THE WHITE HOUSE BEACH VILLA
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else.the styling creases are not awkward, proportions are tidy, and the detailing is subtle, but attractive.
As I fuel for the trip, the pump attendant (underrated connoisseurs of automotive trends) positively remarks on the appearance and colour of the Landwind before I return to the vast blacktop that is Route 27 and resist the R27 syndrome of leaving the suburbs of Cape Town with the sole intention of getting to Langebaan as expediently as possible.
The Landwind is themed inside with sufficient features, but some troubling ergonomics. It is great having a powered driver’s seat, but not so great when that
A single visit to Yzerfontein is the choice cure to that dreaded R27 syndrome. Problem is, you will never again be able to venture past without taking the turn-off.
comes at the cost of any possible height adjustment. I find myself peering down, instead of over, the bonnet.
That aside, the Landwind 5 is decently equipped with dual airbags and Smartphone synching infotainment system. Despite the rising outside temperatures, the characteristic Chinese car cabin fail, horrid plastic fumes, are pleasantly absent.
The R27 is not a dual carriageway and heavy trucking traffic between the ports of Cape Town and Saldanha can make driving a yellow-lane chore if you are not in a vehicle of sufficient pace. Powered by a turbocharged Mitsubishi 2-litre engine,good for 140 kw and 250 Nm, the Landwind 5 is certainly not a yellow-lane crawler.the new 8-speed auto transmission shifts power to the front wheels, but while throttle response is keen enough, the transmission hunts and the engine lurches at odd places in its rev-range.
Soon enough, the turn-off to our R27 gem comes into view.the junction turnoff reveals a Landwind weakness: bodyroll. Lots of it. And, although it does not have an outrageous amount of ground clearance (190 mm), the suspension compression has been calibrated way too softly. There is, however, communicative hydraulic powersteering to interpret what it is doing, but this is one crossover that does not take happily to being hurried through a change of direction.
As you route westward, the harbour village of Yzerfontein frames the horizon. Rolling into town, you pass a huge paved parking area with whitewashed concrete tables on the left – testament to the commercial fishing activity which has gifted Yzerfontein its special status: it is the only heavy-duty ski boat launch between the Cape Town Waterfront and Saldanha.
The town itself is unlike other west coast villages: hilly, instead of flat.towering threestory houses terrace down the topography, with a rocky island one kilometre out to sea anchoring your view as it guards the narrow channel into Yzerfontein harbour. Established as a village in 1937, a commitment to urban conservancy has seen Yzerfontein retain its billing as a haven for marine biodiversity.
Extending North, from the caravan park into the West Coast national park, is the longest stretch of uninterrupted sand shoreline in South Africa: the iconic 16mile beach.
The village is anchored, quite literally, by its heroic little harbour that features some of the most exposed breakwater points in South Africa, which has now been fenced to prevent pedestrian access – quite sensibly, considering the magnitude of waves which regularly wash right over the harbour wall.
Extending from the harbour all the way around to the southerly border of Yzerfontein,pearl Bay is an exquisite network of walking trails, beautifully kept, dotted with viewing benches to admire passing pods of dolphin or migratory whales.you are never unaware of the proximity of the ocean, especially its raw power, in Yzerfontein. Though the rock angling, lobstering, and surfing is excellent, all watersports here are graded for experts only.
The quality of eating has no such gatekeeping. Lobster and fish: these