A short drive for a great weekend break - Magaliespark

View from the chalet at Magaliespark

We haven't been away for quite a while. The last time was in 2017 when we had the holiday in Ballito. We desperately need a long break somewhere, but in the meantime this past weekend at Magaliespark helped with a bit lot of relaxing.

Magaliespark view

We were pleasantly surprised by how lovely Magaliespark is. The greens, and the accommodation and the facilities... There is nothing like arriving at your chalet, being greeted by some wildlife, and the sun setting on a fire for the braai! (That's heaven!) The best is, we only had to drive for 45 minutes in Friday afternoon traffic! It's my dad's upcoming 81st birthday, and him and my mom are celebrating 54 years of marriage. He used his Holiday Club points for the weekend. Thanks, Dad!

Hiking at Kloofendal Nature Reserve with Dumbbells and Delights

#DDHike 

We were pleasantly surprised this weekend when we went on a hike at Kloofendal Nature Reserve with powerhouse Samantha Dube of Dumbbells and Delights. The area is beautiful, and it is just around the corner in Roodepoort. There were so many people who were there, enjoying the hikes and the views, and sitting down for picnics. (But not overcrowded).

Wordless Wednesday #308 - Hiking in the Vredefort Dome

Wordless Wednesday #265 - Hiking

A very long and a very short weekend: Camping at Mountain Sanctuary Park

The long weekend is done and dusted already. A weekend of three days is definitely not enough when going camping! 

We had a great time, as always! 

It is really such a schlep to pack your house, unpack it at the campsite, to pack and unpack in three days again. 

But spending time with the family and with friends are worth the effort! Hiking and getting back to nature is worth the effort! Evenings around the campfire are worth it! 

We camped at Mountain Sanctuary Park again. We love the big campsites, but not particularly the ablution facility. We are planning to phone regularly to enquire about the extra ablution blocks they are going to build. In the hope that they would start considering doing it...

But the hiking trails is what makes us going back and back!

Little Miss did 6 kilometers of hiking with us yesterday! She enjoyed it tremendously, and only complained to the end of the two hikes that she was getting tired. She picked up rocks, and we printed out a photo of her in front of the rocks which she is going to use at show-and-tell tomorrow! (Love it that she is as big as she is now, and enjoying it with us).

We did not get time to explore all the routes this time. The weekend was too short! 

We will be back!

What did you do on the weekend?

Related posts:

- Wordless Wednesday #108 - The Grotto at Mountain Sanctuary Park

- Xmas in the Bush

Wordless Wednesday #232 - A Dad with his little girl

Mountain climber

Walking down to Bell Park Dam, and back up again. 

It went so well on the first day last week on our Midweek break, that we decided to try the walk from Monk's Cowl to the waterfall on the way to the Sphinx.  

The promise of play at the waterfall helped to keep us moving. The waterfall seemed to be just around the next corner, and the next corner...

We got there, and Little Missy walked there all on her own! (We are impressed!)

Icy cold water

We cannot get enough photos of these mountains.
We did climb Sterkhorn a few years ago!

Ice-cream for a mountain climber

She did tell me afterwards that she would only consider climbing at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens the next time...

This was a bit hard!

A midweek break in the Drakensberg

View from Cayley Lodge in the Central Drakensberg

We had a little breather last week, and I came back longing for this this beautiful view we had each day. When I grow up, I want a view like this each day of my life!

We had been to this place for a weekend in 2011, but because of the clouds I did not notice how near we were to one of our favourite hiking destinations at Monk's Cowl.

These are just some of my cellphone photos.
The views changed hour by hour...

Little Missy did two mountain hiking excursions with us. (I will do a separate post this week, because we are very impressed with her!)
She can do it on her own now, and she walked way ahead of us, especially ahead of her unfit mother!


A midweek holiday is only a breather, but it helped a lot to catch some breath for the rest of the year!

"Mountain climbing" at the Botanical Gardens

The Toddler keeps on asking us that she wants to go mountain climbing. 

I think she got the idea from us after our visit to Cayley Lodge in the Drakensberg mountains. We did a bit of hiking with her, and after that she was hooked...

We took her to one of our favourite spots nearby: The Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. There is a steep hike next to the waterfall to a lookout on top of the black eagles' nest. 

Going up went very well! Much better than I thought she would do for her first time, and she walked most of the way.

She even wanted to carry on walking on the walking trial when we got on the hill top ...

Going down was a bit more daunting, and she had to be carried for most of the way.

The Toddler loved it!

This is still one of my favourite spots for a Sunday afternoon!

You will definitely find us here when we want to take a breather in nature. Especially since it is just around the corner!

Related posts:

Weekend of three

Sunday sun!

Tips picked up while camping with a toddler

We went camping for a week during the December holidays. With The Toddler!

There are some tips I have mentally jotted down for myself to remember for next time... I was actually saying that I do not want to go camping very soon, but I looked through our photos again tonight...

I can do it again!

Tips for camping with a toddler:

1. When the first rain drops start to fall, run to the toilets. You may not get another chance for a very long time...

2. Make sure that your tents are not pitched down-hill. Our poor neighbours had a night of horror when all the water flowed into their tent.

3. Use a backpack for the toddler for hiking while it is still possible to carry them. It makes it a lot easier, although it can become quite heavy. We shared the burden (see photo above).

4. Wear the correct shoes at least, and don't forgot the sunscreen. I was amazed to see parents going on a hike with their children while they were running barefoot.

5. Don't pack too many outfits for the toddler. Waste of space... Our toddler kept on wearing her favourite outfits, again and again!

6. Don't sweat the small stuff! Chill!

7. Our toddler does not want to shower! It does not help to try and force it! I heard afterwards of someone making a suggestion of putting a basin on the bottom of the shower and filling it up. (Why did I not think of it?) Swimming also helps!

8. Try not to force the insect issue. The Toddler freaks out when she notices any bugs.
There are a few meanies out there! This spider was working down his catch of the day!

9. Remember to pack some toys, but not too much! Colouring books and stickers went a very long way!

10. Take time to spend in nature with a toddler. Our daughter gets excited now every time she sees a mountain on television. I think we have inspired a mountain climbing spirit in her ;-)

11. Encourage toddlers to make friends with the neighbours. It keeps them busy, and give the parents some breaks. They also teach each other about sharing. Our English neighbour can now say in Afrikaans: "Dit is my beurt" (It is my turn!)

12. The last point as seen on Pinterest: I call it my camping mantra:
"Keep calm and camp on"

Any other tips for making camping a little bit easier?

My top 10 things to do during the holidays

It's the holidays! Finally!

Why did it feel like forever to get here?
Wednesday is my last day the office!

Tanya Kovarsky is hosting a camera give-away over at Dear Max, and we have to make a list of the top 10 things to do during the festive season. (*Thumbs* - I am feeling lucky!)

This is my list of the top 10 hings to do during the holiday season:
(Not in the order of importance)

- Sleep 

- Read through my stacks of books, and my new Kindle…

- Rest Doing nothing!

- Spending quality time with my daughter going off to university

- Spending quality time with my toddler

- Dates with Hubby

- Camping

- Hiking

- Coffee catch-ups with friends

- De-cluttering (a little bit of work for me as well!)



What do you have on your list  for the holidays?

Enjoy!