We were invited to spend the last weekend of the school holidays (and admittedly the busiest sporting weekend in recent history) at Tumbleweed Cottage in McGregor which gave us the opportunity to explore the little village as a family. After three weeks of staycationing at home, the kids were very eager to go on an adventure and visit McGregor. Yes, the little ones may have been misguided in thinking that McGregor was the garden that Peter Rabbit kept sneaking into, but Ilan knew that McGregor was a real place and the home of Ziggy, his class-sponsored donkey from Grade R. Either way, we were all ready to hit the road and discover a new place.

Tumbleweed Cottage is a beautifully restored clay-walled farmhouse cottage with a fireplace, comfy couches and DSTV. I was very grateful for the DSTV because we spent the first afternoon and evening glued to the TV as Kevin Anderson fought his way to the Wimbledon final. The cottage has a loft bedroom upstairs where we slept, the little ones shared a room downstairs with twin beds and Ilan had his own big double bed in a room to himself.

My favourite part of the house was the large sunny veranda – I managed to sneak in an afternoon nap on the outside couch which was delicious.
I’d love to visit again in summer so that we can braai at the bottom of the garden and take a dip in this splash pool.

Let’s be honest, there isn’t much happening in McGregor which is wonderful because you can enjoy ‘just being’ without #fomo. However, if you do want to get out the house, I can recommend you do the following:

  1. Go for a walk around the village – you will find some friendly neighbours, some horses in random fields or back gardens and some cute coffee shops in High Street.
  2. Don’t miss the Saturday morning market that starts at 9am and is completely wrapped up just over an hour later. They have some great breakfast options and sweet treats. We bought some ripe avos and a freshly baked loaf of ciabatta for lunch and the kids were entertained by an older kid with a bag of interactive magic tricks.
  3. Visit Eseltjiesrus Donkey Sanctuary – there is no charge for the quick tour and opportunity to visit the donkeys but you can support the sanctuary with donations, by visiting their shop or by enjoying some drinks or a meal at their lovely little restaurant. The restaurant overlooks a pond and big rock that the kids loved climbing – the coffee is decent and they have a kiddies menu too.
  4. Pop in to McGregor Wines for some wine tasting and let the kids enjoy the jungle gym outside.
  5. Take a walk at Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve and enjoy the scenery and fresh air.

Here’s a short video I put together of our weekend exploring McGregor:

And that’s how we spent our weekend! I’m not going to lie, a weekend away with young kids is exhausting and sometimes just the thought of packing for a self-catering weekend away seems like a huge effort, but it is always worth it. The kids had a fantastic time and we made some new family memories which is what it is all about.

Thanks for having us, McGregor!

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