The Rissington Rag - June 2010
Welcome to the Midwinter (i.e. it's only 25 degrees in Hazyview) Rissington Rag from Rissington Inn, Hazyview, Mpumalanga, South Africa. Still featuring A Day in the Life of a Hotelier and other useful and amusing snippets...Attention to Detail - join the Q
For the person that stole the Q from Rissington's Scrabble set, I think you should know that it has now been replaced (and that you will never win by cheating). Such is Rissington's attention to detail that we printed off from the Internet a list of the letters which should have been in the box and then contacted Scrabble South Africa, who very kindly sent us replacement tiles for the letters we were missing. Now Scrabble players can once again stymie one another with words like qabala, faqir and qi. And whilst we are on the subject of attention to detail, we have a new range of soaps, shampoos, gels and smells in all the bathrooms. Orange and Sandalwood flavour. Very tasty actually. Apparently women should smell of oranges and men of sandalwood, so this blend works for everyone. Also, as promised in the last rag, the hammocks are now hanging on the garden suite stoeps. The Afrikaans (and Dutch) word is 'hangmat' - isn't that great? Almost as good as a flying carpet. We have also dealt with the one area that was causing polite complaints (and of course we don't get complaints) - we have improved the sound-proofing between the two hillside suites by doubling the width of the dividing wall, right up to the roof. And we have done the same between the bathrooms of the courtyard rooms, so that the occupants can't hear the neighbours splashing away! What a relief ... Staff Member of the Month - Sport, aged 20
At the end of May, Sport made his triumphal return to Rissington from his retirement in the Karoo. At almost 20 years old, it seemed to be time for him to return to his old stomping ground before he was too old to stomp at all (and before South Africa hosted the greatest Sport Event on earth - Groan!). He is slow, admittedly, but he still walks about a kilometre a day, albeit with the occasional bruising from an unseen tree or step. The vet thinks he has about 20% vision and 20% hearing but I would put it a bit lower than that. He seems not to be in pain and I am watching carefully to pre-empt any suffering. When the time comes, we shall ask the said vet to come to Rissington and lay him next to his old mate umQombothi. No doubt Annie and Bull, their successors, will form a suitably respectful guard of honour. Chris Harvie to make an appearance at the Grahamstown Festival
I have been back at Rissington full time for almost 8 months now with only the rare exception of a few days away here and there, when the boat is ably kept steady by Rissington's long-standing management and staff. One such break will be at the beginning of July when I have been asked to give a talk during the Think!Fest at the National Arts Festival. I have called my contribution Ambling in Anglophone Africa and I'd be very grateful for the support of anyone who might be in The City of Saints that weekend. The talk will take place on 2nd July at 2pm at the Monument Restaurant and costs R20 - which doesn't go to me! - and at 5pm, same day, same place, I will be an "Author in Conversation". This one is cheaper at R12. Please come. As Greta Garbo didn't say, I don't want to be alone ... Give us your tired, your poor, your hooligan masses - the World Cup is finally here ...
This is Nelspruit's Mbombela stadium (taken with my phone - and, wickedly, without permission from FIFA) at which, on June 16th, Youth Day in South Africa, a carefully-chosen nine members of Rissington's staff will watch Chile vs Honduras. We are apparently supporting Chile, not only because I have been there (and loved it) and because we have a lot of Chileans staying but also because the 1st XI captain from my schooldays tells me they will win. A convincing reason to support anyone. Rissington is almost full for the period from 11th to 26th June, when there will be matches at Mbombela/Nelspruit stadium. Obviously thereafter nobody knows where they will be playing and they therefore have not booked their accommodation but I am sure we shall fill up for the whole time until the end of the tournament. And I am delighted to say that, for the rest of the year, forward booking patterns are looking as good as they did three years ago. Perhaps the recession really is over (unless you live in Greece). Anyway, in the meantime, we shall concentrate on giving our World Cup visitors the best possible time. We are all looking forward to it with great enthusiasm and, from watching Bafana Bafana beat Thailand at Mbombela to the deafening roar of 44 000 vuvuzelas, not only is our local stadium ready, but perhaps our national team is also not entirely as useless as we might have thought. President Zuma has issued a plea to South Africans to 'behave themselves, just for a month'. While this might seem a rather short-term view, it is a start ... To any South African, who is not looking forward to the World Cup, all I can say is that you are a curmudgeon and shame on you! Halala Bafana Bafana Halala! The June 2010 'Where in the World' competition - win a stay at Rissington ... plus last month's winners
Here's this month's picture. The Englishman's Grave. First correct entry drawn on 15 July wins two nights for two BB at Rissington. Where in the World was this picture taken? Send your answer to info@rissington.co.za. I will give an extra night to the winner if the drawn entry also tells me correctly who the 'Englishman' was. The Ash Cloud cometh ...
