Visiting Mary-Anne in Kleinmond

Kleinmond is special to me as, apart from being beautiful, it is where I met Ally on New Year's eve 1992.  The highlight of our two days here was two sublime swims in the Palmiet River and one very invigorating, chilly swim in the ocean.  It was also wonderful to get to know Mary-Anne's beautiful dog, Mitch.  

First Palmiet river swim

Swim at Palmiet River bridge

Cold ocean swim

Stroll at Kleinmond beach and lagoon

Drive home

Mermaid Falls

A great day out with Rajesh, Asesh and a lovely new guy, Krishna. Being Mermaid Falls, I had to do my usual leap.  It was a brutally hot day but regular swims in the cool river made it bearable.  Thankfully some cloud cover also gave us some respite later in the day.

Ode to things I love: Swimming in rivers and mountain pools

 What I love about it

• Invigorating. You feel so alive!
• Swimming after getting hot from hiking is an instant way to recharge.
• Leaping in from a high place provides a wonderful adrenaline high.
• Swimming down to touch the bottom.
• How it can be warm on the surface and cold below.
• Massaging the shoulders and back under a the strong jet of a water fall.
• A great way to bond with fellow hikers.

Favourite swims

Australia

• Hawkesbury River (from a house boat)
• Barrington Tops
• Mangrove Mountain
• Colo River
• Shoalhaven Gorge
• Mermaids Pool and Tahmoor Canyon
• Centennial Glen (Blue Mountains)
• Empress Falls (Wentworth, Blue Mountains)
• Lake Eckersley (Royal National Park)
• Xmas at Paradise (Blue Mountains)
• Canyoning

South Africa

• Beaverlac
• Tweede Tol camp site at Bains Kloof
• Palmiet River
• Ceres farm
• Tsitsikama Hiking Trail
• Fish River canyon
• Silvermine
• Storms River waterfall
• Otter Trail river crossing
• Table Mountain reservoir with Russell
• Tugella Falls (Drakensberg)
• Wit Els

Brazil

• Iguazu Falls

High leaps into water

• Suicide Gorge (South Africa)
• Mermaid Falls (Australia)
• Parati leap (Brazil)
• The Hawkesbury (Australia)

The Grand Canyon and Centennial Glen after all the rain

The water was out in force in The Blue Mountains after all the rain.  We had to cross some rampant streams and even help a family of young kids to get across. The highlight of the day was an invigorating swim in a canyon rock pool with a thundering waterfall at our backs. Such a great day out despite Srini spraining his foot and having to take it very easy.

The Grand Canyon

Centennial Glen