#Wednesday Walk - At Winston Park Viewpoint

This post is for the #wednesdaywalk challenge and the #makemesmile challenge collaboration. This collaboration initially took place once a month, but due to its popularity, @tattoodjay (of the #wednesdaywalk) and @elizacheng (of #makemesmile) decided to make it a weekly thing.

If you want to know more about the rules, visit this week's post by @tattoodjay where you will find all the rules at the bottom of his post after you've enjoyed his beautiful photos from his walk.

Last weekend we headed out to Winston Park, Gillits. Winston Park is part of the Upper Highway Area, west of Durban, South Africa.

We had two venues in mind...or actually, I was thinking about going to the Winston Park Viewpoint, and while we were discussing it, my wife came up with the great idea of also visiting Giba Gorge, also in Winston Park, but on the opposite side.

We haven't been to the Winston Park Viewpoint often, so I thought it would be a good idea to go there again. The views from the viewpoint are not what I would call "exciting", but it is quiet and peaceful. There are some benches at various spots, so you can walk around, sit down, and just relax while enjoying the atmosphere.

What I do enjoy though, is the journey to get there. Using the main road through Winston Park, you drive through this beautiful avenue of trees.

You can see Autumn has arrived in South Africa with all the leaves on the ground below the trees...

Arriving at the viewpoint, if you walk out to the furthest point, the most prominent thing you see is the N3 Highway far below you. The N3 Highway is the main route between Durban and Johannesburg. Johannesburg is about 600 KM from Durban.

Looking slightly to the left, you see the Westmead Industrial Area in the foreground, with Pinetown in the background.

Then I heard a noise that got me excited...

I could hear a helicopter approaching, but I could not see it. Based on the sound, I was convinced it was coming through the gorge. I had to cover some ground, going up north to be in time and get close enough to get some shots.

I thought I might get some unusual shots from an angle you don't often get to take photos of a helicopter flying by.

I was right. The helicopter was flying through the gorge and I was standing at a higher altitude than what the helicopter was flying.

Looking down at the helicopter, I started capturing some shots...

Leaving the gorge, it passed over the depot of a construction company down below.

This house stood out on the opposite hill and got my attention.

In my last two photos for today, I captured some unique-looking trees that caught my attention.

From here we left for Giba Gorge where you can enter from Winston Park side. We discovered a new hiking trail there that we didn't know of.

I will share photos of it in my post tomorrow!

Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!