We visited Knysna for Frans to participate in the annual cycle tour on one of Coco-mat SA’s wooden bicycles. We found this gorgeous little apartment conveniently located on Thesen Island, via airbnb. Thesen Island is an access-controlled housing development in the Knysna estuary. All the homes are built in a colonial maritime style – think clapperboard houses in muted shades of cream, blue and grey. Extremely peaceful, loads of public space with ponds for water birds, space to walk along the waterways, and just generally a calm place to be.

The apartment’s located above the family’s garage with its own separate entrance, and what caught our eye is the simple but stylish design (and love that they included a little layout of the apartment as one of their photos). Jeremy and his family take their guests’ privacy very seriously (we barely saw the family) but we loved spotting their dogs playing in the back garden as we sipped our gins on the veranda. This apartment is really spacious with plenty of cupboard space, a huge bathroom and a separate kitchen and lounge – it really felt like a ‘home away from home’. If you’re so inclined (we are) there’s fast wifi, full DSTV and Netflix and loads of plugs for charging all your electronic bits and pieces. It’s well equipped (with wall heaters to make it really cozy in winter) and we particularly enjoyed the décor – clean lines, a simple modern aesthetic and colour palette as well as gloriously comfy linen.