This is a great day, with lots of time spent walking in the forest. The trail climbs and drops constantly so it's a killer - but perfectly timed after the easy first day. Don't stress about time or how fast you're walking. There is a lot to see and take in, so do.
We stopped for a break at Skilderkrans. It's worth leaving the path here and climbing to the top of the krans. The views are spectacular. There's ample place to sit and not everyone needs to go to the very edge(s). There's cell phone reception here. Our next stop was at about 10:00 for a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon rolls at at the first water point (2.3km). I can vividly recall the first group I did this with swimming in every river we crossed, including this one. They would have given it a skip this time though. The water levels were low and the water itself a little too similar to the waterfall on Day 1. Good enough to drink when collected from the flowing sections, though, so we consumed a fair whack of coffee and tea with the great breakfast.
At about the 6km mark turn off the path to the left (down) and head for Blue Bay. It's pristine, secluded and the best lunch spot on the trail. The climb down is a little slippery after or during rain so be careful. I'd read, when starting the hike, that a rucksack had been rifled when hikers had previously left their bags on the path and lunched in the bay. If you do leave your bags note that we saw signs of baboon activity on the path and heard them for much of the first morning. We took our bags down to Blue Bay just to be safe. There is always a strong rip current in the bay so be careful if you decide to swim here. The sand is predominantly broken shells and there are many small stones and pebbles at the bottom of the sloped beach. It's more of a place to relax than frolic in the ocean. There are a few shady spots on the far side of the beach and the necessary trees and bush for a measure of privacy.
The climb out of Blue Bay to the path is a bit of a scramble and once you're on the path you'll continue climbing straight up to about 180m. It's a killer. The escape route is at the top of the climb. Seems like a bit of a park ranger's joke really.
The next stop is Kleinbos River. This is a good swimming spot, if you head to the left of the path as you hit the river and over the rocks that shield the river from view. Swim far enough and you'll get to the sea (I haven't and wont swim that far but the water is great on a sunny day). On the day the tide was coming in so swimming didn't feature. We crossed easily enough but did need to take our shoes off and ferried bags across as the footing was a little slippery in places.
The Scott huts were a welcome relief at 16:30, with the last 2km of our day taking 1.5 hrs! The walking is easy but with Blue Bay and Kleinbos both requiring a bit of effort the slow pace wasunderstandable. Scott has a loo with a view, a shower and the same cooking set up as Ngubu(and all the other huts).
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