It started as a suggestion by a friend to walk and view lighthouses, but soon snowballed into a 3 058 km and eight-year long adventure of a lifetime for a Strand couple in their 60s, who walked, jogged and drove along the entire South African coastline.
Marion and Myles Siebrits camped some days on the beach, met and interacted with locals, took a break during the hard lockdown and kept close to the shore when the coastline offered only rocks and mountain cliffs instead of walkable beach paths.
“It’s a sense of overwhelming accomplishment to reach the end of this journey,” said Myles just moments after crossing the finish line at Melkbaai Beach in Strand on Sunday (11 December).
The couple planned their final leg from Macassar Beach to Strand, where an entourage of friends and family cheered them across the finish line.
“I also feel kind of sad and relieved,” added Marion. “It’s just been an incredible journey and we feel so much gratitude for our health that has allowed us to complete this mammoth adventure.”
“There were parts of the coast we opted to skip due to security concerns but we largely covered as much of the coastline as we could. KwaZulu-Natal was fantastic,” said Myles, “and we met such interesting and helpful people along the way. We covered the South Coast, West Coast, the Peninsula and everything in between. As we’ve gone we’ve picked up waste, visited people and museums, it’s been so much fun.”
He added there were days when their legs cramped but aside from that they had no other issues, just days on end with beauty and serenity.
