A Travel Diary of a Weekend Away on the Garden Route with Fancourt South Africa…

A week or two back I had the opportunity to visit Fancourt South Africa for a Media weekend. My family were happy to let me go, a birthday weekend and complete spoil for me… and really an opportunity not to be missed. Fancourt is an exclusive golf resort on the Southern Coast of South Africa. It is situated in the town of George, which is typically known as the gateway to the Garden Route. A five hour drive from Cape Town and short plane trip from Johannesburg, this is the perfect place to make a complete getaway… to a part of South Africa that is called the Garden Route for a reason. From the wide open beaches of Wilderness, to the Outeniqua Mountains… from Knysna and Plettenberg Bay to Oudsthoorn, there is unprecedented natural beauty wherever you look.

Getting There

I have become a bus traveler… and after my previous trip across Africa, I was quite happy to enjoy a little Hilton Ross luxury as we left a cold and blustery Cape Town early on Friday morning…

And headed out of the Mother City…

Away from laundry piles…

And into the countryside…

Where I settled down with Cressida Cowell’s latest read… and it is a good one folks!!!

And lunch was provided…

I tried not to think about ALL the packaging and really hope like crazy they have someone sorting the garbage and recycling it all.

Before I noticed the time fly by we were in Mossel Bay…

And the next stop, just ten minutes from the George airport, we arrived at Fancourt.

Welcome to Fancourt

First impressions are lasting impressions and immediately after signing in, and a snack in the club, we were whisked off for a quick tour of the grounds on a golf cart.

And since I am a mom, and since these little golf carts can get up to fairly impressive speeds, I asked to see the driver’s licence…

#1/7 pictures I sent my kids to show them that I was in good hands.

And did I say a region of unprecedented natural beauty…

Because… the Garden Route, is really a show case of all that is lovely…

Everywhere you turn, it is just stunning…

Fancourt Accommodation

After a tour of the grounds we were taken on a tour of the accommodation and to be honest that deserves a post all of its own… really it does.

Of course there was five star treatment and champagne throughout…

And would you look at the bath goodies…

And the views…

And the grounds…

Just the most restful place… and these little surprises…

#2/7 pictures I sent to my kids to show them the garden robots… that keep the lawn trim and only stay within their little area, and rest up at a recharging station… just too cute.

The Recreation Centre

From the accommodation we wandered down to the recreation centre…

A club for kids to play and relax… with a stunning pool…

And the Poolside Cafe…

And bikes for everyone…

#3/7 pictures that I sent my kids… because there really are bikes for everyone, and then some more!!!

A Quick Refresh in Our Rooms

Would you look at the entrance to my room, which was actually a suite: bedroom, lounge and bathroom… and lots and lots of lovely little 5 star details!!!

Not to mention a gift on my bed… would you look at that sweater, that I have worn ever since!!!

Followed by a sumptuous braai for dinner… I am not kidding just look at the lovely table, and why oh why have I never thought of more than one salt and pepper set at the table, this would put an end to a lot of dinnertime discussions in our house.

And that was me, over and out for the day…

And in my room, my own personal little tea/coffee caddy… I am not really a camomile tea gal, and no thanks to coffee at bedtime not even decaf, so I kind of wished there was a hot chocolate sachet in there… to go with the book I was reading. But then I discovered this in the closet… and I was able to cope without hot chocolate after all…

Because this gown was just pure life for me. Had I known that that cosy gown was waiting for me in my room, I may not have been so keen to see all the sights. Honestly, I could have stayed in my room, in this gown the rest of the weekend. I didn’t mind you… but I could have!!!

And then it was Saturday

Day two began bright and early… and I had so many good intentions of going for an early morning run on one of the trails or visiting the fabulous gym… but really the crisp white sheets and that gown, I may have lingered a little longer in bed.

Breakfast starts at 6:30 and I was there… why make my own coffee when I can get a cappuccino in the restaurant.

And we were soon out on a day tour of the Garden Route… It was fabulous.

Driving through the countryside, while our driver kept up an interesting dialogue, telling us about the history and interesting facts about the area… the best school for rugby, hiking trails in the area, historical snippets, where to stop for fun times with kids, the transport museum and strawberry picking and even where to do your shopping.

Sedgefield Markets

We spent a wonderful morning wandering about the markets in Sedgefield… three markets, all within walking distance, really meters apart… and each with their own distinctive character.

5/7 picture I sent my kids because I know Hood 8 would absolutely love a pop gun

From the Markets we continued down the road, past the severe damage of the recent fires…

Past the lagoon…

And into Knysna…

The Knysna Waterfront

The Knysna Waterfront is very picturesque…

I have a feeling their Waterfront is focusing on overseas visitors, and we had looked at all there was to offer pretty quickly, perhaps because we weren’t shopping for things to take home with us. That being said, for a world renowned little town with thousands and thousands of visitors passing through annually, there must be more to Knysna than the Waterfront, and I am determined to return and explore it a little more.

From the Waterfront we headed down to The Paddle Cruiser for a luncheon cruise down to the World Famous Knysna Heads. The Paddle Cruiser is the only one of its kind in South Africa, it was made in Cape Town and then towed around the coast to Knysna.

Now you are talking my language, put me on the water and I could be happy forever…

And we went past our Honeymoon spot of nearly twenty five years ago… really, even I can’t believe it!!!

#6/7 pictures I sent my kids to show them the little wooden houses that we went to on Honeymoon in the olden days.

Lazy lunch on board…

Ready for a nap… we headed back to Fancourt…

The Links

On the way back to Fancourt we stopped by The Links. Remember George is all about golf, there 27 golf courses and seven five star hotels, and any number of Messy golf courses, which only have nine holes but there are two tees, so it feels like eighteen. Fancourt is very definitely all about the golf, three very exclusive golf courses. Two of the courses, the Outeniqua and the Montague are on the Fancourt Estate and are open to the folk visiting the resort.

The Links is a very exclusive members only course, within its own estate. They managed to clear the members lounge for us to take a sneak peek and here we are the Media team, taking a look at the eighteenth hole in front of the club house lounge.

Back to Fancourt

We headed back to Fancourt, for a quick tour of the spa…

And would you look at that pool…

followed by some relaxing… and then a gala dinner…

With the most amazing deserts…

All to soon it was breakfast again…

And time to fly home on the bus…

Past the spring Canola fields…

#7/7 pictures I sent to my kids, saying I was nearly home… and light the candles for the Father person’s cake… Yes, it is birthday season over here!!!

This is not a sponsored post, I was not paid to write it and opinions expressed are my own. That being said, Lesley Simpson Communications did invite me to the media weekend and together with Fancourt South Africa provided me with a weekend away.