Articles in the Trennery's Category
Posted in Trennery's, Wild Coast on 11 September 2008
After crossing the ferry at Kei Mouth, Trennerys is some 27 kilometres to the north along the scenic Wild Coast. Not much goes on in Trennerys, and most of the life is focused around the Trennerys Hotel, a grand old lady along the coast, with a history that stretches back to the 1920s. It’s a great spot for day and longer visitors with a fantastic beach flanked by the very beautiful Qolorha River on the one side and the sea on the other. Quiet during the week, the hotel really comes alive over the weekend with day visitors and overnighters alike staying there.
Way back when:
Trennerys really got off the ground after Colonel Edward Gordon, a British Boer War and World War One hero settled here.
Col Gordon came out to South Africa in 1926 and while staying at a hotel in Port St Johns, he heard about a small community on the banks of the Qolorha River. He settled in the area in 1928 and with the help of a “Mrs Trennery” he founded the little hamlet and named it after his helper
GPS coordinates: S 32.63509 E 028.42669
How to get there from East London:
Take the N2 to Mthatha. Take the Kei Mouth, Haga-Haga turn off and continue to Kei Mouth. Once in Kei Mouth, take the turn-off to the Great Kei River. Travel across the ferry up the road for 11km until you get to the Trennery’s turn-off. Travel down this road for six kilometers and the Trennery’s Hotel turn-off is to your right.
The road there:
After crossing the ferry into the southern Transkei region, the road to Trennery’s is remarkably good except for the last bit going into the hotel itself.
Paid and stayed:
Although Trennery’s offers some comfortable accommodation, the team moved on and slept at the luxurious 3-star hotel in Mazeppa Bay.
Must eat:
The Trennery’s Hotel is the place for a quick lunch or a more luxurious seafood extravaganza over the weekend, serving prawns and other well-prepared ocean delicacies.
Tourist-friendly rating: 4/5
Locals only:
Things get very noisy over Sundays when weekend warriors in their 4×4s and off-road bikes rumble through the area without so much as paying a thought to local residents - if you like to travel thrrough this area, remember - being considerate costs nothing.
Must do:
Take a tour with local resident and Trennery’s guru Trevor Wiggley and his flora expert Siphiwo Nkonki, who knows the area like the back of his hand. Go for a swim or just hang out on the sun deck at the Trennery’s Hotel.
When on tour with Trevor, the spectacular water world called The Gates is a must visit. For those ones brave at heart, there is a 5-metre jump off a cliff edge at The Gates.
Trennery’s is a kid-friendly place, with a fantastic entertainment area even for teenagers at the hotel’s aptly named “Wreck-ration room” including video games and ever popular entertainers like table-tennis.
Click on the video clips below to view
Posted in Kei Mouth, On the road, Trennery's on 3 September 2008
The plan was simple: cross the ferry at Kei Mouth and hook up with Trevor Wigley, local guru on all things around Trennery’s on the southern Wild Coast and then make a beeline for Mazeppa Bay.
But we forgot about Mother Nature.
Posted in On the road, Trennery's on 3 September 2008
I, (David “Guava” Macgregor – Online news ed.) hate maps with a passion because they make things look so simple. On paper, A to B is only “25 kays”, but on the back roads of the southern tip of Africa they might as well be 100.
Planning a road trip from the comfort of a city office is always a far easier task than bouncing down back roads - chewing the dust of an overloaded Zola Budd. (more…)
(4.71 out of 5)