How to get rid of writer's block (or, what it's like to be a professional writer)

There are all sorts of perceptions out there about what it must be like to be a professional writer in an agency environment. For example, there's the notion that we sit before our screens, and the words just flow abundantly as our fingertips dance elegantly over the keys, masterpieces flowing as our souls soar with the joy of creating the perfect on-message content. 

There's the idea that we get to imprint our creative stamp onto every piece of content, an invisible signature to our art that is so subtle as to not be obvious, but clear enough to be recognized as the work of a master (or mistress). 

There's the vision of constant creative elation as we sit, overjoyed at the magical imagery we create, telling stories in erudite ways that nobody else possibly could. 

There's the expectation that every word we write will tell a brand's story in such a way that product will fly off the shelves, making companies millions while we sit in our garrets starving and drinking cheap red wine, plying our craft for the love of it (or for the exposure). 

The reality? 'Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed onto the page.' That's according to Paul Gallico (ish). Another favourite of mine is 'Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, then for a few friends, and then for money.' So said Moliere, who I've never heard of, but who really does capture the essence. 

Being a salaried writer certainly has advantages over being a freelance writer - with the most significant ones being a regular paycheque, and paid leave. There's also the absence of fear that your clients will be fickle and fire you based on a single piece that they don't like, or that they simply won't pay you, once you've worked on a Sunday morning while feeding your baby (don't laugh or cry - it's happened) to meet their crazy deadline. 

There's also the joy of being part of a team (or several teams, actually), and the tremendous satisfaction that comes with knowing that you played a pivotal role in the success of a particular campaign. With freelancing, you seldom get to see where your copy went or who did what with it - working in a public relations agency gives you the ability to keep tabs on your written children, watching them grow up into (good) news stories. 

When it comes to the actual business of writing in an agency, there's a lot to be said for the variety of topics - and for the massive boost that this gives to your general knowledge. In my four and a half years in my current job, I've written about everything from sunscreen to prepaid cards, from printers to military defense equipment, and from smoothies to student accommodation - and a whole bunch of other stuff too. There's a caveat to that though - nearly every client has their own style, preferred vocabulary and structure, and sometimes it's a challenge to switch between voices fully, within one day. 

With working across more than 20 clients at a time, you also don't get to be a specialist on any one account - although there's a great satisfaction in having an awareness of what's going on across the agency, and being able to link products and projects in a way that sets up partnerships and collaborations that gives them added impact from their communication activities. 

Another lesson you learn quickly is to park your Precious at the door, and I won't lie, it took me a long time to embrace this one, even though I really didn't think that I minded it when people made changes to my work, when I first started here. Any agency worth its salt won't let copy go to client without at least three people proofing it - and everybody has their own preferences when it comes to grammar. Often, a change made really is six of one and half a dozen of another, and it's not worth getting offended. There's a fine line to be trod, between writing what you're told to and sending out to the universe and not caring what happens to it further, and taking constructive criticism on board and never ceasing in your quest to create the perfect content. 

There are days when the words really do dance off your fingertips, and there are days when writing a 140 character tweet is like drawing blood from the proverbial stone. I haven't yet figured out how to solve the latter problem, but it often works to go completely off message (gah! agency speak!) and write something completely unrelated or irrelevant (like this blog post). It may not be very good for your deadlines, but it does help unblock the creative juices. There's also that whooshing sound of the deadline as it goes flying by that often helps to motivate, but one's colleagues generally don't take too kindly to receiving content long after it's due. 

That's all the long way of saying: being a writer for a living has its moments - good ones, bad ones, and great ones. I guess that's true of any job in a creative environment though - so if you're going to earn your living by putting your heart and soul down onto paper (or a screen) , be sure that you've got the right mix of creativity, insight, a willingness to learn, the ability to park your preconceptions, a good dose of grammar Nazism, and a clear lack of Precious. 

Make the time to understand how you fit into the teams that you work with, and find ways to make their lives easier. Never miss a deadline. If you know that that's inevitable, remember that you're in the communications business, for goodness' sake, and let them know. Find an environment that really does place a value on content and team spirit, and on the input that a writer can give to the success of a campaign or project. 

