Platboom - there and back

One of the reasons I joined a hiking group was to walk in Cape Point reserve. I have always longed to be able to amble across the veld looking at plants and tortoises, but the opportunity has never presented itself. This is the ideal way to get back to nature - a group of like-minded people who don't mind too many exclamations along the way.
Today we had a beach walk from Platboom to there and back. No particular destination, just the time restraint to keep it within 3 to 4 hours. It was unspoilt shoreline at its best. Pristine dunes where no man had walked before us - due to their constant reshaping in the relentless southeaster at our backs! In fact, the footprints of the leader had all but been blown away by the time the last of us passed the same way. Cloud cover kept us cool and I was the only one who found the air temperature to be quite ambient - the rest donned lightweight jackets, but I hate the constriction of synthetic fibres and never seem to feel the cold anyway.
There was plenty of jetsam to interest us along the way - thick ropes that could moor a small vessel, assorted pallets in various states of deconstruction, a bundle of thinner ropes that looked like the result of a tidy up on board a fishing boat, a toilet seat (didn't go too close) and old crayfish traps with ragged netting. Birdlife kept me busy with the camera and I found myself jogging slightly to catch up with the rest, which helped with the cardio exercise and calorie burning.
The area between the flat rocky shoreline and the dunes is almost like a lawn, with tough buffalo grass and tiny vegetation that loves sand and salt spreading across the expanse. Lovely to walk on and no sand stinging our legs on the way back.
A male ostrich was grazing ahead of us with his harem and youngsters in tow. They were all hustled away as we approached in case anyone had designs on his women. He made it very obvious that he was a breeding male!
Altogether an outstanding place to get away from it all!