Noordhoek Lookout in a fresh breeze

Having missed Friday's hike due to the sniffles, I wasn't going to let today's unseasonal and icy cold strong southeaster put me off again. I googled all the pros and cons and there were no cons (i.e. a cold shouldn't prevent you from taking a little exercise; spreading germs is probably less likely when on top of a mountain than walking past someone in the street; cold air doesn't exacerbate a cold), so I arrived in the car park at Silvermine with a selection of three levels of hiking jacket and a hat. I popped the boot (as one does when the little lever is on the floor) and immediately the wind caught it and whipped it wide open, almost distributing the boot's considerable contents far and wide into the fynbos. It was only through some snappy action that I gathered everything together and stuffed it back in before it took off. (Hint: always park with the bonnet of your car pointing into the wind in Cape Town to prevent doors coming off hinges or denting the car next to you.)

We didn't have a particular route in mind today, but the consensus was to keep climbing to the minimum and enjoy the view, and so we set off past the dam wall up the jeep track and round the Noordhoek side, up to the Noordhoek Lookout. The wind was fierce and we didn't linger on the cliff edge after admiring the stunning views through the gap, stretching from Chapman's Peak to Kommetjie. A little higher up, we managed to find a rocky outcrop where we could shelter from the wind and pour our coffee in a steady stream from our flasks. 

There were very limited examples of ericas and proteas along the route, and no chance of a photo due to the wind, so sweeping landscapes were the order of the day, and although a few birds twittered in the near distance, they were also sheltering in the shrubbery.

Although you may think the constant reference to the windy conditions made the walk unpleasant, it did keep us cool and allowed us to enjoy a very pleasant walk among some of the more accessible paths around the kopjes - definitely well worth it and not at all detrimental to the sniffles.