I spent the last week down the Garden Route and could not resist writing about Knysna.  Our locals, no doubt will roll their eyes that I have included this in my Personal A- Z under “N”.

I have two reasons though for for doing this – firstly, while doing some research on Knysna I read that the first drawn map of Knysna referred to the Nysna River.   Apparently the modern way of spelling Knysna with a “K” only came about later.

The second reason is that  I know that our overseas travellers have great problems wondering how one pronounces Knysna. 

Well, you drop the “K” then pronounce it phonetically as Nigh – zzzs – na.  So, really, it does fall under  “N”

I have been to Knysna more times than I can remember, The problem though is that there is never enough time to see and do everything and of course, it all depends who your traveling companions are.  Originally we had small children who loved going on the ferry across to  the Featherbed Nature Reserve.

The John Benn Ferry which can be taken across to the Featherbed Nature Reserve

Then they morphed into teenagers and wanted to bungy jump off Bloukrans.

Bloukrans Bungy Jump, highest in the world

This time though, we were four “adults” taking time to dig a little deeper and see what else we had missed out on in the past.

Our THREE NEW finds include:

Popping a Bottle of Champagne at the Look-out Point over The Knysna Heads

Knysna is famous for this beautiful natural attraction.  Two huge monolithic sandstone cliffs stand guard at the entrance to the 21 ha estuary, protecting it from the treacherous sea.  Known as “the Heads”, the view from the Eastern Head is spectacular and you would find it hard to beat this view anywhere in the world.

Knysna Lagoon taken from the East Look-out Point at sunset

I have said this before, but its worth repeating in this over commercialised world we live in.  It’s the simple things in life that are usually the most memorable – this was one of those moments!

Hubby pops the Champagne! Can you see that cork?

Visiting Michell’s Brewery

One would have thought we had visited here years ago, after all, the Brewery started in 1983 which is about when we started going on holidays down the Garden Route.  But, it’s just one of those things.  You run out of time and put it off till next time…. this time round though, hubby wanted to meet the Brewer in person (business….. )

What a delightful person Dave McRae turned out to be, Irish by descent with a lovely sense of humour and very passionate about his “beer” – Dave took us on a tour and, although my preferred tipple is Champagne, I found the whole process fascinating.  Their beers are completely natural (so another “N”….).   Made with 100% barley, water, hops and yeast and containing no artificial preservatives or chemicals, their beer is naturally healthy I assume?

Dave McRae, brewmaster at Mitchell’s Brewery

I love the names of their beers;   90 Shilling Ale, Old Wobbly Lager (most probably what you feel like after a couple), Milk & Honey Ale (got to be good for you), also Milkwood Mild and the original ones called Forester’s Lager and Bosun’s Bitter.  Mitchell’s Cider is the latest to come online.  Well worth the visit.

Old Wobbly Lager from Mitchell’s in Knysna

Finding out that GOLD had been discovered in the area way back in the 1880’s

I always thought that gold had only ever been discovered up country.  Our very lovely hosts at Turning Tides Guesthouse had mentioned that this may be interesting and they were spot on!

We visited the “ghost” town of Millwood quite late in the afternoon.   Had I known, we would have endeavoured to get there earlier as there are some lovely walks to do in the this area, called the Goudveld Forest.

The last few kilometres of “road” to Millwood  taper off to a rather bumpy track, but the surrounding indigenous forests are magnificent and arriving at Mother Holly’s Tea Garden was a real delight.

One of the only two original homes – this one houses Mother Holly’s Tea Garden

There are only two houses left here, one of which houses the tearoom and the Materolli Museum.  The other, next door is a small self-catering cottage.   Both are original, taking one right back in time.

The one-roomed Materolli Museum

The one room museum is filled with old newspaper clippings, photos, maps etc and is really fascinating.  We loved our tea and I think I had the biggest slice of chocolate cake in history!

Further up from the tea garden you will find the entrance to the old Bendigo Mine and one can do a guided tour here of up to 30m underground – another reason to go back!  The old mining equipment has also been restored and is on display, amazing to imagine how people all those years ago managed to get this huge equipment through the forests to the area.

I will be back to explore more in depth next time I am down that way.  I  could not believe that this beautiful, wild, preserved, historic area was just off the highway which I had driven along so many times….

(K)nysna is one of South Africa’s favourite holiday destinations -  not only is the area filled with a bounty of natural beauty from mountains to forests, fynbos and coastline, but there is just so much to do.

Have you visited Knysna?  What did you do or enjoy most while you were there?

Want to find out more about Knysna, click HERE,

OR, read a Post I wrote earlier this year on the Garden Route HERE

To read more of my Personal A – Z posts on South Africa, click HERE and watch out for next week, when I will be telling you all about my latest “finds” in Plettenberg Bay

About Cynthia

I am a fun loving woman who loves to explore new destinations and experiences. My philosophy in life is “Have suitcase, will travel” and I like to drag my family and friends along with me to share in the joy. Naturally, along the journey of “life” I like to indulge in long, lazy lunches, delicious champagne, creamy chocolate and most important, lots of laughter……Having being in travel for many years, I write about my personal experiences, mostly about Southern Africa but I do also get to travel internationally so will pop in some stories about my travels abroad. As food and wine are an integral part of my travel experience I also explore both those topics as well.

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