I'm one of the lucky ones - Tribeca Public Relations and I chose one another nearly five years ago, and while there were tears shed over copy in the early years, they've been few and far between in more recent times. We've grown together, and I've learned volumes about myself and my writing, and I work with an amazing group of people who really do believe that content is king. Working together as a team and applying our different skill sets, we get great results for our clients, using what I have created. What more could a writer want, really? 

#HouseBuying101

I'm doing what every writer who has a metric sh*t-ton of work to do, does. I'm writing a blog post completely unrelated to what I'm meant to be doing. 

Maybe not completely unrelated - my story is that the traffic on our road, still pumping after 9pm, is what's distracting me from the work I'm trying to do. 

It's what inspired this post, actually: HouseBuying101, or, lessons we've learned since buying our nearly 100 year old house. 

• If the house of your dreams is on a road that has traffic circles or speed bumps, or a combination of those, change your dreams. These devices are there to calm the extensive traffic on the road, traffic that is unlikely to slow down just because it is night-time, or a Sunday. 
• Similarly, if the house of your dreams is on the same road as a shopping mall, you are also likely to encounter the traffic nightmare - especially if your shopping mall is open late one night a week, or if it home to a Sunday market. 
• If you've ever wondered when supermarkets receive their stock - it's at 4am. Trust me, I've lost count of the Pick n Pay trucks zooming down our road at that time of the morning.
• It's not just the traffic that makes the noise - it's the people walking the street on their way to and from work that add to the 'vibe' too. 
• Johannesburg's older suburbs are home to many houses with oregon pine floors, which are exquisite in their welcoming warmth. When you view your potential dream home, make sure to lift any strategically placed Persian carpets to examine the condition of the wood underneath them. Move the furniture too, and consider getting an expert in to evaluate them before it's too late to toss your toys at the previous owners, who, we established too late, were aware of the problem. We did none of these, and had to re-floor the entire house after two years of living here, because the floors had been over-sanded and the groove parts of the tongue-and-grooves were splintering off. Not ideal when your firstborn is learning to crawl. Or when you don't have R50k lying around to complete the job. 
• View the house in the day time, in the early morning, in the evening, on a weekday, and over a weekend, before you put that offer in. We were under a lot of pressure to buy due to some pretty kak circumstances (some of it self-imposed, I will admit) and looked at our house twice. At night time. 
• Look beyond the seller's styling. The previous owners of our property are in the interior decor business, and dressed things up really well, shall we say. Refer back to the point about Persian carpets, etc. 
• If the house you're looking at has a pool, check to see if there are any pin oak trees within a 50 mile radius. These charming beauties, owned by the council because they're on the pavement, spit off leaves all year round that clog up just about every pool cleaner on the market. And if it's not leaves that are clogging the cleaner, it's the round seed pods. And yes, I've Council several times to cut them back… to no avail. 
• Still on the pool … if it's deep, and made of concrete, and in the shade of those bastard pin-oaks all day, it will be cold. Very cold. 
• Still on the pool… if you can see a crack that's been repaired, walk away from the pool, and then walk away from the house. Ours has a crack that was repaired before we bought, and it opens up for a repairing every four years or so. Like now, right in the middle of the drought, when we can't empty the pool completely to fix it, because water restrictions prevent us from refilling it when repairs are done. 
• Pressed steel ceilings are indeed works of art, with the last ones being made before WW2 (when they stopped production to use the steel for guns rather). But they do mean that you develop a completely unreasonable conscience when it comes to lighting. I would dearly love downlighting in our house, but can't bear the thought of ripping out or covering the steel ceilings with gypsum board to do that. 
• They also mean that you can't get away with changing the configuration of your house, without it being glaringly obvious. I love that my kitchen is four rooms big. I know that my kitchen is four rooms big because I have four different ceilings in it.
• Make sure that your living areas face north (if you live in the southern hemisphere). The only rooms that get the magnificent winter sun in our house, are the kitchen, the main bathroom and the second bedroom. 

Don't get me wrong, there are things I really do love about our home. We moved in here newly married, our boys have only ever known this property as their home, and we have made many wonderful memories here with treasured friends and family. 

But when the time comes for us to move on to something different, I'll be looking at properties through very different eyes to the ones I used over 11 years ago. 

