If you caught my Instagram stories this recently, you would know that I had the opportunity to spend my birthday weekend away with family and friends at Marcuskraal Chalets . This is the second time that we have been there and again, it did not disappoint!

Some information about Marcuskraal Chalets:

Marcuskraal Chalets are situated on a citrus farm just outside of Citrusdal, Western Cape. While we stayed in one of the two the 3 bedroom chalets, there is also the option to camp or to stay in one of 2 sleeper rooms on the farm (all of which have free wi-fi!), so there are different options for accommodation available.

We had opted to stay in one of the two 3 bedroom houses (I will not call them chalets – they are bigger than my house!) with a hot tub on the stoep (porch). It was fantastic! I did manage to take a few shots of the awesome accommodation before getting too side tracked by the hot tub 🙂

Anyway, back to the our weekend!

Friday

We arrived in the pouring rain (I love winter, so this is a good thing for me) and I was so excited to see that the accommodation and the views were as good as I remembered. Once we had unpacked and sorted out where everyone was sleeping, we allowed the kids to change and get into the hot tub.

It wasn’t too long after that that we too piled ourselves in too, with my birthday champagne in hand 😀 . There is nothing quite like lying in a hot tub, sipping on champagne (okay, I’m not that fancy – it was sparkling wine 😉 ) and watching the rain fall over the orange orchard and mountains in the distance.

Just thinking about it now makes me feel all relaxed again! We spent the rest of the day being lazy, lounging in the hot tub and in front of the fire (on which supper was also cooked); the perfect way to start the weekend.

Saturday

I was woken up with tea and rusks in bed and got to lie there while experiencing the most tantalizing bacon aromas from the kitchen. Why was I so lucky? Because it was my birthday! Sitting on the stoep (again) and enjoying breakfast/brunch and mimosas while dreaming of actually living on a farm was awesome, the only thing that would have been better would have been if we actually did live on a farm!

Once breakfast was done, we decided to try out the 4×4 trail on Marcuskraal farm. It took us a total of about 3 to 4 hours to complete (we did stop for lunch); there were some fun challenges for Hubs to attack and the views were just incredible! Of course I am going to continue to overload you with photos, you would wonder about me if I didn’t 😉 :

If you do enjoy 4x4ing, then I really do recommend that you give it a try. Hubs stuck to the Grade 3 route, mostly because we had the kids with us and friends that had never been 4x4ing before. However, they do have some sections with a 4-5 grading as well if you are looking for more of a challenge.

We spent the rest of our time back in the hot tub, drinking the most divine (adult) milkshakes that Hubs made for us – Nachtmusik, Amarula Cream and vodka mixed with vanilla ice cream… they were delicious! The kids had to have plain old boring chocolate milkshakes instead, but they assured us that their milkshakes were delicious too 🙂

The evening was super chilled; supper was again another braai (again, no cooking for me!) while the guys watched the rugby (ugh! I guess that I had to give them that).  We then all piled into the lounge to watch a movie – what a rocking Saturday birthday night hahahaha. I think that we were all passed out by 10:30, just from all the activity and fresh air! Things certainly have changed 😀

Sunday

We all woke to the bittersweet excitement of it being Father’s Day and the fact that we needed to leave our beautiful farm 🙁 . After spoiling the dads, the kids had one last swim in the hot tub before we persuaded them that yes, we did actually have to pack up and go home.

I managed to snap this shot of them enjoying their breakfast at the breakfast bar though, before the craziness of swimming and then getting all packed up. They are just the cutest!

The short two hour trek home was stretched out by stopping at a few padstalle (farm stalls) along the way, because we weren’t quite ready for our break from reality to be over! I bought delicious hertzoggies, which are small tartlets filled with apricot jam and topped with toasted coconut, and then ate the most yummy grilled bacon, egg and cheese sandwich for lunch.

There is something to be said for spending time with family and friends, while enjoying good, simple foods. I thought that it was a fantastic way to spend Father’s Day and to signal the end to our awesome weekend away.

So, long story short, if you are ever in the area and you are looking for a great place to stay, don’t hesitate to look into Marcuskraal. I loved it there and will definitely go back again!

What about you? What are your favourite weekend getaway spots? Comment with your links, I would love to check them out!