Our Summer is my longest holidays & this year, we were able to have both daughters join us to take my Dad road tripping in South Africa to visit his family & friends dotted all about the vast country. Being such a large country & having family spread far & wide, the relatives do not meet up frequently & Dad is now the oldest surviving sibling of the remaining 5 out of 12 children.
Daughters took it upon themselves to be our project / route planners & once they knew where we needed to be, they set about planning all the accommodation along the way.
With so many styles & variations, we were mindful that our 3 rooms needed to be close with a balcony for Dad to have his coffee & a smoke on (a lifelong habit he will not give up so we had to make sure he could). We left it entirely up to them to plan & find the stops, & once they confirmed the budget, they set about finding many contrasting & interesting stops. We are glad that they did not consider the standard hotels which are the same world-wide, but looked for places that are special to South Africa.
We always stay at this lovely place when we pick up our hire car & once again, it didn’t disappoint. It is a small gem with good food, excellent hospitality & after our long haul & a domestic flight, it offers us a chance to catch our breath once we pick up our car. The town has a lovely church that I always walk to because the Cape Dutch architecture of my ancestors just makes my heart sing ...
We headed north on Dad’s birthday & overnighted in these comfortable thatched spaces with a lovely veranda to sit out on. The food was excellent there & the generous dining room was the perfect place to linger over a long supper, to enjoy each others company & to relax. The next morning we had a fabulous breakfast selection too which set us up before we headed to the hustle & bustle of the city of Johannesburg & to catch up with the first of our family there ...
After a lovely family meal at an Aunt, we travelled to our golf course hotel in Johannesburg, close to people with enough space to catch up with an old friend & another Aunt & cousins who came by. Pity it was mid winter or the girls would have been in the pool right away ...
A night there & then it was onwards to the fabulous home of our cousins in a gated community with lovely views; they had all the family over for a Sunday bbq & catch up.It was a large group of us - first & second cousins, nephews, sister in law, friends all just spending the day in the sunshine with the soul purpose of enjoying each others company. I will post some glimpses of their absolutely gorgeous home in another blog post ...
Onwards to the warmer northern region after a few days to an Aunt & cousins in Polokwane to some lovely stone & thatch farm style rooms which is also on a lovely wedding venue. The rooms were decorated as old farmhouse but they did a fabulous breakfast & had a very well stocked tea & coffee box with complimentary rusks & biscuits. It afforded us a lovely space with the freedom to walk across the veld & enjoy odd glimpses of game & birds. It was also not far from our family who did an amazing family braai (bbq) where we all caught up on my lost years ...
Our next stop was the lovely Kaapsehoop (hope of the Cape) set amongst mountains where mists are a common sight. It was part of a mining village in olden days so was reputed to be haunted, but in spite of our evening walk, we did not encounter any ghosts. We could sit on the benches on our long veranda, chatting, sipping coffee & catching up. We met up several times with my sister & her lovely family & several cousins who travelled to see us too. I also caught up with a maternal Aunt I have not seen in some years & she gifted me my late grandmothers large collection of photos & documents - another blog post you will have to catch up on so do stop by again ...
The next leg of our trip, saw a long trip south east to the Natal region with its rolling hills that give way to vast mountains. Another wedding venue with beautiful views across the valley. It was close to family friends of my Dad so he could catch up with friends too. The hotel was styled in the lovely colonial decor with a homely feel, generous rooms & gracious staff. A few local vervet monkeys darted about the roof tops, reminding us to keep our doors & windows closed because they are curious & destructive in equal measures.
I had to give you a peek in the lovely indoors of the hotel, old colonial that was so comfy & inviting, a truly lovely place where we spent the evening playing games in front of the fire after our supper.
After supper, they lit a fire for us in the lounge & we sat playing games, drinking coffee & chatting - this is how one catches up properly & makes memories.
The bar area is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of an old soldier but we lingered there too without him appearing but it made an interesting tale.
After meeting with more cousins & nieces, we headed further south to stay at these fabulous log cabins on a lake. What a fabulous time, watching sunrise & sunsets from the balconies, birds spending the evening under the thatch & once again, the perfect space for family to join us for catchups. There is something quite special about watching the sunrise over the water & hear the birds calling through the morning mists. My cousin came by for the day with his wife & granddaughter & brought with him our grandfathers Bible with new family information - so interesting to see his handwriting & to be able to fill in gaps in the family tree through first hand knowledge ...
The girls do not get to Africa enough to enjoy the wildlife & lifestyle that we knew so we had a few days stop over in a game reserve with its iconic thatch, stuffed animal heads & a large fire at night to keep the winter chills at bay.
In the evening on the long balcony facing the cliffs opposite, the baboons, leopards, geese, hawks cries all echoes around as evening set in & we could sit outside taking in the atmosphere until the evening chill sent us in to the generous fire in the large hall. We had lovely long walks in the sunshine, through the long singing grass, keeping quiet so that the buck would not be disturbed & we could get up close. We opted for a as fabulous game drive as well, over the rugged bush down to the river ...
This one was really very different, right on the surfer beach & it was pod type rooms for 4 of us with Dad up on the mezzanine level above us. The 4 pods were beautifully done - each with a screen that could be drawn across, each having a window with blinds, plug points & a light - an adult version of tents we made as children.
Our large wooded patio afforded us a prime view of the seaside just yards away & the on site restaurant brought our pizzas up to our own table to eat while listening to the live artist just close by. We had breakfast at the little on site restaurant, at a counter facing the sea & the morning sunshine that twinkled on the water - absolutely heaven.
Then to the Cape wine region to see an Aunt & a cousin & his wife who had travelled up to see us & overnight together. We all stayed at the Cape Dutch Port Wine guest house. This region is known for its port. It was really olde worlde decor style with a really good breakfast. I have Cape Dutch ancestors & just love that style of architecture - the white washed buildings, the gabled sides, the grape vines, the lovely touches which are unique to this region - it makes my heart sing!
The lovely breakfast room with its Cape Dutch features; the white arum lillies were from their own garden, home made muesli & a fabulous cooked breakfast ...
With our journey coming to an end, we stopped in the Karoo at what is becoming a favourite stop & had a browse of the vintage shops, picked up a few gifts & enjoyed a really decadent cuppa with cakes.
Back in the iconic Karoo to drop Dad & then start our journey north to Johannesburg & onwards to England. We had a fabulous 17 days on the road with Dad, he loved catching up with everyone who shared their family photos & information for me to add to our family tree (my passion of 20 years for our complicated tree). Best of all, with the long distances, we were all together for hours on end to just enjoy each others company, catch up & just enjoy being together - a very rare pleasure indeed & the girls got to spend quality time with their Grandfather which is very precious.
This is living indeed, but reality beaconed & we had to reluctantly take leave of Dad, always glad of precious time we get together, because we are acutely aware that he is getting older all the time.
Thank you for your patience at my lack of posts & thank you for the messages asking after me due to lack of posts ...
Thank you for stopping by, for supporting my blog & being kind enough to leave a comment
Dee ~💕~
No comments:
Post a Comment
♥ Hi - thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy your visit♥.