For those vulcanised readers who are concerned about the impact on their future travels of the eruption of the never-pronounced Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull (it is Incidentally, we managed to take advantage of the 'fall-out' from the March/April eruption by arming my volcano-trapped brother Rupert with a chain saw and clearing out some of the views from the rooms, so all the garden suites now have clear sunset views from their hammocks. See the picture above. And look at those clear skies. Not an ash-cloud in sight! No clouds at all, for that matter. So come on down you Europeans and North Americans. Beat the lava! Much as we love our southern hemisphere brethren, it has been decreed that South African tourism shall not survive by Antipodeans and South Americans alone. We need you. A Romantic Private Dinner under the Stars
There is a school of thought that says I don't do romantic. It is wrong, of course. I am all for romance in its place. Not, for example, in supermarket queues or public swimming pools. Rissington is certainly a good place for it, though, and for that reason we have come up with a private outdoor dinner spot for those who (this time like Greta Garbo) want to be alone but (unlike Greta again) to be alone with somebody else. Are you getting this? So ... in a clearing in the bush, far from the madding crowd and the 1970s revivalist music, down an alley of paraffin lamps, overlooking the herb garden, to the night sounds of Africa, with a big fire burning in a brazier, under a canopy of stars, you can now have dinner for two. It's magic. Book it for honeymoons, anniversaries, engagements, birthdays, private arguments ... A Day in the Life of a Hotelier - A New Zealander comments.
Rissington's Visitors Book is the source of many accolades for our hospitality, our chefs and our dogs but we recently had a unique one. A group of New Zealanders had checked in after a three and a half week trip around numerous spectacular game reserves. This happy little herd of Hobbits had seen every imaginable animal and bird, they were exhausted and we were their last stop - the perfect end to the perfect holiday. They had two nights and two delicious Rissington dinners. They spent the full day in between up the canyon enjoying the scenery. The time came to check out and they all inscribed their comments in the book - wonderful staff, delicious food, lovely rooms, great views etc. All the usual stuff. Except one, an elderly single gentleman with big feet and a broad floppy hat, who ponderously wrote "Excellent. Even got the stain out of my white T-shirt." So there you have it. Bring us your laundry and we'll get those stubborn stains out. Rissington can do anything. Last chance to book for 27th and 28th August 2010 - Rissington's 15th Birthday Party
There are still a few spaces left for Rissington's 15th birthday celebrations over the last weekend in August (27th and 28th). Just to repeat the plan, on the Friday evening there will be a seafood extravaganza around the pool and on Saturday afternoon there will be a long drawn out lunch in the garden with lots of wine and a musician or two. The cost is only R1950 per person. This includes 2 nights accommodation, the seafood dinner on Friay, Saturday breakfast, Saturday's 6-course lunch, a light supper around the fire on Saturday night, Sunday breakfast, all wine at mealtimes (except at breakfast ...). Vegetarian meals will be prepared on request. Come and join us. Bring some friends. We've got a really good crowd coming. Book NOW on info@rissington.co.za to guarantee yourself a good room. You are, of course, welcome to spend an extra night or two at the normal rate before and/or after the weekend if you like. (Direct bookings only please.) Free Internet Access for GuestsIn this day and age, Internet access is crucial to all generations from the Facebook addict (oh, you sad, sad people) to the seasoned traveller checking in on-line and keeping up to speed with the British Airways strikes. Rissington now therefore has high-speed uncapped broadband available free of charge for guests at a computer in the shop off the bar. The restaurant, bar, sitting room and pool area also have wireless connection for those travelling with laptops. All totally free. A great service, we think. The Lowveld Winter is upon us. Aren't we lucky?
Maybe you live in Johannesburg and, after the wettest summer in decades, you are now fed up with the cold. Or perhaps you live in Cape Town and you have finally realised that you should get away in winter instead of grinning, bearing it and pretending that constant drizzle and wind are somehow quirky and fun. Or possibly you live in Burton-on-Trent but you are staying with your football team and breaking the ice in the Rustenburg loos every morning. Either way, take some time out and warm up in the Lowveld between frosts, fogs and football matches. The temperature at Rissington never goes below 8 degrees, even in the cold of the night in the middle of winter. So come on down for log fires, red wine and superb game-viewing. And don't forget to book for the August Birthday Weekend if you've been thinking about joining us but haven't contacted us yet. Come and see us. It'd be madness not to ... Chris and the Rissington Team[ Sign up for our occasional newsletterr ]
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for those who have yet to master it), we at Rissington have decided that we will not charge cancellation fees to guests who are forced to delay or cancel their stays in the future as a result of an airport closure if their insurance won't cover them. We know that some cautious folk are holding back on their bookings until either the eruptions cease or the aircraft manufacturers come up with suitable protection for their jet engines. The previous eruption in 1821 lasted for 3 years and you certainly don't want to wait that long for your next holiday so it seems it is all down to Dr Spock (the Vulcan, remember ...) and/or Durex to solve the problem. In the meantime, you may safely book Rissington in the knowledge that you won't be penalised if you can't get to us through the flying chunks of basalt.
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