Driving with Discovery Insure

Brett and I play the Discovery game quite well through Vitality - we're heading for Diamond status next year. A few months back I decided to see whether we would benefit from moving to Discovery Insure. Even though we were really happy with the service our broker has given for years and years, we wanted to see if we could save some money through the cash-back driving incentive. 

Our overall insurance premium is around the same as it was before, although the numbers are different - our cars both cost more, but our household and buildings premiums were less. There was also the fact that my car's policy required a tracker, which was an extra R140ish per month. I made sure that we had the same benefits as before, such as car hire in the event of our own vehicles being in for repairs after an accident, and that we were covered for the same amounts as with our previous insurer. 

The paperwork was, well, paperless - all done by email and over the phone, which was great, and Trevashin (aka Trevor) Reddy in the call centre was (and continues to be) very patient and helpful. 

Discovery sent nice men to both of us to fit their own branded trackers to our car, which are included in the price - and which means that I no longer have to pay for a tracking service. This was pretty painless, apart from the fact that my nice man arrived at my office exactly when I'd asked him not to - but, #firstworldproblems, right? 

We had to take our vehicles to Tiger Wheel and Tyre for a once-over that covers things like tyres, shocks, integrity of your windscreen etc - all the things that need checking on your car anyway, that you never get around to doing. That part turned out a little pricey for Brett, because it transpired that he needed new tyres... but rather he find that out before he has an accident on slicks. We'll have to take them for that appraisal once a year going forward too, but again, that's not a bad thing. 

The tracking devices monitor your car's 'behaviour'  and feed it to their database through a mobile phone application. We joined in the middle of their annual driver's challenge, so have a bunch of tickets in their draw for fuel. Holding thumbs we win some... 

The tracker monitors things like harsh braking, harsh acceleration, mobile phone use, speeding and impact, and then gives you a star rating for each journey. Discovery emphasizes that they don't expect you to drive like a granny - you just need to drive at the speed limit (not unreasonable) and drive defensively, rather than aggressively. Also not unreasonable. Based on your driving performance, you get money back on your fuel spend each month, as long as you buy your fuel at BP petrol stations. You also score lower if you drive late late at night, or before 5am I think. 

The link between the device and the app took a bit of setting up and working with the lovely Trevor, but once it was all done, both of our mobile phones can track our vehicles, monitoring our driving behaviour. This also means that we can find one another, if necessary. 

So. Was it worth it? 

Yes. 

Top of the list is that my fuel consumption has dropped by about 25%, just through driving less aggressively and sticking to the speed limit. This effectively means a 25% reduction in fuel costs - good news, whichever way you look at it. 

My time on the road is far less stressful, because I'm not always trying to get in front of the next guy because he's going too slowly (at the speed limit). It's kind of like getting on a train actually. I drive on the M2 there and back every day, which has a speed limit of 100. If the traffic is clear, I engage cruise control at 100, and pretty much just point my car in the right direction until it's time to get off the freeway. 

Not that I've ever been a speed demon (well, apart from that one time...), but I'm expecting far fewer letters with AARTO printed on the back... 

It's taken a bit of getting used to, to find BP petrol stations, because they're not as prolific as the Engens I've favoured after being conditioned by eBucks. If Discovery was smart, they would add a BP Finder into the app, that would then spit you through to a maps application and direct you to the closest BP fuel station. 

After my first run of seven five-star drives, Discovery sent me a voucher for R30 to use at a Vida e Caffe. Nice touch, but I didn't manage to use it before it expired, because there aren't any Vidas in my regular life, apart from which the number of outlets seems to be shrinking. I haven't had any more vouchers since then, although there is a document on their website that tells you how to boost your points - most of which is helpful and commons sense, really. 

The calculation of fuel spend you get back seems to take a little while - I don't know yet how much I've scored from last month's driving, and none of my achievements (ie the TWT session etc) are reflecting. 

The impact sensor was appealing because it triggers an alert in their call centre if it feels an impact, and they promised to call straight away to check and see if you need help - a good idea in an accident. I'd forgotten about that, and drove through a rather hectic pothole on the Oxford Road offramp from the M2. About 10 minutes later, I got a call from a nice man at Discovery to check I was ok, because they'd picked up an irregular movement. 

There's the slightly creepy thing that Discovery now knows wherever I go, all the time, always. But, given how long it can take for emergency services to get to you in an accident, I quite like the fact that there's someone looking out for me and my family - that if something happens to us that we can't call for help ourselves, they'll send it. 

