One minute you're bowling along the N3 being tailgated by some road hog and the next you're at Hidcote, Mooi River, entering a slice of whimsical fantasy so reminiscent of visionary Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson's shire, it would not be surprising to bump into Frodo Baggins and the rest of the hairy-footed Hobbit clan.
With its unique accommodation - five-star treehouses built into oaks, cedars et al, complete with sunken jacuzzis en suite and showers with a view of the mighty Drakensberg - Sycamore Avenue Treehouse Lodge and Guesthouse is a place where those who have stayed (from the US to Australia and seemingly everywhere in between) wax lyrically in the guest book.
"The most unique accommodation in the world", "so romantic, we got engaged in the jacuzzi . . .", "our children thought they had walked into a fairy tale."
The brainchild of genial and wonderfully eccentric sculptor Bruce Attwood, Sycamore Avenue currently features five treehouses (with another on the way) - ranging from the "romantic" at R400 per person per night (fabulous for honeymooners) to the Bottle Tree House (R450 pp).
Families are catered for in the Planequarium, the biggest treehouse of them all, which features a marine and astrological theme and a TV for those who must watch!
Prices include a really good breakfast, and dinner can also be arranged. Gloria Attwood's home cooking is divine.
Apart from the jacuzzi, lounge and fireplace and beautifully fitted bedroom and showers with a view, each treehouse is artistically decorated with its own unique features.
There are doors with spoked steering wheels for handles, mirrors with "Who is the fairest" carved in the top, windows latticed with whirls of wood and stars, walls with bottles inset for light features, light fixtures made of bottles, stained glass windows in weird and wonderful places and, in the Bottle House, a wonderful hinged chest and two slatted deck chairs. Extraordinary carved hinges on doors and windows are also an ongoing feature throughout. If you're a hotel chain fan, this is not for you.
As far as Bruce Attwood is concerned, the norm does not feature much in his life - even his dining room table and chairs are a piece of art work in themselves.
He's also a raconteur of note. Ask how he met Gloria - the Farmer's Weekly features, but neither of them is a farmer...
There is not enough space here to tell the tales we heard, but suffice it to say the Attwood family always seem to take the road less travelled - and it is always extraordinary, from sons Mark, who runs the unique Artist's Press in White River and Andrew (who runs the beautiful Antbear guest house with his wife).
- Bookings:
Sycamore Avenue Treehouses is at Hidcote, Mooi River (just off the N3), roughly one and a half hours from Durban and within a short driving distance of the Midlands Meander arts, crafts, food and drink route. Phone: 033 263 28785/083 277 1873.
- A lucky reader and partner will win a two-night stay at Sycamore.
- This article was originally published on page 13 of The Daily News on September 01, 2006