Kamberg Valley Hideaway - luxury self catering cottages in the tranquil Kamberg Valley, Drakensberg, South Africa
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Yet another busy, but productive week!

28/5/2017

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This week we had a few things happening!

Beaven's team were continuing their work on the workshop and it is looking great! They only really need to now put the door on and waterproof the roof, then it is down to us to paint it and start putting everything back inside. It really is looking fabulous and much safer than the old workshop!

Also this week we had to fell a number of trees that were extremely close to the site of the old workshop and were leaning towards the area where Sunset Cottage is going to be.

It would have been dangerous to leave these trees so close to where the new cottage is going to be located, so we had to have them cut down. It is heart-breaking having to fell trees, but we will plant some indigenous trees further from the cottage in the Spring.

Some of the trees we had to have felled were huge and there was no way we could cut them ourselves, so we hired Derick from Trickytrees.

If anyone needs some tree felling work done, I would highly recommend Derick and Trickytrees. They were fantastic! Very safety conscious and accurate in getting the trees to fall where they wanted them to fall!

Everything went according to plan, with the only problem being that once all the trees that needed to be felled had been done, with the branches cut off the trunks and the trunks chopped down to a manageable size, we had to clear the area!

​It took 3-days to move everything and now we have aching bodies, cuts and bruises and two huge piles of brush to burn after the winter dry season! The area does look great though and work can soon start on the new cottage! Hard work, physical work, but very exciting to see the progress. We even have some great plans for the tree trunks!!

The other large project that we started on this week (well Bryan and Henry started on it) was laying the pipe for the overflow from the small pond.

In the summer, when we have large storms with plentiful rain, our trout dam becomes very discoloured as the rain water rushing into Spurwing Dam carrying lots of sediment with it. This is less than ideal for any guests wishing to try their luck at fly-fishing!

Bryan has planned a system where we can hopefully, re-direct the majority of this dirty water through an overflow pipe and along the open trench to the waterfall behind the trout dam!

​This week Bryan and Henry started to lay the pipe. 36 metres of it! it is still a work in progress, but it is looking good!

So, I think that is all the updates for this week. As I said a very busy week, but a significant one that was very productive.

Before I sign off though, I have one last photo I wish to share. Whilst I was busy gardening and weeding on Monday, I came across this colourful chap! I took a quick snap as I thought his markings were stunning! What do you think?!
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April and May 2017 and the start of our new projects!

21/5/2017

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We had a very busy April with lots of guests booked into Kamberg Valley Hideaway and are so happy to say that we received lots of great comments and reviews!

We had a lovely family staying in Forest Cottage in April and it was the children (of which there were four) who wrote in our guest book before they left. We enjoyed their comments so much, I thought I would share their entry with you here.
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​After our busy month of guests during April, May began with us starting our new projects!

During the course of our time at Kamberg Valley Hideaway, we have realised that the old workshop is actually extremely badly build and very dangerous! The walls had big cracks, which had been bolted together to keep them from falling down and we noticed that the walls were not actually built on the concrete slab, but on a row of bricks which were actually separating more and more over time from the floor. Really not a safe place for any of us to be. We decided therefore, that we would knock down the old workshop and re-locate it to the field where the water tanks live, so that it was away from our guests staying in Forest Cottage!

The first week we spent clearing the workshop, and removing all the benches and shelves from inside, so that it could be knocked down.


​​​We also had the TLB come in to clear away all the wattle, and the large pile of wood that had clearly been discarded at some point in time, from behind the workshop, so we could actually see the river and gain access to it. It is such a lovely part of our property, but totally overgrown and of little use, as it was!

​Bryan took a couple of photos with the drone and here is the before and after! 
Kamberg Valley Hideaway
Before...
Kamberg Valley Hideaway
After...

​So, one of our jobs over the coming months is to landscape this area so that our guests can enjoy walking along the river and viewing the sunset over Cleopatra Mountain, Mount Lebanon and the valley to Highmoor!
self catering accommodation in Kamberg Valley, Drakensberg
The view from behind the old workshop

​Once we had cleared and emptied the workshop, and the TLB had cleared and levelled the land for the location of the new workshop, Beaven and his crew at Ezweni Construction, started work on the foundations, concrete slab and brickwork! As we know from last year, Beaven and his guys are phenomenal and here is a slideshow of the progress over just two weeks!

As well as starting to build the new workshop, they also dismantled the old workshop. We will be using the windows, door, roofing and roof beams for the new workshop so once the guys had  dismantled and salvaged the materials we want to re-use, they then hit demolition mode and seemed to have a lot of fun doing so!

Incidentally, once they removed the wooden roof beams, the entire back wall completely collapsed. The guys in the building when the roof beams were removed could be hear shouting and were seen frantically running out of the building as the wall went! So, in essence, the roof was currently keeping the wall up! Not safe at all!

So, at the end of two weeks, we now have a new workshop that is basically up to roof height and a flat, cleared slab area!

The location of the old workshop is going to be one more guest cottage! It is going to be fantastic with an incredible view from the patio! Sunset Cottage...

I will be writing the blog (hopefully) from week-to-week, with progress updates as we continue with our various projects for this year, so I hope you will check in to see what is happening, unless, or course you are coming to visit us!
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    Hi there, my name is Michelle. I am a photographer and nature guide and now the owner of the beautiful Kamberg Valley Hideaway! 

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​We look forward to welcoming you
to Kamberg Valley Hideaway!
Come and enjoy your break away
in our little piece of paradise!
  • Home
    • Pet Friendly
  • Accommodation
    • Forest Cottage
    • Sunset Cottage
  • About the area
  • Things to do
    • Fly Fishing
    • Food and Cuisine
  • Contact
    • Blog
  • Book Now
  • Guest's Welcome Book
  • GUEST REVIEWS