So. Would I suggest you move to Discovery Insure? I would, but crunch your numbers properly first - although it could be argued that some of the benefits may well be worth a small added cost. As said, I'm not sure how much cash we'll get back, although a friend of ours and his wife both get around R800 back each month. But, my reduced fuel costs are already a win, and safer driving is definitely a win - and having a Big Brother checking up of you in moments of distress is also not bad. 

The money stuff: Even though Brett does some work for Discovery, this blog post, written by me, was unsolicited and unpaid for


UPDATE 18 November: Between us, Brett and I earned R850ish back, based on positive driving behaviour. I've now completed some of the assessments so hoping for even more back next month. 

On cycling: this one's about me...

A while ago I wrote about cycling in the Haggard family, but this post is about me!

First, this happened on 12 October:

I cried when I crossed the finish line, but out of sheer joy. I started out with this massive 106km journey ahead of me, with mental images of the terrifying hills ahead, and wondering if I was actually going to make it. Or whether I had completely lost the plot.

But. I finished the TsogoSun Amashova Classic. I stopped to rest, to drink (and to eat Bar Ones, obvs), but I didn't once get off to push. I cycled for every one of those 106km, and it felt completely amazing. The route was beautiful, and there were a few completely surreal moments, like zooming onto the highway at Hillcrest, and literally being the only person around. Imagine that - having a whole three-lane highway to yourself and your bicycle? That didn't last for long - I soon saw other cyclists, but it was an amazing moment.

There was also the moment along the route where you come around a bend after climbing and climbing and climbing and climbing (did I mention there was some climbing?), and seeing a glorious vista of green sugar cane fields, as far as the eye can see. Just magical.

It's also amazing how quiet a big group of cyclists fighting their way up a hill can be. Quiet, that is, apart from my beeping heart rate monitor, which I couldn't figure out how to stop beeping...

I was also proud of this ride because I did it by myself. Obviously, you say. You weren't on a tandem! But no - cyclists train together, and often ride in groups or packs (or I think the racing snakes call them 'buses'), and there's aerodynamic stuff that happens that helps you along when you're in a group. While my awesome training buddy checked up on me at the first few water points, he's a racing snake in the making, and headed off after the second stop. It was just me and Paul Oakenfold in my ears riding this race, and we rocked it.

I won't lie, being able to walk over to our most awesome hotel suite at the TsogoSun Suncoast Towers when the race was over was the final cherry on top of this awesome. The social media team hosted Brett and me for the weekend, and it was another reminder of why this hotel group completely understands its guests. Its sponsorship of the Tsogo Sun Amashova Classic and the Cape Town Cycle Tour - and the specialised care it gives to its cycling guests, make sure that I'll have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone taking part in those two races (and anyone who's looking for a great place to stay, even if they're not going to be cycling from A to B or in a very big circle...) 

And then this happened on 16 November:

This was the BHAG, the monster on the hill that nobody knew what to expect - the Momentum 947 Cycle Challenge, on its new route.

It was a long day out there, but the atmosphere was amazing, with crowds cheering cyclists along the route. My mind was more prepared for this, because I figured that I'd already completed a longer route, and that we had trained on many of the hills that were included in the race.

I was particularly proud of making it up Jan Smuts Avenue in Randburg, because every time I drive that section of road I shake my head at it, and the uphill on Witkoppen near the Baron on Witkoppen nearly broke me. But wait... there was more...

The last three hills were brutal, and I was completely unprepared for the Steyn City section. I don't think anybody was, because the mood of the cyclists changed so much on that section. It may have been because there were no spectators cheering us on, but for me, it was the fact that I was anticipating one hill - not two (or was it three?) hills within the estate. And they went on and on and on. I say the mood changed, because I know mine went from exhilaration at being so close to the finish, to actually being angry that the very end was so very difficult. I think you can see my anger in the pic above.

But, I finished. And I will do it again. I will definitely do the Tsogo Sun Amashova Classic again - it's kinda like my first cycling love affair, and there's a sentimentality to that, that surprises me. And I've signed up to the Cape Town Cycle Tour.

