I Went Looking for the Ocean… and Found a 200-Year-Old Secret

From Gwaing River Mouth to the forgotten story of Chief Dikkop and Pacaltsdorp.

There are days when you set out with no real agenda, just a quiet plan to find a stretch of coastline where you can hear the ocean properly. Just a short drive from George, tucked away beyond Pacaltsdorp, lies one of the Garden Route’s lesser-known treasures, the beautiful Gwaing River Mouth. While nearby beaches like Herolds Bay often attract the crowds, Gwaing remains a quieter escape, a place where river, ocean and rugged coastline meet in a peaceful natural setting.

But places like this have a habit of revealing more than they promise. What looks like an ordinary coastal stop quickly becomes a gateway into something far older, where the landscape starts telling stories that stretch back more than two centuries. That’s when you begin to realise that you’ve accidentally stepped onto a forgotten discovery route, layered with history that most people drive past without ever noticing.

So after a short ride I find myself where the Gwaing River flows down from the Outeniqua Mountains and eventually empties into the Indian Ocean at a small estuary about 3 km east of Herolds Bay. The estuary itself is relatively small, roughly 1.4 km long, and is classified as a temporarily closed estuary, meaning sandbanks sometimes seal the mouth from the sea depending on tides and river flow.

But what the Gwaing lacks in size, it more than makes up for in atmosphere. Steep cliffs frame the golden sand beach while the river winds gently toward the ocean, creating calm pools and sheltered spots perfect for exploring. Visitors often come here for fishing, long beach walks, picnics or simply to sit and watch the waves roll in.

During winter and spring, visitors sometimes spot whales passing along the coast, while dolphins frequently patrol the waves just offshore. At sunset the cliffs glow warm orange and the river reflects the sky like a mirror, one of those quiet Garden Route moments that stays with you long after you leave.

The nearby community of Pacaltsdorp has a long and fascinating history dating back to the early 1800s, when the mission station of Hoogekraal was established and later renamed after missionary Charles Pacalt. Being a sucker for history I started looking into the history of Pacaltsdorp, which turned into a whole adventure of its own. The story of Pacaltsdorp is really a story of two founders: Charles Pacalt, whose name the town carries, and Chief Dikkop, whose vision brought the mission station into existence. Most visitors know one name, but few know the other. Chief Dikkop is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, figures in the Southern Cape story.

Chief Dikkop (Kaptein Dikkop) was the leader of the local Khoikhoi community living at Hoogekraal, the settlement that later became Pacaltsdorp. Without Dikkop, Pacaltsdorp may never have existed. Chief Dikkop had the foresight to invite a missionary because he saw opportunities for advancement for his community.

In 1812, after meeting missionaries from the London Missionary Society, Dikkop repeatedly requested that a resident missionary be sent to Hoogekraal. His request was eventually granted when Reverend Charles Pacalt was assigned to the settlement in 1813. According to local accounts, Dikkop personally travelled by ox wagon to Suurbraak to fetch Pacalt, a journey that reportedly took four weeks.

After Reverend Pacalt's death in 1818, the Hoogekraal settlement was renamed Pacaltsdorp in his honour. There are several historic sites from that time. Before a church was built, Rev. Charles Pacalt built the “Patat Huisie”, considered the oldest surviving structure in Pacaltsdorp.

This was originally Rev. Pacalt's second mission cottage, built around 1813 with sod walls, a thatched roof and a cow-dung floor. One of the old manse buildings in Pacaltsdorp.

The Old Manse buildings are the houses where the ministers (or "dominees") of the mission station lived. In church terminology, a manse is simply the minister's residence. What's interesting about Pacaltsdorp is that there wasn't just one manse. Over the years, several were built as the mission grew. After Rev. Charles Pacalt's death, Rev. William Anderson arrived and built a substantial two-storey stone residence next to Pacalt's small cottage. The building featured thick stone walls and extensive use of yellow-wood timber. It was considered quite grand compared to the humble mission cottages around it.

The “Patat Huisie” was declared a national monument in 1976. Later, John Anderson used it to store his famous "six months patats", which gave the building its nickname. Rev. Anderson’s home also was declared a National Monument in 1976.  

The Andersons occupied the house for 30 years. After both Mr. and Mrs. Andersons death the three spinster daughters moved away and the Atkinsons took over.  

The Klipkerk of Pacaltsdorp is arguably the most important historic building in the George area and one of the oldest surviving churches in the Southern Cape. The church was built between 1822 and 1825, only a few years after the death of Rev. Charles Pacalt. It was officially opened on 19 June 1825 by Dr. John Philip of the London Missionary Society. The building was constructed largely by local residents of the mission station using locally available materials of stone, yellowwood, clay and glass.  

What makes it unique is its architecture. Most early Cape churches followed the simple Cape Dutch style, but the Pacaltsdorp church is a rare example of early Gothic Revival (often described locally as Norman-style) architecture in South Africa. Architectural historians have described it as one of the finest surviving early Gothic Revival buildings in the country.

Some fascinating details include walls that are nearly a metre thick in places. The tall square stone tower that can be seen from far across Pacaltsdorp. The Gothic-style window tracery was crafted from yellowwood. It is a design that resembles a small medieval church rather than a typical Cape mission church. When you stand in front of it, it feels more like something you would expect to find in rural England than in the Garden Route.

The church stands at the heart of the mission settlement that Chief Dikkop helped create. However, there is a poignant twist in the story. Dikkop died in 1816, before the church was completed, and because he apparently never formally converted to Christianity, he was buried outside the mission cemetery. His grave is about 100 metres from the church. His grave remains one of the most significant, and least-visited, historical sites in the Garden Route. 

Located in the old cemetery near the Klipkerk, is a small enclosed section reserved for the missionaries, their spouses, and a handful of individuals who played key roles in the early mission community. 

Among those buried in Missionaries' Acre are Rev. Charles Pacalt, Rev. William Anderson, who succeeded Pacalt and played a major role in the growth of the settlement and Epenita Jantjies, a particularly important figure because she was Rev. Pacalt's first Khoi convert, baptised in 1814. She remained a member of the church for more than four decades and is one of the few local indigenous people buried within the Acre.

 If you are ever in the area, take a Historic Walk.

1. Start at the Stone Church.

2. See Missionaries' Acre.

3. Finish at the Patat Huisie and old manse buildings.

4. Visit Chief Dikkop's grave.

This is one of the easiest and most rewarding self-guided historical walks in the Garden Route. You're effectively walking through a living museum, all within a few hundred metres of one another. That concentration of early 19th-century history is almost unmatched anywhere else in the Southern Cape.

Sometimes you set out with something simple in mind, like a quick out-ride to the Gwaing River Mouth, only to find yourself stepping into something far older and richer than expected. A short turn off the main road can quietly pull you onto a 200-year-old discovery route. It is one of those reminders that travel does not always require distance. Some of the most interesting stories are not “somewhere out there”, but right here in your own backyard, waiting behind familiar place names and gravel roads you’ve driven past a hundred times without really seeing them.