A loud crashing sound awakes us. It is 2:00 AM. Above the double bed, through the big, glass roof panels, one would expect to see stars – but not tonight. Maybe the ocean behind us has risen to a level from where the waves can reach us?! After we get a grip on ourselves, we realise a very strong wind has started to blow. It is trying its best to suck the windows from our room. We are still in the Knysna guesthouse we moved into yesterday (it took us a couple of minutes to remember that!). Although the place has a nice location it is somewhat old and the windows do not close properly anymore. Anette eventually ties the window handles together with her bathrobe belt. It seems to be working and we go back to bed. But we remain restless until sunrise.

Today will be another day for exploration. Going places we have not been to before. We have breakfast in the dining room overlooking the Knysna lagoon. Breakfast is delicious and the view is great. The only problem is that the owner thinks it is a good idea to attract birds to his place by providing them with sugar water. Interesting and beautiful birds but a bad idea.

We depart. We have always wanted to see Karatara – a forestry station in the hills outside Knysna. We drive south on the N2 and, before we reach Sedgefield, we turn right towards Karatara. I am surprised that it is a tarred road and it takes us straight into the town.

Karatara is a quiet town with its small houses, church, school and a few small businesses positioned far from each other. Lots of space but not lots of people. Little activity as far as we can see. It doesn’t look like a lot of forestry is still happening here (the town was started in 1941). We decide to move on.

We drive on the untarred Seven Passes road and reach the Homtini Pass. It is picturesque and halfway through we cross the Homtini River. A couple of kilometers further we find Rheenendal – also a forestry station which I believe dates more or less from the same era as Karatara but was erected for the coloured foresters. Although other travel web sites indicate that there is nice accommodation in the area, they are probably all on farms in the neighbourhood – definitely not in town. We see more people here but not a lot happening in general.

We start our return towards Knysna via the Rheenendal Road. Closer towards the N2 we turn left on the Phantom Pass Road that will take us along the upper part of the Knysna River before it runs into the Knysna lagoon.