The last time Seth and I were in Jeffrey’s Bay, I was heavily pregnant with our Kyla Bell. So it’s kind of fitting that we were back there to celebrate her birthday. We were so blessed to be able to stay with the amazing Watson family in their beautiful and welcoming home. I love being able to connect with people who live in the area and have the experience of “living like a local”.
The kids were in their absolute element. The last time they were able to play with kids their own age, we were back in Mossel Bay, just a week into our trip. Montana has a brother who is just about Knox’s age and so they all had friends to play with. It was actually quite weird not being all up in each others spaces while we were there, like the kids entertained themselves and we got a chance to chat with other adults. It was really quite lovely for all of us.
One of the other reasons that we were in Jeffrey’s Bay is that Incompass Insurance Consultants (my business) has a branch out there. Yup, that’s right. I’m still working. Judging by the amount of people who have asked me this on Instagram, I’m guessing you may not know 🙂 I co-own an insurance brokerage that provides specialised short term insurance for the guest house / AirBnB industry as well as personal and commercial insurance. I don’t usually talk about it but I figured, why not. It’s a big part of who I am.
We have branches in Jeffrey’s Bay, Durban and Johannesburg as well as Cape Town obviously. Working on the road is difficult, but at least in this type of industry it’s at least possible. Hit me up if you need some options on insurance cover, I’m sure I can help you personally, or I can get my people in the various areas to get in touch with you directly. We also do insurance for those outside those areas, but via email as opposed to a face to face visit.
Anyway, part of our time in Jeffrey’s Bay was for me to connect with Rob, our consultant there. We spent one of the mornings working on somethings but on another one of the days, he took us out to the Gamtoos River on his boat. It was a freezing cold morning, like dragon breath and shivering kind of cold, but we were kitted out in shorts and bathers under all our jackets. We needed to be able to get in and out of the boat in the water. Not going to lie, it made me not want to go but it turned out to be one of the best days that we have had. It was incredibly cold out on the water, like toes freezing off and falling in the water kind of cold, but once we got to the dunes and it heated up it was absolutely stunning.
I couldn’t get over how untouched by pollution and just general humanness the dunes were. It was a little slice of heaven. I can only imagine what it would be like on a properly warm day. I think it was at this point that I started wondering whether our life in Cape Town was really worth going back to haha. (It is, don’t freak out family) I just mean that life in the smaller towns is just so laid back and full of natural beauty it’s hard to resist wanting to immerse ourselves in it a little longer.
That said, I think we are definitely going to have more of an adventurous spirit when we get back. And when I say we, I mean me. My family has always been about exploring and experiencing. I’m the reserved one not wanting to branch out of my comfort zone. Oh how this trip has challenged that at every turn.
The rest of the time in Jeffrey’s Bay we spent with the wonderful Watsons. It was so lekker to connect with them and spend time with them doing normal things like going to church. We spent time combing the beach for shells, chatting on the sand, playing with their sweet little puppy Lightning and chilling out. It was so great!
Another cool thing that we experienced was the rock octopus that live there. I didn’t even know that this was a thing! Octopus on the rocks?! No way. But then we saw some and it totally made my day. I love these creatures (from a distance) and it was really cool getting to see them up close.
We had such a wonderful time there so it was difficult to pack up and leave but we had to move on to our next stop. Port Elizabeth. Now I know that this place sometimes gets a bit of a bad wrap for not being worth a visit, but I beg to differ. It’s a sweet little city with lots to do. Check in next time I get a chance to post and see why.
6 comments
It sounds like you guys are having the most amazing time! Like you’re the Brady bunch, happy and loving life every day…I assume it’s not always like that though?!?! When I told my colleague about your adventure, the one thing we both agreed on was that we couldn’t imagine spending SO MUCH TIME with kids in a small van. But each to their own 🙂 I am definitely enjoying this vicariously through you, haha. We’re off to PE in a month’s time so interested to read your post about what you did – my in-laws are from there so we’ve travelled there loads of times, but now that the kids are bigger (we last went three years ago), we really want to DO a few things instead of just spending time with family.
It’s definitely not always like that at all, but the bad times are somehow getting less and less. Move days are heck of a stressful though and then we tend to all be in bad moods, but otherwise I actually enjoy seeing my kids up close every day and i NEVER thought I would say that.
Can I just say how much I envy you? The courage to do this! Gosh you inspire me. I’ve been following your journey and it looks amazing.
J-bay is on my bucket list along with surfing there.
Wishing you guys a safe journey and plenty of enjoyment.
JBay deserves to be on that list – i wish that we had a moment to surf – but the waves weren’t great apparently. Thank you for following along with us 🙂
Stunning pics of the fam
Jeffreys Bay is definitely worth another visit when it’s warmer. It has the most wonderful waves that don’t actually crash so you just bob around in the sea.
I’m not a fan of swimming in the sea, or swimming in general really, but we’ll definitely be back to spend more time there.