So. I've achieved what I set out to do. It's a really great feeling, I won't lie. But now there's the challenge to keep up the fitness, to up the speed, to beat the records (if you can call them that), that I've set for myself. All spiced up with the challenge of finding the balance between my training and my family. I'm taking it a little slower at the moment, but the 5h15 spinning class at the gym is still my regular, although I suspect I'll have to kick things up a bit with cross training - most likely some more intense cardio, and some strength (core) training.

Good lord. Did I just say that?

Who would have thought?


The money stuff: Brett and I were guests of Tsogo Sun at the Suncoast Towers. We paid our own way to get there, and our own race fees.

Bookclub year-end bash - and now for something completely different...

Last year our book club (read: wine club with a reading problem) wanted to do something different to mark the end of the year. We wanted to spend time together, but we wanted to do more than just go out for dinner. We’re not the ten pin bowling types, and good lord, we’re certainly not the bungy-jumping types – and then there was the fact that one of our number was due to have a baby during November…

In a fit of giggles (the type of fit that happens about every 15 minutes at book club), one of the girls suggested that we a fun photo shoot, all together. Well, as normally happens when a bunch of women with great ideas get together, the photoshoot idea soon evolved into an opportunity for fun shots, professional portrait shots and… boudoir shots!

We decided to spend a Saturday afternoon doing the photos – and we were lucky enough to come across Gerry, a photographer based at the most fabulous studio in Morningside. He said that he had some props that we could use for our shoots, but we all took some time to pack ballgowns, executive-wear, and some racy items from the drawer that you hope your children never find…

A few of the girls were a little nervous to strip down to their lacy bits for a strange man (we’re all married and love our husbands to bits – sometimes more to bits than others…). We were also a little nervous to put our bumps and wobbles on display in front of someone who clearly has spent a lot of time photographing some of the most perfect, beautiful women.

But Gerry was amazing. Not only did he put us totally at our ease, he made us all feel like supermodels. He gave us great direction on how to pose, when to pout, when to laugh, and when to literally just let our hair down. He managed to capture the most beautiful images of us in the ‘boudoir’ section of our shoot, making each of us feel beautiful, sexy, and in control. And yes, he made each of us believe that we were right up there with the professional subjects that he’s spent years photographing.

The new mommy in our midst took the plunge and did some exquisite maternity shots with her eight-day old daughter. We each did some portrait shots – the kind that you can use on your Twitter handle, Facebook profile or for your mother’s mantelpiece – as well as pics in our evening wear.

Gerry’s studio is spacious enough that it has a lounge and kitchen area in it, so we took snacks and bubbles (not of the bathing kind) and turned the afternoon into a celebration of friendship and how fantastic it is to be a woman.

If you’re looking for something different to do with your girlfriends, give Gerry a call to set up a shoot. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of a group boudoir shoot, I can tell you it’s one of the most empowering things I’ve done in a while – and I (and my husband) loved the results. If you’d prefer just to do fun friendship shots, or even family photos, Gerry’s relaxed and professional manner is sure to put you at ease – and I know from experience that you’ll love the photos he takes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On cycling

Cycling became a Haggard thing early last year when Brett bought a mountain bike. Great, I thought to my cynical self. Something else that will collect dust in the Cottage of Dustcollectors. But, to my beloved’s credit, the mountain bike was hauled out every weekend and ridden with great gusto and even a gashed nose or two. And then there was the Infamous Serviette Incident of 2013 when he agreed to ride the Momentum 94.7 for CHOC… and it all went up-and-downhill from there.

Enter the roadbike, and him disappearing to the Cradle of Humankind at least once a weekend, sometimes more, to train ahead of this epic event, leaving me at home with the boys for significant chunks of every weekend.

“Wow, you let Brett go cycling,” people said. “Don’t you feel like you’re left alone to do everything?” they said. “What about your family life?” they said.

Well, here’s the thing.

There’s nothing about me ‘letting’ Brett go cycling. Brett took up a hobby that was 100% in the interests of him losing weight, improving his health, and having a social Thing that saw him spending down-time with people outside of his work environment. This hobby saw him building new friendships with some incredible people, and having a personal goal to work towards.

And that thing about improving his health? It means that he’ll actually be around longer for our family, because he’s healthy, he’s lost a lot of weight, and he’s managing stress so much better by exercising through it.

