A glorious long festive weekend awaits! It is time to enjoy a great meal with special people and celebrate life; and a great opportunity for a family outing or activity to kick-start the summer holiday.
In the beautiful 1000 Hills we have lots of ideas for both. There are still accommodation options if you want to make a weekend away of it and stay over – so it feels like a real holiday!
The hospitality industry is amped for a full and fabulous festive season. Here are some ideas:
Festive Meals.
Cotswold Downs, 95 Inanda Rd Hillcrest, offers gorgeous views of the rolling hills
The Kitchen @ Cotswold is open for business. They are offering an eat as much as you like Christmas Eve special dinner from 5pm until 9pm, which is being plated to be mindful of Covid protocols – so you can request from the waitrons what you would like and they will bring the meal to you. The menu offers roasted gammon, turkey and lamb with gravy; Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and roasted vegetables; and an array of salads. For pudding there is malva pudding with custard or ice cream and chocolate sauce.
They have created a magical Christmas light display at their entrance, so pause as you enter to enjoy that too!
The Pot and Kettle is open seven days a week – including over the festive season – offering fabulous meals with a breathtaking views of 1000 Hills. They will be closed on Christmas Day, but open again on Boxing Day (26/12) offering lunch time live music courtesy of Jane and Paul Candow from Inter-Alia. They open 8.30am until 4pm daily and are family friendly – with a special kiddies play area and menu
Kloof Country Club is hosting a Jingle Jam on Christmas Eve (Friday 24 /12). They are offering a complimentary Christmas cocktail on arrival from 5pm until 6pm; and a festive menu to be enjoyed while Daniel Israel will be on the decks to entertain you.
Millflour Café at Fig Tree Farm is offering an extensive menu to ensure that people with a variety of tastes and bespoke dietary needs are catered for. On Christmas Eve they are open for an early dinner until 7.30pm. They are offering their usual extensive menu, but have added a gammon platter starter and special festive puddings to the menu – bread and butter brioche and a malva pudding. Patrons can BYO and no corkage is charged.
They are closed on Christmas Day but open again from Boxing Day onwards for breakfast and lunch, served from 8am until 3.30pm..
Festive Activities
Head across to Rhumbelow Theatre at Tina’s Hotel in Kloof and kick back and enjoy the instantly recognisable and iconic music of British blues band which later relocated to California and is one of the most loved pop groups of the mid-Seventies, Fleetwood Mac. They are best remembered for their sing along chart topping hits including Little Lies, Seven Wonders, Everywhere, Landslide and The Chain.
Their story is told in The Chain – the Fleetwood Mac Story told through music by the Reals with singer Marion Loudon. They will be performing in Rhumbelow Tina’s nightly until Christmas Eve (24/12) and again from 28-31 December 2021.
The Umgeni Steam Railway is having a super busy festive season! The perfect post-Christmas family activity is taking a trip behind an 83 year old Steam Locomotive, Wesley? There are post Christmas steam trips on 26 and 27 December at 8h30 and 12h30.
The journey departs from (and returns to) Kloof Railway Station. The train follows the Old Main Line, meandering along the Valley of 1000 Hills, through one of the oldest operating tunnels in South Africa to Inchanga.
At Inchanga, which used to be the halfway point between Durban & Pietermaritzburg on the Old Main Line, there is plenty to see and do for the whole family- do some post-Christmas shopping at the Inchanga Station Craft Market and grab something to eat, with foods to suit most tastes, and great home-grown coffee on sale.
Country-style retail and entertainment clusters can be found throughout 1000 Hills. These allow multiple micro-destinations in close proximity: Mushroom Farm, PheZulu, 1000 Hills Village, Stone House, Talloula, Fig Tree Farm and Sunset Valley all have cosy places to enjoy a light meal, and offer great gift ideas. Similarly, retail outlets which finance worthwhile organisations are also important to consider – such as the retail options at the Kloof and Highway SPCA or Woza Moya at Hillcrest Aids Centre.
Good to Know
For accommodation options, visit:
https://www.1000hillstourism.co.za/listingcategory/where-to-stay/
The Kitchen @ Cotswold
95 Inanda Rd Hillcrest
Tel 031 762 3655
Open Christmas Eve evening (24./ 12)
R295 PP / children under 12 half price
Closed Christmas Day (25/12)
Open Boxing Day (26/12) for breakfast – 8.30 until 12 noon and lunch, noon until 3pm
The Pot and Kettle
Closed on Christmas Day
Open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch
Live music on Sundays
8.30 until 4pm
Tel: 031 777 1312
Kloof Country Club
26 Victory Rd, Kloof
Tel 031 764 0555 / 072 3751114
Friday 24 Dec: Jingle Jam
Fig Tree Farm
57 Inanda Rd – opp Kirtlington main gate
Millflour Café
Tel: 076 628 7633
Open throughout holiday, 8am until 6pm
Closed Christmas Day (25/12)
Umgeni Steam Railway
Departs from and returns to Kloof Station:
Post Christmas Steam Trip: 26 & 27 Dec @ 8.30am and 12.30pm
Seats are limited & booking out fast, book & pay within 48 hours to ensure your seats!
Ticket Prices for the Return Trip:
Adults: R290
Pensioners (+60) & Children (2-12): R200
Family Package (2 Adults & 2 Children): R880
Booking is essential: http://umgenisteamrailway.com/
The Chain: The Fleetwood Mac Story
Rhumbelow Tina’s
14 Beryldene Rd, Kloof.
21-24 & 28-31 Dec 2021
R 180-00 a ticketCell 0824998636
Bookings: roland@stansell.co.za or Computicket: http://events.durbantheatre.com/
