Weekend Getaway: Kaia at Outerkom

15 May 2016 - 02:00 By Paul Ash

Paul Ash, lover of lighthouses and shipwrecks, battens down the hatches in this self-catering cottage in Kommetjie Our story begins with the freighter SS Kakapo ploughing southwards off the Cape peninsula on a storm-swept night in May 1900.It was a maiden voyage not only for the ship, named for a parrot found in New Zealand - although given how the night ended, the Afrikaans slang is apposite - but also for her captain, Niels Peter Fischer Nicolaysen, who was making his first voyage with a freshly minted master's ticket.She was a little ship - just 665 tons - and laden, like poet John Masefield's "dirty British coaster", with coal.story_article_left1Late in the afternoon of May 25, as the vessel rolled along in a northwesterly gale, Nicolaysen saw what he thought was Cape Point slightly behind and to the east, ordered the helm hard-a-port and surged onwards into the gathering gloom.As it happened, the land he saw was most likely Chapman's Peak and it was not too long before the brand-new SS Kakapo came surging out of the rain at full steam ahead and onto the surf-pounded sands of Long Beach.And that was that. No one but the ship was hurt although the story goes that the hapless skipper refused to speak to reporters or officials, would not, in fact, even leave the vessel for days afterwards.To prevent further such blunders, the authorities decided to build a lighthouse south of the beach at what is now Kommetjie. The elegant steel structure was commissioned in March 1919.Its beam - four flashes every minute - can be seen 33 nautical miles out to sea.There is something deeply comforting about sleeping under the revolving glow of a lighthouse beam and that's just one of the things that Kaia, a tiny self-catering cottage just 70m from Kommetjie's seafront, has going for it.The others would be the smell of the iodine-tinged ocean - from the kelp - the sound of the surf on the Outer Kom and the good, sea air through the balcony doors that envelops and soothes your sleep.full_story_image_vleft1A weekend at Kaia would cure many things. But as you watch the lighthouse beam flash on the mountain and the sea, spare a thought for Captain Nicolaysen, whose blunder on a stormy night is the source of our subsequent pleasures.sub_head_start IF YOU GO... sub_head_endWHY GO THERE: For the peace of heart that comes from good air and the smell and sound of the sea just metres from the front door in a quiet garden in a quiet street. WHAT IT HAS: story_article_right2Kaia has an en-suite double bedroom with a deck on the top floor and an open-plan kitchen and dining room — with a double sleeper couch in a nook on the ground floor. Plus lots of double-collared sunbirds, which thrive in Kommetjie. WHAT IT’S LIKE: It’s unfussy and simple — perfect for a couple looking to get away from the madness of their daily lives. AND THE FOOD: How good a cook are you? If you don’t feel like cookingdoing that, there’s always Fisherman’s in the village which has great pub food and outstanding pizza. I’d also drive a long way for the samooosas from the café across the road.RATES: R750 per night May to October, R850pn November to May. Singles R500 a night.CONTACT: Duncan or Jocelyn Duffett on 021-783-3061-or 084-368-2545, e-mail outerkom@absamail.co.za. ..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.