Lily's Cottage keeps hubby and I real busy, but we take little getaways during the off-season, having excellent staff to take care of the daily running.
The toss-up was between a road or air trip from Durban to Johannesburg, and in our new role as bnb owners, we can juggle time during the low season, so decided to take a leisurely road trip on the N3 and take in the sights along the way.
Leaving the city behind and all we see are the green rolling hills of Kwazulu Natal.
The once thriving Rainbow Chicken farms which were brought to their knees by cheaper imports. Sadly 'For Sale' signs were seen at their other premises as well.
One cannot help but wonder what happened to the people whose livelihood depended on this industry that offered housing to their staff at some of their farms.
A quick stopover in the legislative capital of Kwazulu Natal, the city of Pietermaritzburg. This once was the administrative capital as well, but was moved to Ulundi. This city also is home to many tertiary institutions, and still has many colonial buildings giving it a kind of English country ambience; no wonder some still refer to it as 'the last outpost of the British Empire'. A quaint church building
And we're off again to the green hills of KZN; part of the great Drakensberg mountain range seen on the horizon.
Farmlands with the homestead hidden among the trees.
Turned off the highway for a quick stopover at the Howick Falls, quite breathtaking with a height of approximately 95 metres.
Driving past the gracious Howick Falls Hotel makes one wonder just how many ghosts wander the corridors here.
Local artists selling traditional African arts and crafts.
Back to the highway and we're starting to climb, getting closer to our halfway mark, the town of Harrismith, in the Freestate.
This is a major stopover for many tourists as well as truckers.
The area also is the centre of one of five wool producing districts in South Africa.
Fields of hay bales in preparation for winter. The Platteberg outside Harrismith
We've entered the province of Mpumalanga and all we see are maize and sunflower fields.
Cattle grazing in the still lush fields.
Another homestead among the trees.
VKB grain silos in Villiers.
A Highveld storm brewing as we get closer to Johannesburg, windmill doing its job on the horizon.
We seemed to drive away from the storm, everything is calm again. A beautiful church statue seen from the highway.
We're on the outskirts of Johannesburg, law enforcement at one of the Toll gates.
We reached Johannesburg with peak traffic just starting to build up!
We've finally arrived at our tranquil destination, our son's home in Carlswald, Midrand, just north of Johannesburg.
Gauteng, South Africa
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