Father’s Day this year falls on June 16 – which in SA is also Youth Day – so the third Sunday in June is a full and busy day honouring generations of family.
This day is set aside to pay tribute fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of good fathers in society. Often this day is extended to generations of fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers, bonus dads and father figures.
Ask Dad what he wants to do for Father’s Day and work around his ideas. Get the kids involved in choosing pressies and making cards. The perfect place to take Dad for Father’s Day is 1000 Hills – this beautiful region which is accessible from both inland / Pietermaritzburg, Durban, and North and South Coasts offers various options for a family to spend Father’s Day together. 1000 Hills offers suggestions for Father’s Day presents and experiences.
Here are some ideas:
A Weekend Away
Bundle up the family and make a weekend of it! Many establishments offer family-friendly accommodation with suites and cottages with extra beds for the kids. A night or two away provides a great opportunity to do family indoor things with Dad – pack some board games, a jigsaw, story books or a pack of cards.
Road Trip
Plan for a Father’s Day road trip – and explore various places in 1000 Hills – with lots of stops for family photos. Pile the family into the car, crank up the tunes and take the scenic route. Check out some destinations among the hills and plan a pretty route.
Padel.
A fun family thing to do together is a game of padel – the latest sports craze. It’s a racquet sport, not unlike tennis, but played on a court slightly smaller than tennis, with similar scoring systems, but different rules and techniques and smaller padel balls. The court typically has walls, to allow elements known from squash, to be incorporated into the game. Solid bats without strings are used – a bit like table tennis bats. As games often use doubles, it is great for families.
Among the places to play padel in 1000 hills are:
- Kloof Country Club
- Gillitts Sports Club
- Morewood Activity Centre
- Padel up – Buckingham Rd, Kloof
Shopping for Father’s Day pressies.
Ahead of Father’s Day, some shopping for pressies is a good idea. Vouchers for Dads to do interesting things is always a much-appreciated present. For example, buy a ticket for Umgeni Steam Railway. Alternatively, 1000 has lots of little shopping precincts; MushroomFarm, Décor Art, Kloof and Highway SPCA; Mila-Grace at the old Heidi’s and Woza Moya at HACT are all fabulous shopping destinations in the hills.
To Market, to Market.
Take Dad along to browse at one or more of the markets and encourage him to look for pressies which the family can get for him. Markets offer the best of everything – bargain hunting, supporting small businesses, quality family time, enjoying the outdoors and sampling market food. The most popular in the area is Shongweni Farmers Market which surely must be one of the best markets in the country – certainly the best locally. They have been challenging their stall holders to come up with innovative Father’s Day ideas for Dad. There are lots of personalised gift ideas – such as keyrings and coasters. There is also Macnut farm Sunday morning fresh market for gifts from the garden.
Craft and artisanal beverage gifts.
On Father’s Day, let Dad enjoy a pint of his favourite brew. 1000 Hills is all about supporting local. If Dad enjoys a beer or gin, chances are he will love some of the small-order, bespoke products which can be sourced in the hills. Shongweni Market is known for The Standing Room in its main hall – its own range of craft beer and gin. 1000 Hills Brewing Company is part of the 1000 Hills Chef School in Wootton Ave. Advanced students learn the art of craft beer brewing. Most of their beers follow a pale ale style.
Dine with Dad.
Sitting down to a family meal on Father’s Day means Dads can enjoy focused quality family time together. Many of the eateries in 1000 Hills will be hosting Father’s Day specials with special family friendly deals and menus. Worth mentioning is the Drummond Barrel – a country pub with a twist and which incidentally is the official halfway mark of the Comrades Marathon.
Adventure adrenaline.
Fun outdoor family things to do with Dad include paint ball and a climbing wall at Hillcrest Paintball and Infinite Adventures; horse riding at Blue Horizons, a game drive at PheZulu Safari, adventure sports at High Stakes in Cato Ridge or Isithumba Travels. And if the family are all active nature lovers, maybe consider one of the options for family hikes, nature trails, social runs and green corridor destinations in the 1000 Hills.
Animal love.
A great family activity for Father’s Day – especially for families with young children involves animals. PheZulu Safari Park offers game drives and they have an interesting reptile park; the Mushroom Farm has a little farmyard for children to enjoy; and Lello Road Assagay animal farm allows little ones to get up close to (mostly rescued) farm animals.
Steam Train.
A fun Dads day out – a trip behind an 85-year-old Steam Engine as we meander along the Valley of 1000 Hills. A ticket for Dad to hop onto the Umgeni Steam Railway makes for an unusual Father’s Day gift. The next running day is Sunday 28 July with trains running at 11am and 1.30pm out of Inchanga Station. This roughly 75 minutes trip departs from Inchanga Railway Station, meandering along the rolling hills of KZN, through one of the oldest operating tunnels in South Africa, with the sights of the Valley of 1000 Hills in the distance, before turning around at Botha’s Hill for the return to Inchanga.
Gardening
If your dad already has a green thumb, or finger or two, why not join him doing what he loves. You may be surprised to find yourself bonding over pot plans and fresh veggies. Enjoy quality family time in the garden together and enjoy the glorious autumn weather while planting out some flowers, herbs or veggies. Or buy a special something for your garden for Dad – a bird feeder, special planter, a speciality plant. There are a host of nurseries and plant shops throughout the 1000 Hills, as well as plant stalls in most of the regular markets.
Golf
Swing into Father’s Day with golf-themed goodies. Shopping for golf loving Dads is easy – there are plenty of merchandise, accessories and useful stuff for golfers – to buy new at one of the golf course retail outlets, or vintage from the markets. Invite Dad to enjoy a round of golf at Fig Tree Farm or Cotswolds.