Durban

On a public holiday weekend, we did a road trip to Durban.  It seemed everyone also had the same idea.  We tried to leave as early as possible at 7am to avoid traffic but we still encountered a bit on our way, especially some breakdowns.  It was a very beautiful scenic drive across the amazing country of South Africa. With a couple of stops on the way for loo breaks and petrol, we made it in roughly 7 hours! too long! (and I wasn't even driving) :-(

Durban is in the province of Kwazulu-natal - the largest city in South Africa (SA).  Its also has the busiest port in SA and is a major centre for tourism because of it's sub-tropical climate and vast sandy beaches.

We stayed at the Hilton hotel on the executive floor which was pretty functional and close to most things.  It was virtually impossible to visit the beachfront during the day because of the crowds because of the public holiday - so rowdy and too many people, the roads were even closed off.  We were fortunate to take a walk along the promenade of the Golden mile (OR Tambo parade) with 4miles of hotels along the beachfront, restaurants and shops, amusement parks, cable cars, paddling pools (very filthy), arts and crafts sellers, ice-cream parlours and piers.  It also has a lot of art deco and Victorian architecture very similar to Ocean drive in Miami.

We started off on Florida road with all the trendy bars and restaurants where it seems all thy hype trendy young people hang out - like us! :-)  We had lunch at the Spiga D'oro, a rustic Italian restaurant.

Ile Maurice 

The Suncoast Casion and Entertainment world is situated in the northern end of the Golden mile (also very art deco).  The complex houses a casino, restaurants, cinema, bars, and a semi-private beach which we didnt see :-(  Its a great centre for young adults to hang out.  We had dinner at the Havana Grill which was not a Cuban restaurant, the name is very misleading, it was actually a steak house, with some Cuban cigars and Che Guevara photos - very confusing!

Umhlanga beach

The Lighthouse

We spent most of our time in the Umhlanga Rocks, which is a resort town which merges with Durban North.  It has a paved beachfront walkway for roughly 2 miles.  The sandy beach is dominated by a red-and white lighthouse. It is known as a fast-growing upper income town with timeshare resorts, hotels such as Beverly Hills (I know!), restaurants and cafes.  We went to a highly recommended restaurant called Ile Maurice which is a family owned French Mauritian restaurant with great food and warm service by the owner. We also ate at the Bangkok wok.  We visited the Gateway Theatre of Shopping, which is a huge mall!  It's a very well planned mall with everything - lots of shops and restaurants etc.

Our drive back to Johannesburg was much faster, we had one stop for fuel and we made it back in 5 Hours and 10 minutes, yayyyy!! :-)