MIDLANDS MEANDER (Part 4)

This is the fourth and final part,I promise to my Midlands Meander adventure! 
I didn't realise that I had so much to tell you...

The Sunday dawned, as another lovely sunny day and off we set on our final day doing the Midlands Meander.

First we headed for the Nelson Mandela Capture Site & Museum which was opened in August this year and is situated on the R103, the old main road 5km from Howick, This is where he was captured on his return journey to Johannesburg. This is a moment and place in the history of South Africa, which has enormous significance. The uMngeni Municipality purchased the property opposite the actual capture site and there you will find this multi-purpose heritage site.

                                               

Marking the 50-year anniversary of what began Nelson Mandela's "long walk to freedom" A 50 steel column constructions up to 9.5 metres tall was commissioned.The columns come into alignment to form a portrait of Nelson Mandela against a backdrop of rolling hills and valleys.

Definitely make a plan on your Midlands Meander to visit as it interesting!

After all that history I was in need of a chocolate fix! so off we went to Florentines Belgium Chocolate. I am not sure if this is part of the official meander, but Its always a pleasure to walk into this chocolate shop, as the cold air from the air conditioner hits you immediately. What a lovely feeling after being in the heat and sun of the day. 

Oh my! this is a "chocoholics" heaven....displays of handmade Belgian chocolates,truffles,pralines...how could I resist? 
You select your "sins" weigh and then pay, but beware that you don't go overboard otherwise your purse or even credit card will feel it!!

Champagne Truffle, Hazelnut choc, Pistachio creme
and I can't remember the other one but they were all
 Yummy!

Feeling quite content after a few "choccies" as I had to eat them all otherwise they would have melted in the car...so what else could I do? 

Next stop was Tsonga for some more "retail therapy".

Tsonga shoes are "home grown" in Kwa Zulu Natal and each pair of TSONGA shoes are hand-stitched by the local village craftswomen. They have a shop where you can buy their bags and shoes, but the prices are the same as in their shops that they have around the country,so don't expect factory prices!

After a busy morning we had some lunch and leisurely drove home and "back to reality" as the song goes...

I must say now... that not all of the crafters and stop offs are worthwhile, but it is all a matter of taste, so I advise you to buy the Midlands Meander booklet R5 and its available everywhere,so you can plan your day,route and visits carefully..otherwise you can waste precious time....a weekend away, as we did was ideal and we managed to combine what we wanted to visit and some R&R time. There is plenty of accommodation to choose from, to suit all tastes budgets, but even to do sections of the meander in a day trip also works, but either way.. I hope you enjoy your meandering around the Midlands!

To view part 1 click here 
To view part 2 click here
To view part 3 click here

MIDLANDS MEANDER (Part 3)

Opposite St Ives is where you will find the Piggly Wiggly Country Village,which is perhaps the most visited place on the Midlands meander and has enough to occupy you and the "kiddiewinks" for several hours..and is a "must" visit.The village is a mix of eating places, arts, crafts, clothing and decor outlets. Recently a "Piggy Putt" was added and forms the centre piece,which is in pristine condition, as is the rest of the village.

Piggy Putt

One of my favourite shops in the village is Free Range Interiors & Clothing...where each item is carefully sourced to offer the shopper an exclusive and unique purchase.They offer Go to town - country style, classic & comfy ladies clothing. Their decor items also reflect the same style..

Clothing

Country Classic Home

Frankie & Delilah stock a wide range of beautiful and different gifting items. They are also official stockists of Trollbeads, Ice Watches, Havaianas, Hunter footwear to name but a few of their international brands. F&D has two other branches in Morningside and Bryanston, Johannesburg.

                

A visit to Piggly Wiggly would not be complete without a visit to the "Three Fat Pigs Cheeses & Deli", but again be warned that you will not be able to resist their selection of local cheeses,chutneys,pickles and the home baked breads,pies and quiches....all of which are very yummy! This is where we bought all our "goodies" for our picnic on our "Sundowner Island" back at Beacon Vlei. 

