Spa---ring partners

Ok, I promised to tell you a bit about my day of being pampered on Thursday.

My friend Julie fetched me at 9am, and off we went to Addo. This is a little farming village about 70km from PE. It is better known for the Addo Elephant park nearby, but it is actually a citrus growing area on fertile soils fed by the Sunday's River.

On the way we went past the Swartkops River mouth, with the little village of Amsterdamhoek nestling on the river banks.

The lighting as the sun struggled to make an impact on the cold and bleak day was stunning, and Julie could see I was itching to take photos, so she very patiently stopped on the side of the freeway so i could do my thing.....here she waits in Ndlovu (her new monster car, appropriately named... it means Elephant in the local Xhosa language, but what a great ride!)

As you can see, it was a really sombre day, but this is on the sea side of the freeway, and you can just see the line of buildings along the shore, with the sandbanks in front of them that shows the position of River mouth.

looking inland is the Swartkops Estuary and behind it the mountains where Uitenhage lies (famous as the home of Audi and Volkswagen South Africa). There is even a glimmer of blue sky!

We arrived at the Spa to this wonderful welcoming sight....

It was on a farm in Addo that Suzette Meyer had the vision of setting up a health spa. She trained as a beauty therapist, and then set about modifying the old farm house and building the Resort. She is a very talented lady, and has created a delightful place with a really welcoming, relaxing ambience.

(Here is Julie, seated on the front patio, with Suzette on the right. )

One of the things about building on an established farm is that there are already some wonderful old trees, like this magnificent Tipiana Tipu, which give is such a settled, peaceful atmosphere.

We started of with a nice hot cup of coffee on the front patio, overlooking the lovely gardens.

As you can see from our attire, it was still pretty cold!

The spa has been constructed around a gravelled courtyard, with the reception area and all the treatment rooms and in the old farmhouse along the front, and then surrounding it at the back are the Jaccuzzi, the gymnasium and some outdoor chalets for accomodation.

Then off we went to our respective treatment rooms, and wafted off onto clouds of bliss as we underwent all sorts of massages, facials, body wraps, Vichy showers, moisturising masques etc. By the time lunchtime arrived, we were glowing gently and feeling decidedly mellow!

We ended a delightful treat with lunch on the patio, and then headed for home.

And as a bonus, there is an orange orchard along the driveway. I bet there are not many Spas in the world where you are invited to pick your own oranges as you leave!

Thanks for the treat Jules.... it was wonderful!