Durban - Take where it is situated. Located in the deep verdant heart of the KwaZulu-NatalMidlands, tucked away by a fast-flowing crystal-clear river, surrounded by tall forests full of singing birds and little forest creatures, Brookdale Health Hydro surely lays claim to one of KwaZulu-Natal’s prettiest locations. And it’s an easy five-hour drive (with coffee break) from Joburg, and only just over an hour from Durban.
Over two decades ago, its owners, Tony and Wendy Somers-Cox, innkeepers in Dullstroom, decided to abandon the Highveld and move down to the green hills of Natal. Their dream? To build a genuine health hydro where visitors could come and destress, learn about healthy lifestyle and eating habits, and be pampered with all kinds of beauty and massage treatments. Today, Brookdale is a small, exclusive, affordable haven of peace and tranquility, with 22 rooms clustered around lovely small courtyards filled with shady trees, wraparound decks that overlook the forest, cosy sitting rooms, two large pools (indoor and outdoor) and all sorts of other amenities.
But let’s get one thing straight immediately. Yes, you will eat a healthy diet, but forget the limp lettuce leaf, a lonely orange segment, or half an apple. Brookdale’s meals are wholesome, appetising and much better than home (my home, certainly).
Listen to some of the scrumptious foods I tucked into (and still, amazingly, lost weight) at three delicious meals a day plus healthy mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks. For breakfast, buckwheat crumpets with smoked salmon, avocado wedges, and herbed cream cheese; a 10am snack of a mixed berry smoothie was followed by lunch of fresh salmon served with new potatoes, seasonal vegetables and a lemon caper salsa with a spinach, cranberry and toasted almond salad. The 4pm snack of apple slices and peanut butter was followed at 7pm by a dinner of butternut and feta phyllo baskets served with a homemade tomato sauce and a green garden salad, followed by a “legal” chocolate mousse.
So you certainly won’t go hungry.
But… what will you do all day? Here was one of my very full days in the three-day programme I had chosen.
There’s a wake-up call at 6.30am with a fresh pot of hot rooibos tea (or another herbal tea if you like). Off then for a guided walk through a pine forest, up and down gentle hills, over a river, round the gorgeous grounds of Rawdon’s Hotel, and back to Brookdale where I had a swim in the outdoor pool (there’s also a lovely indoor heated pool with steam room and sauna which looks out over the lawns down to the river and forest). Then it is breakfast time, after which it’s off for a relaxing and therapeutic Swedish massage (included in your package). By the way, the walk is not a route march. Choose between the “flat” walk (that’s what I did) or the “fast” walk for the energy crunchers.
Before 1pm lunch, I managed to read a few chapters of a book and an amble down to the river where I heard three cuckoos all calling at the same time (Red-chested, Klaas’s and the black cuckoo).
There are also informative and entertaining non-compulsory lectures every morning on lifestyle and exercise, and aquacise classes.
After lunch, a little nap, then a gentle relaxation class, a pedicure, then a bout in the sauna followed by a jacuzzi.
After supper, watch TV, play scrabble or backgammon with fellow guests, make new friends, sit around and chat, or opt for an early night. Early nights are the norm because guests are so relaxed they fall into bed much earlier than they would do at home.
Nothing is compulsory at Brookdale. Although your pace of life will certainly slow down (particularly if you come from Joburg), you are free to choose whatever you want, or don’t want, to do. This is not a health prison with food guards, but a gentle cocoon of relaxation and healthy self-indulgence.
One afternoon, Mollie, a fellow guest and I took ourselves off on the legendary arts and crafts shopping route – the Midlands Meander. Started 28 years ago by a group of committed crafters, the Midlands Meander is now synonymous with beautiful handmade products of all kinds. With the growth of the Meander, award-winning attractive B&Bs, small country hotels and guest houses have grown up, as well as cheese dairies, olive, lavender and herb farms, restaurants, trout dams, cycling routes and horse trails, superb wedding venues, small holiday resorts, and lots more.
We armed ourselves with the latest beautifully produced edition of the must-have Midlands Meander (available all along the Meander) and ventured down winding lanes, tree-lined country roads and over hills and dales. The Midlands Meander is very well signposted, but it’s a good idea to plan your route from the helpful pamphlet.
You really will be thrilled and astonished by the number of superb goods you’ll find – offerings here are made by some of the finest arts and crafts people in the country.
Here’s what we managed to pack into one afternoon: handmade footwear and bags at Groundcover and Tsonga; lovingly fashioned handmade chimes from Culamoya (I still have my bells of London’s St Paul’s cathedral, bought 20 years ago from here); pottery at Dargle and Hillfold Pottery; mouthwatering cheeses from Swissland Cheese; handcrafted beer from the Nottingham Road Brewery; handwoven rugs, blankets and wall hangings at Shuttleworth Weaving; beautifully wrought glassware at Glass Cuttings; and finally, at the new one-stop Piggly Wiggly Country Village, we worked our way round the 22 shops and stalls clustered round a central green with a Piggy Putt-Putt course.
Back to Brookdale, but not before sampling the award-winning cappuccino and a slice of freshly baked cheesecake at Piggly Wiggly’s famous coffee shop.
Next time you’re in need of some soul and body relaxation and rejuvenation, a heavenly interval in which to rest and restore yourself, take yourself off to the Midlands and to Brookdale. - Sunday Independent
For more information, visit:
www.brookdale.co.za
www.midlandsmeander.co.za
www.pigglywiggly.co.za