Noetzie Castles

The first thing people think of when you mention Noetzie is not the fact that its been voted as one of the top 3 beaches in South Africa, but  the fact that there are castles on the beach.  "Castles?" I hear you ask.  Yes, castles.  But not quite like in moats with crocodiles, archers on the walls and dragon guarded towers though.

The first castle was built in the early thirties.  In 1932 Herbert Stephen Henderson was building a holiday home on the western end of the beach using natural stone found at Noetzie.  He was only using local stone for practical reasons and it was never his intention to built a castle.  Somebody jokingly said to him: "All you need to do is to add a few turrets and you'll have a castle".  And so he did.  That set the trend and in the late 1930's he built Pezula on the hill.  This was followed in 1942 by what has become known simply as "The Castle".  His son built Montrose in the 1970s and the Lindsays built Perekuil in the 1960s.

The castles make for great and slightly unusual photography of the beach.  They are all individually owned while some are run as accommodation establishments.  The one castle belongs to the Pezula Resort and here they were carry you on their hands (not literally but close) in 5 star luxury.  I wonder if they will invite me to come and stay once they read this.  Then perhaps I can tell you more about how they carry you on their hands...