Clear your head on the Sunshine Coast

Dave Marais wakes us early in the morning. We’re staying at Bellevue Lodge on a farm near Kleinemonde, a holiday enclave on the Eastern Cape’s Sunshine Coast. Dave is armed with maps, information pamphlets and a bird guide, which he’ll use to explain the route in detail. He shows us a photo of today’s route marker on the beach that we should look out for: a crayfish trap on a pole.

The Shipwreck Trail is Dave’s brainchild – he developed the route along with the owners of the private farms we’ll be traversing over the next few days. His enthusiasm is infectious. After the briefing, we make sure our food supplies are packed and marked to be delivered to the overnight stops en route, then we bundle onto the back of Dave’s bakkie for the 20 km drive down the coast to Port Alfred, where our hike will begin at the pier.