Coldstream Things to Do

To complicate the whole construction, much of the road needed to be cut in the band of shale as this was the least unstable of the local rock formations. Once construction started, it progressed quickly, reaching Bloukrans by 1881 and Storms River by 1884 with that pass completed a year later. It was then relatively straightforward for the new road to sweep across the marine plateau and in to Port Elizabeth. Then in the late 1940s, there was an urgent need to upgrade the whole route, and it became necessary to rebuild the bridges. Despite wanting a modern highway, it was clear that ? even 60 years later ? it was still Bain?s alignment that was most suitable for construction, and most of the upgrading involved widening, bridge reconstruction and asphalting. However, as one concession to modern engineering, it was decided to construct a bridge across the Storms River in the early 1950s (separate review). The high-level bridges at Bloukrans and Groot River were built some 30 years later in 1983 during the construction of the new N2 toll road. The height of the Bloukrans Bridge has subsequently brought the area further fame as the bridge is home to the world?s highest bungee jump ? at 216 metres.

The Bloukrans River forms one of the many deep, impassable gorges of the Tsitsikamma National Park, and it wasn’t until 1884 that Thomas Bain, the South African master road-builder managed to complete a road from Knysna to Port Elizabeth. Given the huge canyons, the dense indigenous forest and the complete absence of tracks had made it seem impossible just 30 years before, but then the Great Fire of 1869 decimated vast swathes of forest in the area. However, it was not until 1879 that Bain managed to complete the preliminary survey, and construction started shortly afterwards with the preliminary path for transporting construction materials. As was common, convict labour was used in large numbers to cut the road down, across and up the Groot and Bloukrans Rivers, but also through the numerous smaller valleys and canyons, including the substantial – but technically easier – Storm River canyon. Although The Tradouw Pass (near Swellendam) is considered Bain’s engineering masterpiece, the complexity of these coastal passes is awesome, even today.

Alongside the Protea Hotel is a small row of shops, each painted a different shocking colour. It's so shocking - pink, orange, turquoise - that they are possibly the only shop fronts visible from outer space.
One of these contains a showroom-cum-museum of old Cadillacs, including the specials from 1958, 1959 and 1960. There are also several more recent models. The automobiles (you just cannot call them 'cars'!) are kept inside and the space is a bit cramped, but there is enough room to admire the many miles of chrome, steel and leather. Detroit just doesn't make them like this any more. Come to think of it, Detroit barely makes anything these days. Whatever...this ten minute detour is well worth it.

With commercial timber plantations covering much of the old benchcut platform around the 200 metre contour, the rest of the national park sits on the northern slopes of the Tsitsikamma mountains to the north. Over the years, the decades and the centuries, this forested coastal region has been regularly hit by serious fires: whole mountainsides have been denuded, with the forest cover removed by fire. The southern slopes of the Tsitsikamma are almost bare, except for isolated patches of forest that miraculously survived the flames. For this reason, the southern slopes of the range have been excluded from the National Park. Gazing over these southern slopes is a sobering experience. It is indicative of man's ignorance of ecosystems that the practice of logging out particularly large specimen trees in the early days led to this destruction. The thick vine "roof" of the indigenous forest acts to keep out the wind and reduces the oxygen in the lower strata of the forest, but once holes are created, air can circulate that feeds the fire. For proof of the "fire-proofing" capability of the indigenous forest, check the devastating fires that have occurred in recent years in the commercial pine plantations between Nature's Valley and the N2 tollgate: note how the fire burns out within a few metres of the indigenous forest. The complete removal of the indigenous forest has removed what would be an incredibly effective natural firebreak.
The park stretches for some 80km along the coastline, with the two main access point at Nature's Valley at the western end, and at Storms River Mouth, 20km east, now accessible only from the N2 toll road.