Distant

Simon’s Town (Afrikaans: Simonstad), sometimes spelt Simonstown, is a town which is administratively a South Peninsula suburb of Cape Town and is home to the South African Navy’s Naval Base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been a naval base and harbour (first for the British Royal Navy and now the South African Navy). The town is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony. The land rises steeply from near the water’s edge and the town is boxed in along the shoreline by the heights above. The small harbour itself is protected from swells by a breakwater that was built with thousands of huge blocks of sandstone quarried out of the face of the mountain above. Simon’s Town is now in effect a suburb of greater Cape Town. The Simon’s Town railway station is the terminus of the Southern Line, a railway line that runs south from the central business district of Cape Town. In places, the railway line runs along the steep eastern shore of False Bay, and in bad weather waves and foam from some heavy swells wet the trains.
Info source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon’s_Town
=========
The photo was taken during October 2014 from Kalk Bay harbour, Western Cape, South Africa.

Distant

Vista

There are another two options that are 2 km (to the Gap and back) and 4 km (to Witsand dune and The Island and back) apiece, but neither of them gives you quite the same access to views, inspirational geology and sightings of whales and dolphins. The route takes one to the point of the peninsula and back. You need to keep an eye on the tides as there are rocky sections that are difficult to manage at high tide. Definitely, no small children should attempt this route. You could choose to break the hike over two days, overnighting in the wooden Fountain Shack provided by Cape Nature. On the eastern side of the route there are some pretty sheer drops for part of the way, and if you have not a head for heights, this may be a little daunting. But the consistent access to Cape fur seals makes it worth it. The north side of the Robberg is prone to unstable sand. The point is a good midway stop for lunch, but the most beautiful section of the hike is said to be the area just past the shack ruin where there are a series of sandstone boulders covered with orange lichen. Be sure to include The Island – connected to Robberg by a beach. Cape Nature has built a boardwalk right around it and it is one of the walk’s highlights. To return you walk the southern shoreline, pass through the Gap and head to the car park. Get your permit at the gate of the nature reserve.
=========
Info source: https://www.sa-venues.com/…/garde…/hiking-robberg-peninsula/

Vista

Historic

According to Patricia Storrar, page 23 of her book “Portrait of Plettenberg Bay”, ships came all the way up the Piesang River from the earliest times, even before the establishment of Plettenberg Bay, which proves that Piesang Valley area developed before the Plett CBD area developed, and there were many people and many labourers living in Piesang Valley where the first church and later schools were built, to provide in the spiritual and educational needs of the inhabitants.
Info source: http://www.plett-tourism.co.za/piesang-valley-brief-history/

Historic