08 Dec Christmas on the Midlands Meander – Pure. Restful. Escape.
Each year when November approaches everyone’s lives become a bit manic. One tries to wind up every goal for the year, finish all the projects that you had set out to do and diaries become frantically full with more year end functions than you can shake a stick at.
Lists upon lists are created to complete all the year end tasks and not to mention the endless Christmas shopping that has to happen. Everyone is super busy and races around saying how they wish the year would just be over. So by the time the Christmas holidays come you are emotionally and physically finished.
If you are a Jozi city slicker like myself, you yearn for the holidays and while sitting at your laptop trying to finish the last jobs of the year, you daydream of wide open spaces, children frolicking in the fields searching for frogs, mountain sunset views, chilled sauvignon blancs, al fresco lunches, poolside cocktails, and lazy braai upon braai. REST, quiet and an empty schedule beckons you and a Christmas holiday on the Midlands Meander ticks all these boxes and more. With my family home being located in the heart of the Midlands Meander, we have spent many Christmas holidays in this area. It competes with any other destination for all the obvious reasons but what sets this place apart from others is the escape from the masses.
Due to the large area that the Midlands Meander covers, even when it is busy you don’t see many people. What locals would call the ‘busiest time’ of the season is Christmas eve at the Nottingham Road Spar but is nothing to write home about and there is no tug of war required for the last box of fresh mince pies. Although the beautiful coastlines of South Africa beckon me for a Christmas holiday by the sea, the thought of fighting for my inch of sea sand cannot compare to the quiet and restful holidays at Giant’s View Estate.
The weather in the area at this time of year is sublime, sunny days with blue skies that stretch out forever and temperatures that are just right unlike the sweltering heat in Pietermaritzburg and Durban. Being close to the Drakensberg, the afternoon thunderstorms are always exciting and cool down the earth sufficiently for the evening sundowners and braais. The views are magnificent with luscious green fields that go on for miles and days are full of all the daydreams that filled my mind while sitting at the office in Joburg.
The Midlands Meander also offers enough fun activities in the area to keep the whole family busy including chocolate dipping, cheese tasting, picnicking, restaurant lunching, decor and craft shopping, horse riding, archery, mountain biking, mountain hiking and loads more.
Escape from the rat race, experience a change in scenery, and encounter a truly restful holiday by booking your next Christmas on the Midlands Meander. You will come away feeling totally rested and ready to take on the next year’s challenges with energy, enthusiasm and passion.
