OMW we really had some awful experiences this holiday… I think it really topped the charts in terms of stressful breaks, and I really hope that we never go through that again.

I reckon if I blog about this really quickly and get it out of the way, I don’t ever have to think about it again.

After having problems with my new Volvo before even going down, we were hoping for a smooth trip. If you don’t follow me on Twitter, then the Volvo experience involved my dashboard going completely dead a few days before we went, and the part was going to take 3 weeks to arrive from Sweden so Volvo have loaned us a car until my NEW car is fixed!! That 3 week period is over on Monday, and according to the technician yesterday it’s still not fixed!! But anyhoo, the V40 D2 we’re driving now was a pleasure on the long road. It runs on a sniff of diesel on the open road so we only had to fill the car up 3 days after we arrived at the coast!

So, we arrive in Ballito, ready for our holiday and excitedly collect the keys and pay the balance of the amount owing to Cyberview, and head off to our apartment.

Well, it was awful. Just plain disgusting and a health trap! We hadn’t even unpacked the car properly when we noticed the leak in the lounge ceiling. It had been there for so long that there were stalactites formed with the wetness… and a huge patch of mould on the tiled floor! Then we noticed that it was leaking right next to the light, which was flickering… they’re going to have a fire there if they don’t fix it. Then we noticed the cockroach the size of my hand scurrying from under a couch! Not only that, but the place was dingy and extremely dark and more than a little rundown. To say we were unhappy was an understatement.  Note to self and others… Le Roc in Ballito is awful… don’t stay there!! Especially unit 5!

Anyway in the end, Cyberview refunded our money because they didn’t have any other apartments we could use, there was NO way we were staying in that hell hole. And so the hunt started to try find accommodation! Not easy just before a long weekend and the Easter school holidays!

Thankfully Ballito Accommodation could help, and we got an amazing apartment at Le Paradis. OK, it was almost twice the price so I’m a little broke right now… but man it was worth every cent! The difference in the entire experience was amazing! From the awesome people that helped us, to the fabulous service… they not only incl floor service, but had fresh towels every few days and did the dishes (compared to other Ballito rental agents who only do floor service). The only issue was that the apartment didn’t face the sea… so we didn’t get to wake up to the ocean sunrise, but that was the only bit it was missing.

So now that we had a place to stay, we could start enjoying ourselves.

OMW then other things started going wrong:

1. I’d carted my Macbook all the way there to catch up on my editing. Problem was that my beautiful Magic Mouse managed to get bent on the way down, and we could not fix it :(. We also didn’t have much 3G access in the flat, so the mifi was completely useless! There went that idea… and R1100 later I got a new mouse when we went to Gateway on a cloudy windy day.

2. Almost every time we went out to eat, it landed up being a disaster!! We went to John Dory one evening so I could have fish, and Bradley’s chicken schnitzel was raw in the middle!! By the time he realised it he lost his appetite! We went to the Spur next to Wakaberry for dinner another evening… and OMW that was a disaster. The restaurant wasn’t even busy, yet our food took an hour to arrive. When it did, Connor’s macaroni cheese was ice cold… like freezer ice cold!! It took 3 managers to fix the problem. They couldn’t however, fix the most awful ribs Bradley and I have ever eaten!! There was hardly any meat on the bones and it really didn’t taste great either. We’ll never be going back to either place!

We did have good food there though… we ate breakfast at Zara Cafe… that was amazing!!

And that’s the end of my very long moaning session 😉 the next post will have all the good stuff… I had to end it on a good note though… how amazing is this sunset from one of our last evenings there!