KZN… Still SA’s most perfect place to relax

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine recently. She has RCI timeshare points and managed to get a week in a three bedroom self-catering apartment in Uvongo in KwaZulu-Natal and offered it to her daughter and her family.

But, her daughter wasn’t that excited…

What’s not to like – to love – about a free week in a seaside flat in KZN? Were my kids still at home, I would have jumped at it. I would even jump at it now, just for the two of us.

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Then we began talking, my friend and I. Although born in South Africa, she has seen less of this multifaceted country than I have, even though I’ve only lived here for just over 30 years.

The best man at my wedding lived in Durban for many years and in all that time, we (the people from Joburg) were the ones who explored his entire backyard.

I could not for the life of me understand why he and his family didn’t get out more: After all, living in Durban, you are just two hours (or even less when it’s on your doorstep) from the vastly differing Berg, Beach and Bush habitats.

As a family, we did all three, exploring the province from Oribi Gorge in the south to Pongola and Ithala game reserve in the north – and all points in between.

And those family holidays – sometimes only long weekend breaks – were some of the best we’ve had and generated the most memories.

We’ve travelled along a beach north of St Lucia late at night, stopping to watch leatherback turtles waddling agonisingly ashore to lay their eggs and bury them in the beach sand.

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Curious and scrounging warthogs have eyed us on the steps of the bungalow in Ithala. And we’ve been gloriously sunburned after white water tubing down the Tugela River in the high Berg.

In all the things we did, we knew that we were paying far less for an equivalent experience than we would in the over-trafficked, over-hyped tourist paradise of Cape Town and large parts of the Western Cape.

I once worked out that a bag of fish and chips in Durbs (and what beach trip isn’t complete without one of those?) costs roughly half what it would in The Waterfront in Cape Town. Family accommodation was, similarly, reasonably priced.

But what I most loved about KwaZulu-Natal as a destination was that it was (and still is) the perfect place to relax.

I always used to crest the hill into Pinetown on the old N3 and begin to smell the sea…and along with the tang came the sense of my worries and burdens being lifted.

Silly? Maybe? But most of the time I went to KZN my default footwear was slops or sandals – and nothing says “chilled” quite like they do.

KZN is also an unpretentious place where people don’t care what you look like or what you drive. And, of course, swimming costumes on the beach are the great social leveller…

Some may say that is changing these days, though, as places like Ballito showcase their designer bread, coffee and boutiques.

And there are noticeably more “poser-mobiles” on the roads these days. But, essentially, this is the place where everybody knows the kids will be noisy, there will be beach sand all over the place and the adults can let their fake Gauteng persona lie for a while under the bed.

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Interestingly, not long after my conversation with my friend, I was informed by my wife (not asked, note) that we are booked to stay at a place in the Berg for three days in December.

It has a rudimentary TV service in the one-bedroom chalet and Internet – what’s that?

It will be a picture postcard view of mountains outside the window.

It will be books, bicycle and braais – and full English breakfasts, along with afternoon naps.

No-one will be looking – and if they did, they wouldn’t care…