Greetings from Outeniqua Adventure Tours; December 2006

I can hardly believe that it is that time of year already! The signs are all here, the shops are being decorated with all sorts of festive fare, all to encourage the festive feeling. George, and the Garden Route, is starting to get the holiday buzz, schools are closing soon, and then the masses arrive from all parts of the country, to enjoy what we so happily have around us all year.

Roadworks continue to plague us, making driving along the N2 rather a challenge. There was already pressure to get the roads ready for the summer influx of tourists before we had those dreadful August floods! Hopefully most of the problem areas will be cleared sufficiently for road movement to be tolerable.

The biggest casualty of those floods is, of course, the damage to the Knysna / George railway line, which has put our precious Outeniqua Choo-Tjoe in jeopardy. Fortunately there is now an option to take the steam train to Hartenbos, near Mossel Bay, so that those who are serious steam train enthusiasts will still have the opportunity to take this unique trip.

2006 has been another busy year for us, with Cycling Tours being our most successful product.

The format of Inn – to – Inn cycling, beautiful countryside, interesting routes, quiet roads, with lots of support and encouragement from us, seems to have converted quite a few people to this sort of holiday.

The group from the CTC (a cycling organization from the U.K.) started off the cycle trips for the year. This consisted of a group of thirty riders, from all parts of the U.K, at least three of the participants being repeat customers! Ten days of cycling around the Overberg, finishing in Cape Town, and then most of the cyclists taking part in the annual ‘Argus’ Cycle event, made for a memorable tour!

We then had a smaller group from KZN, for whom we organised a delightful ‘road ‘ bike tour, taking in the Robinson Pass, Huis Rivier Pass, Tradouw Pass (near Barryale,) and Op de Tradouw (another challenging climb, on the way to Montagu). We finished this five day tour in Swellendam. (remarkable about this group was that the average age was over 60yrs of age).

There were a number of 3 and 4 day, cycle tours in the Little Karoo (our favourite place), mostly with repeat customers. With the first of the Spring cycle tours, we ventured up the West Coast for the first time. We were a little late for the best of the flowers, on this trip, but cycling through the West Coast National Park was a great experience. After that, we took a large cycle group up the Garden Route towards Tsitsikamma, and again, when we managed to escape the main roads and traffic, it was as spectacular as ever.

A more challenging circular route from George, was organised for the two stronger groups that came in October. Here the route was all on gravel roads, and included the Montagu Pass, Rooiberg Pass, and Cloetes Pass. (as well as a few un-named passes!). This tour finished in George, after a detour via the coast near Mossel Bay. The participants on these two trips all enjoyed the spectacular flowers to be seen in the Little Karoo, fabulous after the good rains, and the amazing land-based whale watching from our guesthouse in Rhebok.

Another first for us this year was a Spring flower tour to the West Coast. A small group of ladies (and Dave) explored the Cape West Coast, and inland to Nieuwoudtville, where we saw flowers in full bloom, the like of which, we have not seen before. We were lucky with the weather, which was cold, but we had enough sun to enable the flowers to be seen at their best. The only short-coming about this trip, was that we needed at least another three days out there to really get the full benefit of the experience. This tour is definitely one to be repeated in the coming year.

Rovos Rail again spent some time in the Garden Route, and it is always a pleasure to be able to assist with these groups, both with their Rail and Air Safaris. Again, we had visitors enjoying our guided tours of the Garden Route, taking day trips to local attractions to enjoy our fabulous scenery, forests, mountains and beaches. There were also the airport and hotel transfers, which make up a good deal of the ‘bits ‘in between, and keep us busy.

As always, the highlight of our year is always the challenge and enjoyment of meeting interesting people from so many different places, in the pursuit of our occupation. We continue to learn from, and enjoy, these experiences.

2007 promises to be another busy, exciting, and challenging year. There are already a number of cycle tours booked, of these the 22 day BAC Tour, a group from the U.S.A, being our biggest challenge.

Personal day tours, golf tours, definitely another West Coast Flower Tour, and hopefully another few Senior Citizens’ tours, are on the calendar for next year.

We should like to thank all our friends, guests, and associates for their support over the past years, and hope that they enjoy a peaceful, blessed, and happy Christmas and holiday season.

Cheryl and Dave