A peaceful trip to Paternoster

I had heard so many people talk about Paternoster in the Western Cape and how beautiful it is but I can safely say that it is even more beautiful than I imagined. This is a place you HAVE TO visit!

My hubby and I decided to go for one night in belated celebration of his 27th Birthday. Given that it was a February trip, we wanted it to be as ‘budget friendly’ as possible and used trusty booking.com to find a place to stay. We chose Smugglers’ Cottage due to a very affordable special they were having at the time on their family suite, and when we saw the pictures of the cute cottage we knew we’d scored ourselves a bargain.

Paternoster is situated along the West Coast, 2 hours North of Cape Town. The drive there is quick and enjoyable, especially given the many birds of prey sitting on the fences waiting to be spotted. I’m still working on my bird identification skills but I was able to identify Steppe Buzzards in the dozens and a few little Kestrels. We also had Justin Timberlake’s new album, ‘Man of the Woods’, blaring in the car which contributed to the road trip being over very quickly.

Upon recommendation by a friend (who’s blog you can find here), we made all our restaurant reservations long in advance because despite it being a small town, it’s a very popular holiday destination and the restaurants are very busy. We drove straight to our lunch spot, The Noisy Oyster which is an absolute must if you are in Paternoster. The whole experience was just amazing. From the colourful umbrellas that shade you from the midday sun, to the cute chalk boards lining the walls, to the amazing food and service, I literally did not want to leave.

We shared the Calamari and Egg Noodles starter which was out of this world and in case you were wondering, Calamari and Chorizo taste amazing together!! For mains we both had the Hake which was absolutely divine, and even the veggies were delicious (and I’m not usually a veggie fan). All in all it was the most amazing experience and we will definitely be back when we next visit Paternoster.

After lunch we went to check in at Smugglers’. When you drive through the small town with its white stone houses you can forgive yourself for thinking that you’re actually in Mykonos. The whole town has a very Greek feel to it which I absolutely loved. Smugglers’ was no different. A cute little “Greek” haven.

Abigail, the manager was so friendly right from the start and took us to our room. The Cottage is very quaint but has everything you need for a one night stay. Our bedroom overlooked the pool and we were just a short (2 minute) walk from the semi private beach.

Once we were checked in we immediately hit the beach. It was quite windy but it actually helped keep us cool as it was a scorcher of a day. The beach goes on for as far as the eye can see, the surf is quite flat and the water is as blue as the Aegean. Absolute perfection!

The sea is absolutely freezing but I braved the cold to get a few great pics #worthycause.

The wind picked up quite a bit in the late afternoon so we went back and lay by our pool and then got ready for dinner. We chose Leeto restaurant for dinner. It’s situated at the Strandloper Ocean Boutique Hotel and has the most amazing view of the bay. We once again had delicious food and received amazing service. A huge perk was the fact that they allow you to bring your own wine (there’s a small corkage fee of course), so we were able to take our Delaire Graff Banghoek Reserve Chardonnay 2015 which we bought in 2016 when we visited the farm (click here to read about that trip).

We had the Prawn & Calamari Risotto to start and then we both had the Beef Sirloin for main course (Nick has a habit of copying all my meal choices 😉 ) We ended off with a delicious Kahlúa Crème Brûlée. Each course was better than the one before and we left with full tummies and happy hearts having had the most perfect day from start to finish.

The wind absolute howled that night and I thought we might get blown away but other than that it was so peaceful and we slept so well. The next morning we were given a delicious 2 course brekkie at Smugglers’ and spent the morning by the pool until it was time to check out. We ended our trip with lunch at De See Kat where we had such delicious sushi with a stunning view of the bay, which was the perfect end to a fabulous trip.

If you are planning a trip to Paternoster, which I highly suggest you do, make sure you are prepared for relaxation. If you don’t enjoy eating, tanning or lying on the beach then it’s probably not the place for you as there’s really not much else to do. But if you want a relaxing getaway where there’s no shopping to distract you and nothing but beautiful views, sunshine and great food, then you’ll love Paternoster. I highly recommend it for a weekend!