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There, just beyond the broad picture window in the room at the Leisure Isle Lodge, is a slowly creeping wall of fog. Or it may be cloud. It swallows up, in slow gulps, Knysna’s Western Head.

It’s early morning and the stillness is so thick that you can almost taste it on your tongue. The silence is broken only by the occasional wash of sound from the beach of the nearby lagoon, where the waves lap lazily in the early morning air.

Later, as the sun dissolves at the end of the day, regularly, serenely, quietly, into the Indian Ocean, the waves again lap indolently against the shore of the lagoon.

In the gathering dusk, there are sounds of people – talking as they walk around Leisure Isle, or the thud of their running shoes as they traverse the spit of land which juts out into the lagoon. Dogs bark, children giggle. Between these natural parentheses which open and close the day in this Cape paradise, there ispotential for adventure, beauty, satisfaction.

It’s something I barely think of as I grasp the handrail ahead of the seat on the RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) as it noses away from the jetty at the Knysna Waterfront. Out on the lagoon, skipper Brett Gething hits the throttles and the twin 280hp Yamaha outboard motors clear their throats… and hell erupts. Or it feels like it as the boat rockets across the lagoon up to 60 knots – well over 100km/h.

I’ve experienced acceleration like this before – in multimillion rand supercars. Soon we are hurtling over the glass-smooth water, dropping cars along the lagoon drive as if they were standing still.

It’s a little demonstration to show what this long, powerful boat is capable of. Brett, from Knysna RIB Adventures (www.knysnaribadventures.co.za), a qualified and experienced inshore and ocean-going skipper, explains that this sort of power is needed to get through the treacherous waves and rip currents at The Heads, the narrow entrance from the Indian Ocean into the Knysna Lagoon. Over the centuries, this tricky passage has claimed many ships, and the lives of many seafarers, so it is not to be taken lightly.

Today, as we bob and weave, among the swells, Brett reckons he could get through but warns us it could get a little rough. We opt for comfort rather than adventure and he takes us on a pleasant cruise around the lagoon instead.

Going through The Heads, though, is the door to a whole new world. On the other side of the hill which protects Knysna, in the ocean itself, you can see the wonder of nature up close. And, according to Brett, it is not unusual to see as many as 400 dolphins together running offshore. Depending on the time of year, you can also see whales. And, if you’re into birds, you be able to add seabirds – not normally seen by landlubbers – to your list.

Knysna is the sort of place adventurers love. There’s plenty do do – in the surf, on the beach, in the forests and in the mountains which ring the seaside town.

Tony Cook Adventures (email: arcent@mweb.co.za) is one of the leading adventure tour operators in the town, offering a host of activities which will appeal to the adrenalin junkie, including mountain biking tours, kitesurfing, surfing and SUP (which, I discovered, stands for “Stand Up Paddling”).

Not wanting to be too energetic (we sound like lazy slobs, don’t we?… nobody particularly worries about that in Knysna), we opt for a three-hour guided tour to Jubilee Creek, in the mountains about 20 minutes outside Knysna and which was the site of a fierce, but short-lived, goldrush back in the 1800s.

Even today, you have to admire the guts of the miners who would plunge into the unknown through small adits and shafts in the thick forest, risking their lives for the glimmer of gold nuggets.

At one time, Jubilee Creek was a bit like Kimberley, or even Joburg at the start of their respective diamond and gold rushes. Hotels and, no doubt, bordellos quickly sprang up as adventurers and fortune-seekers from all over the world converged on what would turn out, in a very short time, to be a limited gold deposit.

The hotels and stores (and bordellos) soon closed, the forest won back the spaces which had been cleared and now the area is a quiet and beautiful walking route or a place where you can sit by a clear river and have a picnic.

Knysna, as a destination, has plenty to rival the popular Cape Peninsula: you have mountains, sea, adventure and beautiful scenery. But even when the town and its surrounds are packed over the Christmas season, you can still get away from the crowds.

Prices are, generally speaking, lower than they are for the equivalent accommodation and food than they are in Cape Town. And, in the last few years, Knysna has, by establishing a number of top-class boutique accommodation establishments and restaurants which cater to discerning local and international clientele, set out deliberately to prove that it is more than a quaint little town.

One is the Leisure Isle Lodge (www.leisureislelodge.co.za), where we stayed in pampered luxury for two nights. Situated right on the lagoon on Leisure Isle, the lodge bills itself as a boutique guest house and, if anything, that is an understatement. Furnishing is top-class and elegant, understated in a way which we sometimes don’t seem to get in Joburg.

Service is excellent, without being fawning or intrusive, and you cannot help but relax in surroundings like these. The lodge operates on a bed and breakfast basis but also has a restaurant – Daniela’s – which has attracted rave reviews. The lodge itself has been a multiple award winner in the AA hotels and guest houses competition. It also scores highly on guest opinions on sites such as tripadvisor.com, which shows that I am not alone in my view.

Quite simply, the Leisure Isle Lodge is hospitality as it should be done… world class.

Eating out has become a booming business in Knysna and we sampled a few restaurants during our short stay there. There was a memorable Sunday lunch (served buffet-style for a very reasonable R100 or so a head) at Sirocco Restaurant on Thesen Island, the large residential development in the lagoon.

Sirocco’s à la carte menu looks inviting, as does the first-floor deck, from where sunset cocktails can be enjoyed.

Of a different, but equally attractive, appeal is the East Head Cafe, which is perched on the rocks just under the looming Eastern Head at the entrance to the lagoon. It offers probably the best situation of any restaurant in the country, with an uninterrupted view of the crashing waves where ocean meets lagoon. My tip: try the basic fish and chips… how it should be done. And round it off with a superb coffee.

There is so much to do in and around Knysna that you need to plan ahead if you really want to see as much as you can.

I’ve been to Knysna many times and, each time I return, I find something new. In the past few years, I have noticed that the local tourism association has upped its game considerably and now offers a comprehensive, professional service for visitors.

And, when you’re in Knysna, you can use the town as a base to explore as far away as George,Oudtshoorn, Plettenberg Bay and the Garden Route, as well as the gem of the Tsitsikamma National Park.

But that would take another few editions of this publication to cover adequately.

I am going back at Christmas. I will be the one with his feet up lazing at a farm cottage in the forest, gazing at the Outeniqua Mountains. And maybe I’ll go down to thelagoon to watch one of those magnificent sunsets…

If You Go...

Knysna Tourism: www.visitknysna.co.za

Sirocco restaurant: www.sirocco.co.za

East Head Cafe: www/eastheadcafe.co.za

Township tours: www.emzinitours.co.za - Saturday Star

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