A Weekend Away at Underhill Farm, in the Overberg…

Continuing on from our previous post on things to do in Elgin and Grabouw… I thought I would show you the wonderful farm that we stayed on. We recently one a competition to a weekend away at Underhill Farm, an eco-friendly, pet-friendly farm in the country and if our kids had been with us, an extremely child friendly destination.

A week or two back, the father person and I headed out, with the pup, to enjoy our first weekend away together in a very very long time. We had the most fantastic time… what a gem of a destination.

The entire place has a very Hobbity feel to it, hardly suprising from the name… but a river flowing by, with several shady oak trees. It is springtime over here and definitely apple blossom season… and pretty countryside as far as the eye can see…

And loads of wide open space for the pup to play, amidst the olive trees…

Underhill Farm

First things first, meet Julian, our host for the weekend… who was wonderfully helpful and happy to share his know how…

And his home brewed cider!!!

There is a lovely vegetable garden, where you are welcome to “pick your own” for dinner… Nothing sparks joy for me more than a vegetable garden!!!

Each cottage is well-equipped with everything you could possibly need… including a fridge, a dishwasher, and every little gadget under the sun. This is a destination where you can easily create a feast.

Each cottage also has an enclosed garden with plenty of space for your pup to play in…

The cottages are located well away from each other… and they each have their own dipping pool… oh heady joy, not to mention essential for visiting in the summertime.

And a wonderful braai area, in an inside outside room, for camping style feasts…

Let’s talk about the eco-part of the farm… Solar panels for power…

And your garbage sorted… never have I been happier to arrive in a place where they have an eco-brick already for you to fill, a basin for your organic garbage, a spot for your recycling.

Not only that, but they really do use the eco-bricks…

It is not often you get to visit a place where the buildings are literally handmade, from recycled materials found in and around the farm… these cottages are a homebuilders delight, full of practical ideas and design as you go ideas.

From glass bottle walls, to a living roof, with instructions, this farm has it all.

A Peek inside the Cottages

Rivendell Cottage

We stayed in Rivendell Cottage, and so it became our favourite…

We absolutely loved the indoor/outdoor room and to be honest, with wifi and the tree top view overlooking the river, this would be my office of choice for the rest of time.

Take a look inside… we were very thankful for the cosy fire place, because Cape town weather in the springtime, can still be cold, not to mention wet…

The cottage sleeps four, I love the coffee bag ceiling, I love the wooden beams… and I love the dug out feel of the second bedroom…

Perfect for an afternoon nap in the sunshine spot and your bed is level with the ground outside the window… not to mention the birds have no idea you are there and you can see them all in the tree tops, basically it is a bird hide, so fantastic!!!

The kitchen is just the right size for a weekend away, in fact more than enough space, because I can’t imagine a meal other than a braai while you are on holiday in the tree tops.

But the crowning feature has to be the fairly lights leading down to the fire pit, next to the river… how spectacular is that… your own private river beach, to paddle, play, picnic, read… the most perfect spot ever.