Sedgefield-on-sea

Stanley Island is the only privately owned island in South Africa and no doubt someone out there in reader land would love to rule an island kingdom, especially at the price of a three bedroom apartment in London. Somehow this seems like a better deal.
The Island sits in the spectacularly beautiful Keurbooms River Lagoon, only 3 miles outside Plettenberg Bay, jewel of the Garden Route, lying 280 miles east of Cape Town on the warm Indian Ocean. Long before Van Riebeeck landed in the Cape, Portuguese explorers of the 15th and 16th Centuries called in and charted the bay, the first being Bartholomew Diaz in 1847. Ninety years later Manual da Perestrello aptly called it "Bahia Formosa" or Bay Beautiful. The Governor of the Cape, Baron Joachim van Plettenberg, renamed the town in 1779. In 1910 Captain Sinclair set up the whaling station on Beacon Island to slaughter the placid Southern Right whales, but ceased operations in 1916. The first hotel was erected by Hugh Owen Grant in 1940 and replaced in 1972 by the well known landmark on Beacon Island.
Plett is backed by the majestic Outeniqua Mountains and overlooks the moody tidal Keurbooms lagoon and miles of white sandy beaches. The ocean is home to 100 species of fish. Between July and November the 15 meter long Southern Right whales come into the bay to calve and are often seen wreaking havoc with the ocean just behind the breakers.
Stanley Island was owned by the Stanley brothers who manned the Pont across the Keurbooms River before the bridge was built. They walked their cattle over at low tide and grazed them on the Island. Ludd and Barbara de Bruijn, who owned a game farm in Somerset East, bought it and the Island was renamed Ludd's Island. They then erected the buildings which are still there today to entertain their guests prior to flying on to hunting safaris.
Its name since reverted back to Stanley Island and it is currently operating as a lodge and adventure destination.
The Island is 30 hectares, 1.6 km long and 400 meter wide, with a grass landing strip for small aircrafts. The lodge offers accommodation in picturesque up-market thatched cottages with double rooms (en suite). Their highly acclaimed meals are served in a rustic thatched waterside restaurant with a separate pub and lounge adjoining the dining area.
There are loads of activities on offer: motorised glider flights perfect for whale and dolphin spotting; deep-sea fishing; horse riding; two international standard polo fields; the world's highest bungee jump and so on.
The Island is a nature reservation area and has its own indigenous forest, home to over 200 species of birds including the majestic Fish Eagle and the King Fisher.
The Knysna seahorse, the most threatened seahorse species in the world, was also found in the shallow lagoon waters around Stanley Island in April 2002. It was thought that they only occurred in two estuaries, Knysna and Swartvlei.
If this is anything to go by, Seeff must have some hair-raising cool properties, for holidays, retirement or investment elsewhere. Coen Bezuidenhout, MD of Seeff, Plettenberg Bay and Knysna, proudly informs us they "specialise in top coastal lifestyle investments." Maybe there's one for you too.
For more information call Coen at 083 286 3727 or e-mail cjbez@mweb.co.za
(Extracts from an article recently published in the International Homes Magazine in the UK)