Our special place

Most families have a special holiday destination, the place that holds fond memories, their best moments, their celebrations and relaxations. This place will often be passed on through generations, almost like a memory-inheritance.

Grandparents’ home at the sea becomes the place where all their children and grandchildren get together for December holidays. Parents who went camping with their children, often become grandparents who still camp with their children and grandchildren. I think I skipped the camping-gene.

Although, I must admit, I sometimes envy people who are happy campers. When other people go camping, it sounds so easy, peaceful, calming and filled with nature.

For me, camping is very stressful. I make lists and lists of everything that needs to be packed. I struggle to pack light (I am trying very hard to change that and even watched a Rick Steves’ video on how to do it). In spite of, or maby because of all my lists, I find it hard to plan all the meals in advance. For my sister and her family, camping in itself is their special place.

When I was thirteen years old, my siblings and I went to the Drakensberg for the weekend with my parents. We stayed at a well-known resort. On the Saturday morning, we decided to go for breakfast to a nearby resort. When we arrived, we were told that they don’t usually allow day visitors, but they would let us have breakfast and look around. That place was The Cavern Resort. Little did we know that it was the beginning of “many happy returns.”

The Cavern holds many memories – we went there each year throughout my high school years, the December holiday before I started University was spent there, my 21st birthday celebrations were there, we did the planning for my sister’s wedding there, we spent time there before my own wedding, we took my grandparents there, my aunt and cousins, and then our own kids were added to The Cavern-family.  

We completed the Cavern-family when we took good friends with us to The Cavern during a recent weekend in June. Between us we had eight children (5months to 7years).

I still think longingly back to that weekend - it was perfect!

The thing I love most about The Cavern is that all the special and unique things that The Cavern has to offer, all of which stayed the same throughout the years. You know what to expect when you book your next Cavern-weekend. I feel safe and secure in the knowledge that I will experience all my favourite things every time that we are there.

Since becoming parents, we have travelled a bit without our kids and though those travels were everything we dreamt of, one thing was missing – our kids!. During our travels with our kids, we often long for that alone-time we had during our alone-travels. So, the Cavern offers the “best-of-both” :) - The kids have their own dining room, with wonderful nannies to look after them while parents enjoy “date"-meals in the main dining room. Their dining room has a spacious indoor play area, filled with toys for all ages, all the colouring equipment that you could think of and enough little tables and chairs for an enjoyable meal.

The outdoor play area is safe, spacious and with a view over the Drakensberg. The kids even get their own printed menu at every meal and can enjoy a variety of healthy food, dessert, juices, bread and fresh fruit. Best of all is the selection of pureed vegetables in the freezer for babies. The nannies also wash the bottles and sterilize them. All with a smile.

Adults eat in the main dining room, where you get your own table during your stay, with an assigned waiter. This makes meal-times special and adds a personal touch to your meals.

We started our day with majestic views over the Drakensberg and a wonderful breakfast is then added to this.

After breakfast, we collected the kids, added some active wear and went on the "short" guided walk. There is also a longer walk, but this walk is about three hours and much harder than the short walk. The shorter walk takes about two hours at a leisurely pace. It is a great way to keep all the kids busy! The guides were very good at motivating the kids and at some stages the kids even became somewhat competitive to see who could stay in front. They really surprised us with their endurance. In all fairness, the halfway famous "crunchies" were also a good motivator. They got their own walking-passport, with points for every completed walk. With two points they would get a milkshake or an ice cream and with five points a pony ride. The scenery during the guided walks are breath-taking. What an amazing feeling to spend the morning with fresh air, exercise, coffee, company, kids’s laughter, guides’ informative talks and our Creator.

After the walk, there was enough time to enjoy the hard earned milkshake on the sunbathed front lawn and then freshen up for lunch. Lunch is usually a buffet, with fresh salads, breads and a choice of warm foods. An ever-changing menu.

A highlight is the “Cavern-coffee”. I stopped counting my cups on the first day ;)

After lunch the options of activities seems limitless. There are tennis courts, pony rides for the kids, a three o’clock activity for the kids in the games room, a big jungle gym, a trampoline, a swimming pool with a smaller pool and  slip-an- slide for the kids, bowls, cycling, fly-fishing, hiking on your own, reading in the reading room or at the fire place or just relaxing on the front lawn with a game of scrabble. All of this activities are situated within the majestic Drakensberg-view. Our husbands took the elder children to go fly-fishing one afternoon.

The time spent together was precious and the kids still talked about their fishing trip for quite a while there after.

Tea time comes twice per day. One chooses between a variety of teas, filter coffee and a surprise of freshly baked cakes or cookies.

We spent the time before dinner in front of a fireplace watching rugby and having snacks. Dinner was a culinary experience. I have never, in the about twelve times at the Cavern, seen the same item on the evening menu.

On the Saturday during our weekend there, we joined the quiz-night in the lounge in front of the fireplace. There were five teams. My friends and I made one team, and our husbands another team. This was so much fun! We are definitely going to be regular “quiz-nighters”. The husbands finished with a well-deserved first place, winning a good bottle of wine and some street credit. The Cavern choir finished the night for us. The choir members are all staff of The Cavern and I could see how proud and content they are there. The Cavern does a lot for the community and is shows.

The Cavern opened its doors in 1941.

I wish I could have been there to see how it looked like in the 1940’s. I’m sure there were tea times and “crunchies" and nannies and Cavern-coffee… I hope our love for The Cavern will also be passed on to our children. This is our happy place.

Martine

xxx