February, 2020 - Travels with Verne and Roy

Brahman Hills and Verne’s Big Birthday Bash, 17-22 January 2020

Several good hotels and spas are to be found in the green and pleasant Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. The newest and shiniest of these is Brahman Hills, designed for weddings and conventions but also geared for girly getaways.

A few days after Verne’s Big Birthday Bash* at the Oyster Box Hotel in Umhlanga, sister Dale and our mutual BFF Julie tore me from the bosom of assembled family and friends for a magnificent Midlands Meander birthday treat. (Click here, here, here, here and here – what, so many? – for posts on previous meanderings.)

(*Scroll down to the end for a whole lot of party photos, if you feel so inclined. Plus a gratuitous video of the author busting a move.)

Durban Curry Wars, January 2020

Sampling an authentic local curry is a must on the itinerary of any first-time visitor to Durban. With our Californian friends Ellie and Steve due to arrive in a couple of weeks, it behoved us to suss out the best place to take them.

First up, with daughter Wendy as the third member of the judging panel, we drove 20 minutes north from Umhlanga, Durban to the Sea Belle at Desainagar Beach, Tongaat, traditionally an Indian area. Mostly, the place came to mind because my sister Dale – also due to join us soon from London – had mentioned an ardent desire for its famous prawn curry.