Seven Reasons Why George Is A Cool Place To Visit

Vic Bay Surf Pro, Fog Rolling in © Kody McGregor/ WSL

The town of George was established in 1811 and named after the ruling British king, George III. George served as a woodcutter’s outpost, supplying timber to the Cape Colony for many years. Initially, the town grew slowly, partly due to the lack of accessible roads through the Outeniqua Mountains. Inland trade could develop when the Outeniqua Pass opened in 1847, and George flourished.

Living in a small place like Cape St Francis, we don’t often get to enjoy fine dining of the sorts of The Spur, Burger King, Steers and Panarotti’s. Well, this all changes in George. It is a literal highway of takeaways and easy comfort-food restaurants.

Spurring

We chose the Timber Wolf Spur over the Geronimo Spur because it was closer, but I nearly had a Utopian Freakout of sorts when trying to deal with the choice of two Spurs in a small town. How can two identical restaurants exist in one town? What dark magic is this?

Parking near the spot where Mark Lifman was murdered was a little unsettling, but we had Chico The Clowns on our minds, so we dealt with it calmly.

Great Spur funny waiter, lots of kids and a birthday, excellent entertainment people-watching.

The always delicious Chico the Clown

Price Gouging

We were desperate for a place to stay down at Victoria Bay as we were in the neighbourhood for the Vic Bay Surf Pro. I made a few phone calls and found a little two-bed apartment at the beach. The truncated WhatsApp conversation with the agent went like this.

How much is it?

R1,500 per night.

Can I park my car down there?

Yes.

I’ll take it. Thanks.

Ok. Actually, it’s R2,700 per night as it is a long weekend.

No thanks. That’s out of my budget.

Ok.

I walked past that apartment about a hundred times over the weekend. There it stood, empty the whole time, curtains drawn. It was a very average business practice. Still, facing this class of business dealings led me to The George Town Lodge.

Lodging

We booked online at the George Town Lodge. Unfortunately, the online system didn’t tell us they were undergoing massive alterations and that the bar and restaurant were temporarily closed. Still, they could serve drinks and food in another little room elsewhere. It wasn’t a problem. The room was clean and tidy, the staff were amazing, and despite the trepidation about entering a building with anything higher than a ground floor in George, we felt safe and secure there. Thank you for a wonderful, un-price-gouged stay.

The Weather

George. CAW. Cold and wet. It rained from Storms River to George—torrential rain. The ocean was freezing, so a thick fog bank came off the sea at Victoria Bay. This fog caused the Vic Bay Surf Pro surf event to be put on hold eight times in one day as the surfers were engulfed by the mist and disappeared from the assembled judges. When the fog disappeared, it was a blazing hot day in the mid-30s. When it came back – as mentioned 8 times – it was a day for jackets and beanies. So if you could call weather exciting, this was the place for exciting weather.

Pirates

While in the car park at Victoria Bay on Saturday for the Vic Bay Surf Pro, two pirates came stumbling down the hill straight from the jol. These ous looked like two throwback brommers from some long-lost punk band like Decapitated Cattle that had burnt out in a shit-storm of crystal methamphetamine 20 years ago and, amidst all the noise in their heads, had forgotten that they no longer had band practice anymore. Wearing cut-off denim jackets, ciggie hanging off moustached lips, and both desperately needing sunglasses, they stared in amazement and love at the by-law sign at the gate to the beach road (no dogs, no litter, no fires, no bicycles, etc.) and started taking photos of it, probably with their Nokia 3110’s. Wonderful, eccentric George characters adding to the vibe.

Construction

If you are an enthusiastic civil engineering student or someone fascinated by roadworks, then George is the place to retire. The roadworks between George and Wilderness have been going on for about three decades due to a local breakdown in the space-time continuum. It won’t be finished until about 2058, so there is plenty of time to marvel at people in orange vests and hard hats standing around looking at things, digger-loaders going up and down the hill for no reason, one-way stop-go roadblocks while the other lanes are empty and drivable, and semi-skilled traffic officers looking very serious at everyone in a car.

Local nature lovers

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the outdoors, but in George, it often comes with a cheerful side of weirdness. Every second person is either a nudist hiker, a barefoot trail runner, or a bearded non-binary nature photographer who likes to tell everyone how pure and untouched their lifestyle is and reminds you that if you’re not worshipping the Outeniqua Mountains daily, you’re out of the game.