Armed with our "foodie" purchases, which were enough to feed a "sty full of pigs" we headed back to the guest house to have our picnic and open a bottle of Woolworths Bucks Fizz! Their we sat and watched the sun go down and this rounded off a lovely day spent on the Midlands Meander..

Sundowner Island

To find out everything about the village visit http://www.pigglywiggly.co.za


To read previous posts:
Midlands Meander (Part 1)
http://www.beautyshoutbox.blogspot.com/2012/11/midlands-meander-break-part-1.html
Midlands Meander (Part 2)
http://www.beautyshoutbox.blogspot.com/2012/11/midlands-meander-part-2.html


To be continued...

MIDLANDS MEANDER (Part 2)

On to our next stop, but not before we navigated around some fallen trees and debris in the road...a stretch of about 2kms along the Curry's Post road seems to have been hit the hardest by the mini tornado the afternoon before. As we drove along we could see several mature trees that had been uprooted, boundary fences and fencing poles strewn around.....and some of the area was without power,but fortunately Terbodore Coffee Roasters....had electricity!

Terbodore was established in 2004 in the KZN Midlands by Marian Macaskill. As the business grew she was joined by her husband Mark, and more recently by their son, Michael. Both Marian and Mark come from hospitality backgrounds and understand the need for a good cup of coffee.Terbodores main roastery is situated in the KZN Midlands and they recently opened their second roastery in October 2011 in the Winelands of Franschhoek. 
The restaurant opening its doors at the beginning of 2010. We didn't eat, but I must say that the food coming out on the plates, looked as good as it sounded on the menu. On our next visit we will make this our lunch stop for sure...
Guests are encouraged to take their time and unwind with an award winning cappuccino on the lawn, under the huge pecan nut trees. The one of which has sadly  been taken out with the storm....
"Unwind and take our time" is exactly what we did as we just sat and sat and sat...my better half was drinking cappuccino's and I had a "delish" Whisky Dom Pedro...purely for medicinal purposes though, as I had a bad cough! They also have a small retail section where you can buy all their blends and flavoured coffee's like Hazelnut,Amarula and Irish Cream to name but a few... 
It was so peaceful and relaxing that we could have sat there all day, but we had lots more meandering to do...

*Terbodore is child friendly, but not dog friendly, so be warned.. do not even think of smuggling your little "pooch" in...as the sign on the entrance gate clearly states- not to!

Where did we go next.....Oh! yes we decided to go quite a few kilometres down a dirt road much to the "better halfs" anoyance to visit Kleinberg Wines which sell quality, value for money wines from Kleinbosch Estate. 

As with several of the places on the meander, it seems as though the owners or crafters just leave "clueless individuals" to run their businesses...in this instance when we arrived in the shop, no conversation took place with the assistant other than a "hello" , whereas we should have been given some explanation as to the wines origin, range, prices etc... 
What a waste of time it was! p.s.the wine tasting was free...but wait for it, only if you bought "a case of wine"!

They did have a lovely cute cottage though for rental and they also offer a range of country activities like horse riding and clay pigeon shooting...

Kleinbosch Estate

St Ives Estate

St Ives Restaurant, Accommodation & Fly Fishing Estate was our next port of call and "very nice" it was.. 
The Midlands region is a must visit place for any fly fishermen out there...as the choice of privately owned & stocked dams are endless...
The restaurant, accommodation  and the grounds were very well maintained and you could see that St Ives prides itself on this fact.
If you don't want to eat in their restaurant then you can pre order picnics or braai packs and enjoy a relaxing day by the dam under a thatched roof lapa whilst the kids can play safely on the jungle gym or trampoline...they even have an animal touch farm, so everyone is catered for!

