The Midlands Meander, KZN, South Africa

Goats at the Swissland Cheese Factory on the Midlands Meander

We are back on the farm in Boston with our friends Barbara and Dave and we have hardly stopped to draw breath since we arrived. The day after our arrival, Dave, David and I drove along the Midlands Meander. We bought goats cheese from the Swissland Cheese Factory (probably made from milk from the same goats you can see in the photo) and then visited the Ardmore Ceramic Art Centre.

 This centre was established to encourage African artists to express themselves through ceramic art. As you can see, some of the works are extraordinary and – although not to everyone’s taste – are very striking!

Our next stop was to buy chocolate from the Belgian Chocolate Shop. After this indulgence we had lunch in the Caversham Mill Restaurant. The mill dates back to the early 1850s and was the first water-driven mill to be erected in Natal.




Unfortunately, the original mill was destroyed when the Lions River flooded in 1987, although some of the machinery (together with the original millstones) can still be seen. Our lunch was first class and we sat out on the deck of the restaurant watching the waterfall and the antics of the weaverbirds – that is until it started pouring with rain. We then repaired to the inner rooms to finish our meal as we watched flying ants pouring out of their nests. How on earth do flying ants fly through the pouring rain?

On Friday, Dave and Barbara had arranged to meet up with some of Barbara’s German relatives who are vacationing in SA, so David and I went back to the Midlands Meander to try to buy some hand-made leather shoes to replace the ones he was wearing. We visited the Groundcover Leather Company, where we had bought his shoes four years previously, but unfortunately they had stopped making that particular design and David didn’t like the others. We tried all the other shoemakers, but nothing suited! Now he has decided to wait until we get to New Zealand to buy shoes. (Please note all our friends in NZ!!) However, all was not lost as we had a delightful lunch at Old Halliwell Country Inn, which dates back to the early 1830s. We were the only diners that day and were treated royally.