Noordhoek Outlook

This is the second time we walked the Noordhoek Outlook trail in Silvermine,  just off Ou Kaapse Weg. We parked near the reservoir and we took the trail just to the left of the bridge on the other side of the reservoir.  This trail leads up and around with views extending over Fish Hoek, Simon's Town, Noordhoek, Hout Bay and then back towards the Southern Suburbs.

This is a lovely long walk (9.3 kms) without the detours - the detours are well worth checking out too. 

It's consistently steep uphill for most the walk and then a very steep downhill at the end.  Some crazy cyclists cycle in the opposite direction; UP the very steep hill... like I said: crazy cyclists.

The first time we hiked this (our first hike in many years!) it took us 3 hours with lots of breaks we weren't carrying anything other than our water.

We came back this time and managed to walk it in 2 hours without any breaks and with loaded backpacks. 

It wasn't the scenic version, but we're in training now.

It's great to see how our fitness has improved over the past few months. All this hiking must be doing us some good!

The Waterfall on Ou Kaapse Weg

Dassieskasteel Traverse in Silvermine on Ou Kaapse Weg. 

We took the little detour to the waterfall, but alas, there was only a water-trickly. Still very beautiful with views overlooking the Noordhoek / Kommetjie side.

The route then circles around to the top of Ou Kaaps where you can overlook the Southern Suburbs and Constantia areas. The path follows around just above the Ou Kaaps road and then swings back to the car park.

The short hike took us 2 hours to complete and is about 6 km's long. (Although we kept the pace up quite a lot and according to this very informative website, it can take 5 hours to complete)

There is also an option to veer off and walk towards Muizenberg / Bouyes Drive. But on this occasion we were too hungry for steak and Peroni's at Flukes Restaurant to add on another few hours' hike, so we cut it short and headed out for some relaxing!

We will  have to back back and do that one at some point!

The routes are very well marked in all directions so no worries about getting lost here. Also the 180 degree views all the way around allow you to judge where you are.