For years, my child that was born a pirate, has wanted to visit the Kakapo Shipwreck on Noordhoek Beach… it is kind of an epic hike for small legs and an easy 8km run for long legs… It’s an absolutely fabulous family hike.

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There is a long expanse of Noordhoek Beach to cross… this beach is one of the most famous and beautiful beaches in the world for a reason!!! It is the beach where movies are made and you can see why… it is beautiful as far as the eye can see. There is a slight problem, that has put us off taking this walk and that is crime, yup it does put a bit of a dampener on things and I am only prepared to do this walk with a crowd of folk.
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Hike to the Kakapo


This walk starts at the Noordhoek end of the beach, underneath the shadow of Chapman’s Peak. When the lagoon is full, after winter rains, as you face the beach… you can head past it, on stepping stones, towards the right under Chapmen’s Peak Drive, and then make your way along the shore. Or, like we did, you can walk towards the left behind the lagoon, and yes, you will eventually get to a gap in the lagoon and be able to head towards the shoreline.
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It turned out to be a truly misty day, the day we headed out…
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And it was absolutely perfect for exploring and looking for a shipwreck…
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Along the dunes we went…
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There might have been some wading!!!
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Noordhoek beach is famous for horses and horse riding and we were lucky to see plenty of those…
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Some of us ran…
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Some of us walked…
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And eventually the wreck emerged from the mist…
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The SS Kakapo was steamship, headed from Great Britain to Australia in 1900. Unfortunately, as she passed Cape Town, she was met by the notorious Cape of Storms: a huge swell, driving rain, and howling winds. As the “new to the job” captain headed past Chapman’s Peak he thought he had passed Cape Point and made a sharp turn to Port… and they found themselves stranded on a the sandy shores of Noordhoek Beach. None of the crew were in fact injured and they all disembarked to safety the following day. All except the Captain, who was devastated by his error and continued to live on the wreck for three more years.
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While the captain might have been devestated, over a hundred years later, we had the happiest pirate in the world with us…
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From the wreck we headed on around the corner towards Kommetjie Beach. At the Southern end of Kommetjie Beach the path turns into a boardwalk…
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And it is an easy run onto the Slangkop Lighthouse.
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We did this run as part of the Global Zero Waste Run with Mina Guli and her team from the Thirstfoundation. and the litter scattered on the beach near the wreck was enormous. Firstly, there is a lot of onshore litter, washed up on the beash from passing ships and shipping… and secondly after the recent rains a lot of water carrying litter onto the beach, bringing litter onto the beach from the surrounding urban areas. There was a lot, lot, lot of litter here and definitely an area that needs a focused cleanup.

The Zero Waste Run


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So a gathering of folk for the #ZeroWasteRun was the perfect opportunity for us to go and visit the legendary wreck and cross the length of this beach.
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The ZeroWasteRun is a run where folk all over the world gathering all their miles that they walk or run for the entire week… and the idea is that along with our running we gather waste along our way and also raise awareness to the growing problem of Waste and how it is affecting our water supply, all over the world.

Other Runs/Cleanups We Did That Week…


It’s always a family and friends kind of an effort and it is always a load of fun to be part of a global event like the #ZeroWasteRun
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It’s not enough to run for Zero Waste, these are opportunities to get together with friends and do a cleanup… in the week of the Zero Waste Run we managed three big cleanups… so great work from the gang…

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Saving the Ocean, one plastic bag at a time.
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And we got to give a bunch of the Best Balega socks ever…
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To these lucky runners that we spotted while we were out doing our Zero Waste Run… and that friends is why you sign up and print out your number… so that we can spot you when you are out and about.
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And now we are ready for the next campaign…

#Sweat4Soap 12 -17 October


And yes, we will be putting our takkies/trainers on and running/walking/hiking a whole lot more during the week of 12 – 17 of October…
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Where every single kilometer you travel counts as another bar of donated soap… Join us… you can sign up over here and get your race number emailed to you.
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