The hike was supposed to take place the previous weekend. Due to the move, not many could reschedule, and eventually it was just myself, Mari Swart and Johan Huisamen that signed up for some caves and scrambles.
Johan, Mari and Theunis at The Point, at the start of the St Blaize trail.
Our first stop, near the 1.5km mark, was at Bland’s or Guano Cave, described by George Leith in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, in the year 1899.
Interesting formations, and exposed broken bones makes this a worthwhile visit. With a small entrance, very well hidden, it is quite amazing how few people know of its existence, even though it is so near to the start.
Just passed the 3km marker, and down we go again to almost sea level. This brought us to Tunnel Cave, that uniquely runs straight through the mountain side opening up onto the sea at the other end.
Entering the St Blaize Sea Cave, as it has been named on old topographical maps.
The only crawl for the day, is a short shimmy on your back through a narrow opening connecting two different caves. The path leads past a bit of exposure, but with the help of some handy ropes, everyone gets by safely. This specific route can only be done on low tide, with calm seas.
Scarlet Dewfig, an endangered species of Vygie, found on St Blaize.
(Photo credit: Johan Huisamen)
A large cave near Pinnacle Point was our lunch spot. The mist of the morning started to fade, and we had a swim here in a large pool. The pool is inhabited by a large number of nudibranchs molluscs.
(Photo credit: Johan Huisamen)
From here we walked across a beach, and up a wooden walkway originally built for electric Golf cars to access the beach.
Once on top, we decided to enjoy something cool and refreshing at the Pinnacle Point clubhouse.
After the short visit, we continued through another walk-through cave, and enjoyed a large arch just above sea level.
The last stretch got us to a cave with “paintings”, resembling something like counting. Finger markings are clearly visible in several places. Apparently, this is quite a rare find for coastal caves.
We ended the day at the Dana Bay side of St Blaze, with just under 20km’s covered for the 11 hours we’ve taken to complete it.
What an adventure we had…
Meet leader ~ Theunis Schutte