     

To be continued....


www.terbodorecoffee.co.za
www.kleinberg.co.za
http://www.stives.co.za

MIDLANDS MEANDER BREAK (Part 1)

We have just returned from a very relaxing weekend break at the Beacon Vlei Guest Farm.Nestled in the heart of the KwaZulu Natal Midlands, Beacon Vlei Guest Farm offers B&B and self-catering accommodation with a touch of history. I wouldn't say that the accommodation was luxurious, but it was clean,functional and typical of many Midlands old farm houses. What it lacked with the decor of the rooms, it made up for in it's stunning location,such a peaceful and tranquil setting.

Situated on a 23 Hectare private dam the surrounding wetland area, is home to hundreds of beautiful bird species and wildlife.

Fishing is one of the main activities at Beacon Vlei, the dam used to be one of Natals top Fly fishing dams. Fishing is free for guests provided you bring your own rods and tackle. They have numerous boats which are also free for guests to use for fishing or just for a row on the dam. 

I named this "Sundowner Island"

Getting to Beacon Vlei proved to be somewhat of an adventure in itself....as usual we set off late 4.30pm instead of 2pm, so guess what? we hit all the Friday afternoon traffic! Not a good start...

To add to our worries we had to drive in the rain, which hit us about 20mins into our journey. As we approached Pietermaritzburg we drove through a terrible thunder storm...rain,wind, lightening the "works" little did we know at this time...that this storm had just come through the Curry's Post area like a mini tornado....uprooting trees,posts,boundary fences and knocking off the power in its wake! and this was the area we were heading!!!

When we arrived at Beacon Vlei fortunately they had power, but everywhere was very muddy and a little "leaky" to say the least, but despite this, the rain had stopped and the skies were bright blue and it was sunny. Not sure about my black patent muddy wedges though.....

That evening we went off to the nearby "local" the infamous Nottingham Road Hotel for dinner and even though I have been to the pub several times before over the years I was pleasantly surprised, as the hotel has had a mini revamp. The hotel has been around since 1854 and is steeped in history, as is Nottingham Road itself. (If you would like to read more about the interesting history of the hotel and the village then visit their website below and view under "history")

The pub was very busy and lively, as it is frequented by the locals as well as tourists...be aware that the pub is a "smoking" pub!

The dining room was all candlelit and had a lovely seated area in front of the stone lit fire. The food was good traditional fayre and reasonably priced. I had local Dargle Valley pork bangers,mash and gravy....all very yummy and hearty!

The next morning we woke to beautiful blue skies and a wonderful view of the early morning mist over the dam....and an array of bird sounds...not sure what the birds were sorry....not my forte I'm afraid!

We were "fed and watered" and ready to "Meander through the Midlands".

The Midlands Meander in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal, is a collection of arranged routes that offer visitors hospitality in truly beautiful surroundings, outstanding accommodation, conference and wedding facilities, fascinating local events, fabulous restaurants, revitalising outdoor activities and over-the-top adventure sports, historic landmarks, wildlife conservation, and best of all “shop-till-you-drop” unique arts and crafts.    An easy one-hour drive from Durban and on the N3 highway from Johannesburg, there is much to explore and do in the Midlands.  

Off we went to the Karkloof Framers Market in Howick on the first of our meander stops. It offered the usual array of market goods etc nothing out of the ordinary...I was really chuffed though with my R50 purchase on the 2nd hand book stall...

Sis in France watch out!

Our next stop was at the Groundcover Leather Company, which was founded in 1990 by Justin and Amanda McCarthy. A family business located on a farm in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands of South Africa. Groundcover is the expression of a lifelong passion for leatherwork and a search for a meaningful livelihood. Again I have visited Groundcover several times over the past twenty years or so, but I was excited to see that they had moved with the "fashions" and now create some wonderful leather bags,wallets and purses in colours other than their original tan and black....they had some great pieces and the prices were good to....

To be continued....

www.beaconvlei.co.za

www.nottieshotel.co.za

www.groundcover.co.za