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When you reach what remains of the wreck of the Nolloth, a 347-ton Dutch coaster carrying booze before it smacked into Albatross Rock off Olifantsbospunt in 1965, you'll know Brightwater — and its virulently vile houses, is behind you. Being what it is, and people being what they are, the authorities decided to salvage the liquor aboard the ship and built a road — the remains of which I've not found — along which to transport it to Cape Town.
Olifantsbospunt is, in many ways, a microcosm of Cape Point in that it offers a bit of everything. You'll not see much of the Nolloth but that's not because it's rusted away — although much has and some continues to be stolen by souvenir hunters. Most of its remaining structure lies beneath tons of sand, a white mass that has obscured its greater bulk for years. What remains visible is interesting enough to leave you surmising the events leading to it being there.
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The sand is an extension of the dunes at Platboom but the point's exposure ensures it's swiftly moved to its next destination, leaving a scoured and blasted stretch of sand and polished rock that reflects the late-aftenoon sun, covering much of its surface. Before reaching the rocky point, the wind has hollowed out a dish-shaped bowl which, when you wander into it, surrounds you in the barren isolation of a Marscape and, like long stretches of Brightwater, is as hot as a blast furnace in summer and as cold as Cape Town in winter.
Behind the sand stretch and under the mountain lie the fynbos-covered flats and marshes that make up the coastal plain and track the shore along the peninsula. Rich in plant, insect, bird and animal life, the dark soil is frequently a black blob of sludge or peat covering one or both of your shoes. In winter, hollows fill with water that break out to the sea in rich brown rivers and dunes lush with growth offer shelter. Most walkers follow the inland track found here but, unless you climb the escarpment, it's far less interesting than the coast.
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What is it that intrigues me about this area? The rest of the Point, with its remarkable geological formations and rock strata, hold me in thrall. But it is here, at Olifantsbosbaai, that you see geology in action — sifting and sorting, mixing and matching — laying down the next layer of the ages. I've countless pictures of rocks but those that fascinate me most are those which, when viewed close up, show the wind and sand at work, shaping a future we'll not be here to see.
So, if ever you're wandering down that way, towards the wrecks or back to Olifantsbos, and you chance across a middle-aged guy sitting on a whalebone in a sandstorm in the middle of nowhere, pay him no heed; he's doing what he enjoys most, i.e. watching time.
All too soon, the sand and rock become broken, rounded stone and, rather than head off towards Olifantsbos, it's time to head back towards the point and the wreck of the SS Thomas T. Tucker, a 14,000-ton (dw), 135m, three-month old U.S. liberty ship produced by the Houston Shipbuilding Corporation. She was one of 2,710 built by 18 shipyards in four years, and ran aground carrying a cargo including tanks and ammunition, on her maiden voyage in November 1942.
As broken and rusted as she is sixty-seven years later, spread in several pieces, including two boilers, across a swath of windswept beach and rock, you can still make out the Webster-Brinkley Co. name stamped into a section of what I assume to be her bow — I further assume the geared mechanism attached to it formed part of the for'ard gun mount.
Though few would think it today, the wreck of the SS Thomas T. Tucker was as large as that of the SA Seafarer, which sank off Sea Point in 1966.
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Two small-but-glorious bays, the first with a steeply sloping shore, separate the point from Olifantsbos. No matter the swell, exquisite wavelets enter these coves to break in perfection on a sandy beach that, at the right time of day, reflects the sun. Fingers of sea-shaped rock allow you to wander out and watch these 'bonsai' waves forming perfect barrels or long, point-break faces in brilliant, shining colour. Relatively sheltered, the beaches — when not covered in kelp, are generally filled with waders, oyster catchers, terns and gulls feeding themselves stupid.
Olifantsbospunt is an extraordinary place. Again, I tend to associate it with too many visitors but, hey, it's large enough to allow ten or twelve people explore it to their hearts' content without damping the spirit of an unspoilt day. I'd recommend it to any visitor with several hours to spare.
And, yes, bar the propensity of rocks to become slippery when wet, it makes for an easy, safe, take-as-long-as-you-like amble.
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