Forest Cottages

Gouna is a small community of farms on the the ‘Komse Pad’ road lying between the Gouna and Diepwalle indigenous forests. The area was originally settled by a group of Italians in the late 1800s with the intention of developing a local silk industry. The San Abrosio Church and Museum which is still owned by one of their descendants tells their story. Turn off the Salt River road which takes you past Simola on a spectacular drive across the Gouna river, through the Gouna pass and up the mountain where you can spot the Crown Eagle as well as buck, bush-pig, the honey badger, porcupines and if you are in luck a leopard.

If you turn left at the San Abrosio Church you will find a wooden gate and a sign to the Stone Cottage Forest Nook Farm.

Stone cottage Gouna Forest

The owners have built a river-stone cottage wrapped around a luxury caravan which offers visitors a unique and tastefully furnished, yet simple, comfortable getaway. It’s accommodates five with a double bedroom, shower and bath in the cottage and a double bedroom and single in the caravan. It’s fully equipped for self-catering providing linen, towels, cutlery, crockery, Webber braai (with outside braai/fire), DSTV and an automatic washing machine

It’s a perfect location for cyclists and mountain bikers you’re in the right spot, as Gouna is famous for the ‘Komse Pad’ trail and the majestic Prince Alfred Pass.

On route to Jubilee Creek one can travel via Phantom Pass. The old pass clings to the edges of the lagoon and then climbs up and away.
It is a wonderful gravel road, fondly used by adventurous cyclists, or vehicles, whose passengers seek ‘the road less travelled’.

The pass eventually does end, and connects to a tar road that takes you along, past one of the original, marvellous old homesteads, ‘Portland Manor’, and on to Rheenendal.

Jubilee Creek lies in the depths of the Indigenous Forest.
It as a picnic spot of the most romantic kind, ringed round with green peacefulness. There are great smooth swathes of grass, that welcome a spread blanket laid down in a shady hollow.

The giant trees crowd around the edges, their great trunks thrusting up and supporting the leafy canopy above. At ground level the massive ferns cluster and cling to the tree bark, and a tangle of vines grows very close, hinting at the mighty spread of forest beyond.

A wander into that deep shade is not to be undertaken lightly, as this is a forest that still hides elephant and leopard and a myriad of other exotic animal and bird life. If luck is on your side you may just glimpse a dazzling Loerie, but stillness and silence is necessary for a sighting of this shy bird.

A lazy river slides by this tranquil spot, deep enough in places for a refreshing swim. Summer sees a multitude of children splashing gleefully at play.

The forest shows its friendly face here, a place of fun and laughter. But don’t be fooled, deep mystery lies just beyond the tree line, still mostly unknown.

The Garden Route was party to its very own Gold Rush once upon a time.
It did not last long, but a proper little town was built at Millwood, to accommodate hundreds of people.
Well, when the fever passed, and everyone went home, a little bit of that time remained, at Millwood.

Most of the houses built there were dismantled and transported to town where they were put together again, and Knysna still boasts a few of these wood and iron houses here and there.
Millwood itself has one or two buildings, exhibiting the quaintness found in a bygone era.

Beauty abounds in this interesting place, still littered with abandoned mining tunnels and shafts.
At the ‘Millwood Nature Reserve’ the views are magnificent, which are shown to best advantage in the 5 km walk, taking about 2 hours.

The site is perfect for a leisurely picnic, during which one can try and imagine the hustle and bustle, the excitement and fervour of those early miners.
The forest is silent about all that now, the dashed hopes and the forsaken dreams.

It is still now , and peaceful, the site reclaimed by nature, and yet, one can feel them still…
The ghostly presence of those hundreds of dreamers, the clanging and the banging.
It’s there somewhere, in the silence.

The meaning of “Knysna” ties back to the Koi people and either ferns, place of wood, or place of wood and water, and one only has to wonder through indigenous forest to appreciate the impact of all three these components. But it was the early settlers to this place who really established the link between the name and timber. Timber, from trees that were here long before the first white people settled in the Cape of Good Hope, or others settled in Knysna.
The old homes in Knysna, built by the early inhabitants, are renown for exquisite Yellowwood floors and ceilings, panelling from Stinkwood, Blackwood, Iron wood, and numerous other species found in the local forests.
At that time pine and gum plantation did not exist, and all the timber homes were built from indigenous timber. Sadly all the modern timber structures are built from pine planks or logs. Saligna, Kerry, or Gumtree beams and decking are the norm, because the price of indigenous timber has become prohibitive.
As in all industries different people bring different concepts to the table. In Knysna a timber home could be and old NST solid timber log home, I could be a later version T&B solid log home, or it could be a home constructed from a variety of half logs, planking, or tongue and groove slats. Many of the earlier timber homes were constructed from horizontal pine planking in an overlap pattern. As the construction progresses from floor to ceiling height, each horizontal plank overlaps 25% to 30% of the previously installed plank. The exterior was then painted with a bitumen resin, and the uprights or foundation posts used for many timber homes built on steep slopes, are all bitumen treated to protect the timber from borer or other insect invasion and destruction.
More on timber home in the next edition.
The Professor

From a distance the world looks blue and green. Knysna looks like that close up.
The blue of sky, sea, river and lagoon. The green of the hills, dense foliage and forests.

Naturally, visitors seem more inclined to explore the blue world. The allure of azure sea and sail boat. The sleepy lagoon late in the day, with sundowner in hand and eyes turned to watch the sun set.

The green world is almost forgotten, a mere bowl of hill and dale to contain all that water.

And yet, when ventured into, that emerald world can be one of green peace and serenity, rarely found.

The ancient forests of Knysna hold many secrets close to their bearded tree trunk chests.

A world so dense and mysterious that creatures as large as elephants can hide completely and be rarely ever glimpsed. A world within which the illusive Loerie remains a rare and precious winged jewel. Such a local treasure, yet hardly seen and only seldom heard.

This world of green has been known to swallow men whole. A tangled jungle so close to highways and byways, to be whizzed through, with most folk unaware of its depths or heights. Of trees that were full grown when Christ walked and this Calendar began, they stand still, seeing all.

This is a no mere picnic place. It is untouched yet, and waiting.

Forest cottages and weekend destinations in South Africa. Secluded log cabins, stone cottages offering rustic retreats and back to nature eco-experiences. Features reviews and recommendations