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| I know this is not my normal style but I was playing with photos after I finished the day's required editing :) |
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| does this pic not just scream beach holiday? |
So Caren wrote me an email to ask me about Ballito and I thought I'd post it straight on the blog (1) just in case there are others also wondering and (2) to remind me of the detail because I do forget!
I absolutely love Ballito for a number of reasons:
1. all the holiday accommodation is right on the beach so it's extremely child-friendly. You can lotion up in the flat and just walk with your belongings. I'm quite lazy to herd kids, unstrap them into the car
without whining, drive somewhere, get unstrapped, down to the beach, sun lotion, schlep all of that back, into the car, blah blah blah. Not to mention sea sand everywhere!
2. It's small enough to feel like you're not still in Joburg but if you have a craving for any of the big shops, drive up the hill and there are tons of shops for your every need.
3. I love that this seems to be one of the few places in South Africa where you still pay per unit, and not per person. My other little love, Clarens, has accommodation options that charge per person and it is quite easily over R1000 per night for the four of us, three years ago... Why is SA getting so expensive (by our standards)? So here in Ballito if we can add in a granny for a few nights and still pay the same, that works beautifully. All hypothetical, of course :)
4. However, Ballito seems to be getting like Margate was a few years ago, and then Plett. Trendy and popular. This unit is R1050 per night now (semi season). In season it's R1200 per night and in peak season, for the month from 14 Dec to 13 Jan, it goes up to R2100 per unit. That's super crazy! I don't even want to think about what we'll do when we have kids in proper school and have to be subject to school holiday restrictions. Will we never go on holiday? What do people do?
5. Caren was telling me they want to go away over Christmas this year. However, the rental agents (the same ones I use, Jeanette uses and Louisa now uses too) told her they only accept bookings of 14 days or more over Christmas!!!! Let's work that out - R2100 X 14 = a fortune!
Might as well go to Thailand :)
6. Something on my goals list for this year is organising a celebration for my mother's 60th. My sister and I were thinking of 4 nights in Ballito (the nice thing about this extreme heat is it's still warm in the dead of winter) and when I emailed the agents to check availability and prices, she told me they only book a minimum of 7 nights! She suggested I contact them the week before and they are sure they can help me then. You all know I'm a J so this loosey-goosey business will never work for
me. I'm going to see if I can rather find accommodation in Plett.
Suggestions??? My mother hates parties (I know! where did I come from?!) and a fuss being made so this is a nice calm way to celebrate because I'm insisting that the occasion be suitably marked!
Do you plan your holidays, do you have timeshare, or are you a go with the flow person?
PS which is your favourite pic? 1 or 2? (I sound like an optometrist. Which is clearer? the red or the green? LOL)
PPS I'm packing up the laptop now so see you sometime over the weekend when I'm back home :)
I agree with you that as soon as a place becomes trendy the prices go through the roof. We bought time share at Beacon Isle Plett and it was one of our best investments. For holiday and sanity.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm....is Plett warm in the winter? I would go for the Ballito option if you know that it would work. I am a go with the flow person. Which works well sometimes but not always. Especially with kids. I would get timeshare if I could afford it - am thinking of getting it next year.
ReplyDeleteI think a get-away is a nice idea for your Mom. I'm exactly the same btw. Don't like being the centre of attention and I definitely prefer small and intimate as opposed to huge, noisy parties. I was away for my birthday last year and I LOVED it. It took a lot of the pressure off me to entertain/plan something. I plan to be away every single year on my birthday from now on.
There are other agencies in Ballito that we've used before, and I'm sure their minimums aren't 7 nights... I'll find the names for you
ReplyDeleteI love no 2.For my FIL we did a week at Stormsriver mouth- it was lovely. But for winter I would rather do Natal. Plett will be cold and miserable I'm sure. What about Sanlameer? Phone the agents there (website).
ReplyDeleteOr what about Umloti - I hear its lovely there too. And well, you know we camp.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all the info! I LOVE the first pic beacause of the beautiful sky! They are both beautiful pics though.
ReplyDeleteYou could also maybe try the South Coast for your moms Birthday?
We might go to Umhlanga/Ballito in July. I am not so sure about xmas anymore, prices are ridiculous! I suppose they can demand it hey.
A family holiday is a good idea for your moms 60th. Did you say when it was, I am assuming in winter?
I usually organize holidays way in advance. The place in Ballito also said they only their bookings for Dec in August!!! Doesn't work for me either!
I like the first one!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things now being at home with Jack that is a "challenge" is the strapping in, strapping out, pram out, pram in. D moaned at me about when I said that exchanging something with Jack isn't just 10 minutes - its 10 minutes getting out the car alone!!!
Thanks for sharing your holiday things here. Do you know what we do? We holiday where we can find the best price. We seek, and seek, and seek and .... eventually you will find a cheaper place that you can afford.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the rest of your holiday
Seriously?1 Who goes away for 14 days at a time? I never have that much leave left, never mind money. We're going from the 23rd of Feb to the 3rd of March, and I think we pay the out of season rates because it's definitely less than you're paying now and we can take up to 6 people along for the same price.
ReplyDeleteI love Balitto for the walkways more than anything else to be honest. I love love love going for long strolls along those wooden walkways with Nicola, and being able to pop down to the water and pick up shells along the way if we feel like it.
It's not so buys the time of the year that we go, so you don't feel like you're stuck in the middle of a crowd, but it's nice and central-ish enough that we could take day trips out to the aquarium of wherever if we feel like it too.
It's a great place with beautiful sunrises. :-)
60 is big!! I will skip the party since you know she doesn't like parties. Taking her for a getaway sounds like a wonderful idea, but what about having all her kids and the spouses and grandkids around her for a weekend dedicated just to her (even if it is in her house) and have a photo session to celebrate the occasion!
ReplyDeleteI haven't gone on holidays in a while. I am a go with the flow kind of person, and after about 3 days away from home, I really want to go back home. I might just be like Connor who starts telling you about everything they love in their house but not in the holiday location :) ;) BTW my sister was like that growing up, after 10 mins out she would drag my mum and say she wants to go home
PS: My mum is also turning 60 this year....