Look! There's a whale!

Hermanus is a coastal town just over 100km from Cape Town, famous for its land-based whale-watching. We spent the day there, and were in fact lucky enough to see a whale splashing around very close to the shore.

I have wonderful memories of many holidays taken in Hermanus when I was a young girl - unfortunately the town has since become a little too commercialised for my liking. The tiny shell-shops and bookshops I remember from my childhood are gone, and have been replaced by chain-stores and restaurant franchises. (I did stumble upon an awesome second-hand bookstore, though, called Hemingway's. They stock a huge range of first-editions, Africana and out-of-print books; and I could have happily spent an entire month's salary there in just an hour or two.)

There are some beautiful beaches in and around Hermanus, and the Old Harbour is definitely worth a visit.