour.  It’s not every town that has its own cetacean Morse code, but winter is whale season in Hermanus and Noboba – the village’s official whale crier – is always the centre of attention when the Southern Rights are in town. The latest in a long-line of locals to don the feathered cap and kelp horn, Noboba’s enviable task is to spend the winter and spring days wandering the cliff top path in search of whales. Once they’re spotted, a few short blasts on the horn lets tourists know where to find these ever-popular visitors. And they’re visitors that feel right at home in Walker Bay, the wide stretch of Indian Ocean that stretches from Hermanus to the lighthouse at Danger Point. After a summer spent feeding in the icy krill-rich seas of Antarctica, the warm waters off the Western Cape are the perfect winter hide-away for these blubbery globetrotters to mate and calve. The town itself is one of the area’s best winter escapes for landlubbers too, with a host of cosy guesthouses and family-run B&Bs. However, far and away the best address in tow is the historic Marine Hotel, with its panoramic Walker Bay views. This five-star Relais & Chateaux property offers discreet luxury with the added benefit of whales on your doorstep and stunning sea views from most rooms. And for fine dining, the hotel’s two award-winning restaurants under the steady skillet of Executive Chef Peter Tempelhoff are certainly not be missed. That’s all for dinnertime though. In the bright autumn sunshine, I leave Pakisa to deafen and direct his camera-toting admirers and wander off along the cliff top path. The sun is out and the sea winks back at me with deep blue eyes… it’s a fine day to be wandering in the Overberg. There’s lunch at Mogg’s to enjoy later on, and there are few better ways to work up an appetite than a walk along the meandering seafront path that runs from the New Harbour down to the white sands of Grotto Beach. The path stretches for 12 kilometres, and is wheelchair-friendly for much of that. The shoreline may be rugged, but our legs fairly fly along the flat walkway as, to our right, the cliffs tumble into the sea. It’s the deep waters at their feet that have made Hermanus one of the world’s best whale watching spots, allowing Southern Rights to float right up to the cliff face and grant visitors close-up sightings from the comfort of a wooden bench. As we scan Walker Bay with our binoculars, a burst of spray erupts from the water as a whale just off the Old Harbour exhales... Noboba was right after all. In the far distance a hefty Southern Right launches itself into a breach while a tour boat motors out of the New Harbour. Hunting whales with cameras is big business in Hermanus and, while the town offers some of the best land-based whale watching in the world, boat trips to see the Southern Rights up close are also popular. Happily, it’s a tightly regulated industry and only a few permit holders are allowed to venture close to the whales… any other vessel has to stay 300 metres away. And that includes the flotilla of bright yellow kayaks that paddle into view… if you like your whale watching with a touch of adrenalin, Walker Bay Adventures’ two-hour kayak adventures are just the ticket. Paddlers keep a safe distance from the whales, but it’s not uncommon to get friendly with a few inquisitive Cape Fur seals and sea birds. Kayak tours set off from the Old Harbour, where we wander down to explore the quaint museum that traces the history of the town. I discover that it was a wandering shepherd by the name of Hermanus Pieters lent his name to this now decidedly upmarket village, and it wasn’t all that long ago that whaling contributed to the town’s coffers. Happily, nowadays it’s big-spending tourists – not blubber pots – that do the same. Feeling peckish? There are plenty of pavement cafés near the Old Harbour, but the restaurant with the best views in town is Bientang’s Cave. Legend has it that the cave was named after the last known ‘strandloper’ to have lived here, feasting on seafood at the turn of the 19th century. Perhaps not much has changed, as tourists flock to this eatery where whales breach, spy-hop and lob tail 100 metres from your plate of Surf & Turf. And the classic combo of land and sea is part of the appeal of a visit to Hermanus in whale season. A handful of nearby golf courses attract weekend swingers, twitchers and fynbos fundis head to the Fernkloof Nature Reserve above town and sailors launch their boats down on the Kleinrivier lagoon. Sybarites like me, however, head for heaven. For while the seaside visitors are big and brash with their aerial antics, the wines of the Hemel-en-Aarde valley are all about understated elegance. It’s a big ask to live up to a name like ‘Heaven and Earth’, but the wines grown in this piece of paradise do it with ease. Cradled between Babilonstoring peak and the Kleinriviersberg this picturesque valley may be carpeted in trellised vines and pastoral fields, but started life as a somewhat less bucolic escape. In 1817 Moravian missionaries established South Africa's first leper colony here, and it was home to hundreds of patients until they were shipped to Robben Island in 1845! Today though the valley is all about good wine and even better food. Boutique wineries dot the hillsides and, without the crowds of Franschhoek or Stellenbosch, it’s the kind of place where the winemaker may greet you at the cellar to explain how the sea breezes make this one of South Africa’s premier cool-climate wine regions. We take a bottle of Bouchard Finlayson’s Missionvale Chardonnay and head to our late-lunch at the delightful Mogg’s Country Cookhouse, where Julia Mogg greets us like old friends as the door of her quaint cottage restaurant. Smoke curls from the chimney, tables spill onto the patio and beyond the lawns a field of lavender runs down to a lake. Julia’s mum Jenny bustles through from the kitchen carrying plates of lamb shank and seafood curry, as Julia hurries off to welcome new guests. In the distance, the deep blue waters of the Indian Ocean shine back up the valley. Perhaps it’s that second glass of chardonnay, but I swear I can almost hear Pasika blowing on his kelp horn, and see a few whales jumping for joy. Whether you visit for heavenly whale watching or the fruits of the earth, there’s nothing you won’t love about winter in Hermanus. The popular Hermanus Whale Festival takes place from 30 September to 4 October 2011. Visit www.whalefestival.co.za. Hermanus Tourism Bureau www.hermanusaccommodation.co.za 028 312 2629 First published in Signature magazine, 2011 Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites            |