Arrive, leave and how many of you. We'll say which cottages fit.
A mountain garden on the escarpment edge outside Hogsback, up in the clouds, with three cottages in it. Come in from the gate.
Start the walkWindrush is a garden first. It is laid out as a chain of small gardens, one leading into the next, and the cottages stand in them. The honest way to show you is the way we would if you were here: walk in from the gate.
Fynbos gardenfull sun
Just inside the gate, along the first stretch of the drive on the EverGreen side, the ground is in full sun, so this is where the fynbos lives: yellow daisy bushes, pincushions and silver leaves, under open sky before the garden closes in around you.
Follow the drive in.
HydrangeaHydrangeaboth sides of the drive
The drive runs between hydrangeas, in stands big enough to hide the boundary fence from the road. They flower in summer. Further in, the azaleas and rhododendrons take over in spring.
Yellow azaleaRhododendron
Pink rhododendronRhododendron
Orange and pink azaleaRhododendron
Pinot NoirVitis viniferaestablished vines on the slope below the thatch
Established Pinot Noir vines, their gnarled trunks trained along the wires, on the slope below the original thatched house. Pinot Noir wants a cool climate, and up here on the escarpment it gets one. Wine has been bottled from these vines in the past. In early spring the vines look bare; by summer the rows are green. From the house you look across them to the mountain.
Looking up through the vinesDe-vine View, with The Bird House to its left
The cottage here
The original thatched house, above the vines, looking across them to the mountain.
The loft is up a flight of stairs.
Yellow irisIriswith reeds at the water's edge
Water lilyNymphaeaopen on a sunny afternoon
A small dam just beyond the bottom of the vineyard: water lilies on the water, yellow irises and reeds around the edge, and a wooden deck with a bench between the water and the vines. From here the walk goes on under the oaks.
OakQuercusold trees, moss beneath
EverGreen Lodge stands among old oaks, and under them the ground is moss: whole beds of it, in the shade where little else grows.
Moss bedsunder the oaks
The cottage here
The green timber cottage in the shade of the oaks, with redwoods beside it along the drive.
Both bathrooms have showers, not baths.
RedwoodSequoia sempervirensseven trees either side of the drive, about forty years old
Seven redwoods, about forty years old, stand either side of the drive beside EverGreen Lodge: two on its side and five across the drive. That is young for what they are. Stand under them and the light changes.
The walk turns here and comes back down towards the orchard.
AppleMaluswith nut trees and blueberry bushes
The old fruit treeson the lawn beside The Bird House
The Bird House sits to the left of De-vine View as you face it, in the orchard: apple trees, nut trees and blueberry bushes, with a bed of roses and a stone fountain at its door. This is where the walk ends, which is to say, back near where the vines began.
The cottage here
A white double-volume cottage for two in the orchard, with its own wood-burning stove.
Open plan: the beds, lounge and kitchen share one double-volume space; the bathroom has its own door.
Tell us how you would like them and we make them up before you arrive. Made up as twins, Windrush has 13 separate single beds: groups and friends get their own bed, couples get a double.
Try it on The Bird House's bed; the other cottages work the same way on their own pages.
En-suite
Made up as a double
The mown paththrough the garden, in spring
All three cottages and the garden between them, for your group alone. Sleeps 13, up to 15 with every extra bed out.
Windrush's managers live on the property. They meet you when you arrive and are a message away during your stay: firewood, directions, a problem with the geyser, where to find the best scones in the village.
Bringing your furry children? They are welcome too. Just let us know they are coming, so we can best accommodate them. Pets and house rules
The deck on the damend of the day