Beach Trips, Mini donuts 🍩 and Ice Cream 🍧

Well hello, stranger

Beach days and ice cream goes perfectly together. That is precisely what we did for our daily adventure. Pizza, beach, ice cream, swim, more ice cream and a quick visit to the Hartenbos Market. Hartenbos is normally crowded during the holidays as many tourists visit the ATKV campsite, but this is also a bonus since lifeguards in the area are more awake and there is plenty of activities to do, such as the Hartenbos Market. The market has decreased in size over the years, but, it is still something to do in Hartenbos and mini donuts make everything worthwhile! 🍩

So come along for our beach trip and market visit!

But first, beach adventures

Our day didn't start at the market, it started at the beach 😎. We met with family for the day and spend some time together at the beach. All of us wanted something to eat beforehand so we settled on pizza since two of us are not seafood people 😅. @technicalside and his sister lost this round, but I got my pizza so I was happy 😌.

Waves, sand, sun, clouds, peace and quiet!

The four of us enjoyed our pizza and make our way down to the beach. We met up with a few people and enjoyed the sunny weather. A few days prior whales washed up ashore and unfortunately after many attempts they could not be saved. Due to this, shark activity in the bay has increased. Lifeguards and a helicopter patrolled the beach the entire week. Just 20 minutes before we arrived at the beach, lifeguards "closed" the beach and no one was allowed in the water, since a few sharks were spotted close by. Despite this, we wanted to take a swim 🙈. Not the smartest choice, I know. We headed in for a quick swim, staying within sight of the lifeguards and making sure not to venture too deep into the ocean.

See, no sharks in sight. We are safe 😎.

After our swim, we got ice cream and jumped into our books! Well, I and @technicalside jumped into our books, and the rest of the group played touch rugby while "the old people" stayed behind to read. I'm currently reading Emma by Jane Austen. I'm a huge fan of Pride and the Prejudice and bought a mini library set a year ago with a collection of five Jane Austen novels.

@technicalside has started on the second book of Game of Thrones!

The two teams. Seeing as we were a small group and three of us didn't want to play, they were left with two players per team. Nevertheless, they still had a fun time.

You can't leave the beach without a few rocks and seashells, so we picked out a few to take back home with us. Look at the tiny red one!

Donuts, anyone?

A few chapters later and a bit more red than before, we made our way to the market in search of more ice cream and mini donuts. While we already got ice cream on the beach, @technicalside wanted a second helping. I on the other hand wanted donuts with sprinkles!! Sprinkles and only sprinkles. We compromised and got six with sprinkles and six with nuts.

Caramel or chocolate? Sprinkles or nuts? Or do you prefer ice cream? @technicalside couldn't pick and ended up getting ice cream and donuts. If the sweetness didn't give me a headache I might have joined him.

Hartenbos Market

Hartenbos market has been around for ages. The market takes place every year during the month of December since Hartenbos and Mossel bay attracts many tourists. It's the perfect opportunity for craftsmen to display and sell their handy works. There is a variety of things, from snacks, sweets, food, leather bags, shoes, frames, woodwork, oh my I can go on for ages.

The market has decreased in size since a large part of the open space was used for a shopping centre a few years ago. I liked the bigger market space more, you could stroll for hours and see all the different things, but now the space is limited and it can be a bit crowded. There are also way fewer stalls than there used to be.

The Hartenbos Market (Joubert Park) attracts many people since there is a variety of food stalls. I mean what do you want after a long swim? Food, everyone wants food.

Other than the food, you can find handmade items. Some of the woodwork you won't find in any shop and there is handmade jewellery as well. And of course, you can find all things needed for a fun beach vacation, such as hats, comfy shoes, beach toys for the kids and funky beach towels.

Thank you for coming along on our daily adventures. Beach trips are always filled with excitement and smile no matter how "boring" they may be. Until next time, stay safe and enjoy the few more days of the holiday season.