FISH HOEK

Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Distance: 2,3 km

Route: Circular
(Dogs allowed )

Brief Description
An easy climb to a mountain top overlooking Fish Hoek and Glencairn, with a panoramic view over the whole of False Bay. During August, September and October you will possibly even see whales breaching (jumping almost clear of the water and crashing down on their sides). And the fynbos is quite special here, having been rescued by a voluntary conservation group from certain annihilation by alien plant invaders.

Start
Leave the Glencajrn Main Road at the turn-off to Kommetjie (M6). ASter 200 m turn right into Birkenhead. Proceed up the hill and left into Clan Stewart Street. After some 800 m along Clan Stewart, turn right into Golconda and continue past side streets to the very top. At the highest point of Golconda a small tarred track with a chain across it starts off up the mountain.

Directions
The tarred track soon cuts back on itself and becomes gravel. At the corner you will notice some steps, which are your return route. Walk along the gravel road for about five minutes. At a point about 150 m before a concrete reservoir there are some log steps going up to the right. Take them to the nek above. Just after reaching the top of the hill, the path forks. Go right, and a few minutes later come to a T-junction on the floor of the valley. Turn right again and you will soon arrive at the back of a quarry with lots of loose scree, before the path swings to the right again. Soon after another fork presents itself. Once again take the right option. The path begins to climb and near the top of the rise deviates from what used to be the badly eroded path. The old path is filled with branches and the new one is clearly marked out as it crisscrosses over the old. Eventually it swings over from the Glencairn side to the Fish Hoek side and joins another path coming up from the old quarry. Turn right and soon you will see the Elsies Peak trig beacon and a 35 m high communications tower (used for cellphones, police security communications etc.).
Just before the mast, a side path goes off to the right (your return route) and five metres further on, another to the left, to a viewsite over Fish Hoek. The highest point and trig beacon is a few metres beyond the mast.

From here, enjoy the majestic sweep of coastline all the way around False Bay to Hangklip.
Retrace your steps from the beacon for about 100 m, then take the side path to the left. It soon begins descending the mountain in the direction of Glencairn, and within twenty minutes or so will return you to your car.

Points of Interest

• A large whaling station was built at Kalk Bay in 1806, but was forced to close five years later because the whale population had declined so rapidly. Two centuries later, however, they keep returning each year in increasing numbers. The whales you will see between August and October are mostly southern right whales. Rather sadly, they are called “right whales” because they were the “right” whales to kill. They have a longer and more flexible baleen (food filter), which was once valuable to industry. Also, their carcasses floated and they were easier to tow and strip at sea.
  
• The immense size of these mammals has to be compared with more familiar animals to be really appreciated. Most of the southern right adults you will see, weigh the equivalent of 10 elephants. As large as that seems, however, it is nowhere near the size of the largest animal that has ever lived on this planet. The blue whale, which still occurs in certain parts of the globe, but not here, grows to over 30 m in length and weighs 7140 tons —about the weight of 30 elephants.

• Southern right calves average 6,1 m in length at birth and weigh as much as five adult elephants. Whilst suckling they consume 600 litres of milk per day.
  
• Elsies Peak was not named after a lady, but a tree. It takes its name from the river which flows below it through the Glencairn Valley: the Elsies River. The river in turn took its name from the else or rooiels trees which used to line its banks. Not only was the name corrupted to Elsie, but the rooiels trees were displaced by alien plant invaders.