Chapman’s Peak Drive #3: History pt 1 (1607-1910)
This is the 3rd in a series of 8 caches (incorporating 2 existing and 6 new ones) along this 9 km long, world-famous, spectacular, and award-winning cliff-edge mountain pass.
The series starts at the approx. 160m high summit of the pass and continues down the gentler northern side, with its constant great views, as far as the Toll Plaza.
Most of the caches (like this one) can be done as a quick Park and Grab but one involves a 5-minute walk and another is a 10-minute short multi.
The cache, a small camo-taped tablet pot, is hidden at the edge of the parking area at the limit of the CPD Day Pass thus avoiding any payment for use of the road.
The cache was placed in recognition of a previous cache at this location, j4pos’s GC7G5RX Chappies Day Pass Limit which was hidden on 18/12/17 and archived on 1/12/21 after some 67 finds garnering 2 FPs on the way.
Toll Advice:
- If approaching from the north (Hout Bay) side, request a Day Pass at the Toll Booth.
- If coming from the south (Noordhoek/CPD summit viewpoint) side, and not intending to continue down/north, simply turn around here and head back the same way.
- If coming from the south and intending to either turn around before the toll or continue through to Hout Bay you will need to pay R54. In the former case, you will need to pay the R54 (cash only) to the guy back at the Day Pass limit near CPD#3.
History of Chapman’s Peak Drive:
In 1607 the skipper of the English ship the Consent found his vessel becalmed in what is now Hout Bay and ordered captain’s mate/pilot, John Chapman, to row ashore in the ship’s pinnace in the hope of finding provisions.
The pilot later recorded the bay as Chapman's Chaunce (chance) and the name stuck, becoming official on all East India charts. So, the peak which looms over the road was not named after a governor or brave mountaineer, but a lowly ship's pilot!
In the early 1900s Sir Nicolaas Frederic de Waal, first administrator of the Cape Province, ordered the construction of a high-level road linking Cape Town with the Southern Suburbs. The roadway (De Waal Drive) was extremely well received. Enthused with this success he called for another road linking Hout Bay to Noordhoek.
Two possible routes were under consideration in 1910. The route over the low nek between the Chapman’s and Noordhoek Peaks was second to the more spectacular route along the vertical sea cliffs . . . (to be continued)