When he not only rode the 94.7 last year, but did it pulling one of the CHOC ice cream bikes, I couldn’t have been more proud of him, or more inspired. Don’t get me wrong, there was absolutely no FOMO about the ice-cream bike part of it - none at all. But there was a lot of FOMO about the achievement of having set a huge goal, and achieving it – and then some.

So. 2014 rolled around – and I thought I’d make it the year of “eat less and move more” – so I started spinning three times a week, so that I could actually have fun on the bike that he'd bought me a month or two earlier. Somewhere around the time that Brett rode the Argus, he also signed up for the Tsogo Sun Amashova Classic, and this year’s edition of the 94.7.

And I did too. And I'll sign up for Argus when it opens for next year as well. Because I can’t remember when last I set myself a big goal, and had to put some skin on the line to achieve it, and I figured that this was the time to do it.

And, going back to the people who said “Don’t you feel like you’re left alone to do everything?”… The only time I can find in my day to go spinning is to be at the 5h15 class. Which means that three mornings a week, I’m out of the house by 5h00, and I get back at 6h30. I have a half hour to shower, get dressed, dry my hair, do my make up and eat breakfast, to be out of the door by 7h00. And here’s the thing.

Before I started spinning in the mornings, I really did feel like I did nearly everything around the house, particularly in the mornings. But Brett and I have worked this out together, and he does everything for the boys on the mornings I spin – makes school lunches, gets them up, dressed, breakfasted, and ready for school. And I don’t feel like I do nearly everything any more, because, much as cycling is a solitary sport, we are working more like a team than ever.

I do carry (additional) burdens of mother’s guilt when I’m out on the road over the weekend training, I won’t lie. I won’t go out on the road more than once over a weekend – but I also know that my boys absolutely love spending time with my mom, Brett’s mom and her partner. It’s a treat for them to sleep out, just like the opportunity to get on my bike and cycle early in the morning, is a treat for me.

The result of all of this? I am incredibly, immensely proud of my husband (even more than I was before all this), and I’m inspired by the journey he has cycled over the last year and a half. He's kept on setting himself goals, and achieving them, and in two days' time he leaves on the 700km-in-7-days Altech Autopage Jozi to Kozi "Migration of the Soul" / Madness. This writer has no words - he's just amazing.

I’m proud of myself for getting this far with  my own training goals, and the fact that I’m also raising funds for CHOC.

I am loving how our family has become more active, and much more healthy. We take great pleasure in cycling together – we occasionally do rides with the boys, or take them along on events like the recent Freedom Ride, because cycling really can be a family sport, once your children are a bit older.

And yes, we do have to juggle our diaries a little more than before all this, but I’m comfortable with that. Because we are all healthier, and Brett and I are showing our boys that big goals can be achieved if you put in the time and effort.

 

 

 

Review: A night at Kievits Kroon

The last while has seen Brett and me kind of living past each other -  mostly to do with his hectic training schedule ahead of next week's Jozi to Kozi (Isn't he a legend?) so when we got the opportunity to spend a night at Kievits Kroon country estate just north of Pretoria (near Roodeplaat Dam), we grabbed it. A friend of mine got married there years ago, and after hearing about how pretty it was then, I was excited to finally go there. 

We had a half-day spa treatment at the on-site spa, which was lovely. The therapists were just the right kind of gentle, right kind of tough, leaving us both feeling like squishy objects of awesome when we were done. For the first time when going for a spa treatment, we both remembered to pack swimming costumes, which meant we could take advantage of the spa bath and swimming pool facilities. We didn't use the sauna or steam room facilities, but there's a ladies ' section of those, and a unisex one for couples. There's also a relaxation lounge, which is a nice touch. 

The spa facilities were well thought out - there were snacks in reception, and the reception staff were friendly and helpful. The change rooms were a bit small, but you don't go to a spa to spend your time in the change room, now do you. A water station at the spa baths would have been fantastic, but that really is the only point I could fault the spa on - it was one of the better ones we have visited. 

We had dinner in the estate's signature Granita restaurant, which was a six course wine pairing menu. We'd let the chef know in advance that Brett is a vegetarian who is allergic to shell fish, and we were blown away by the trouble that they went to, to cater for him. There were times when I was most envious of his plates, even though mine were so tasty. 

His highlight was the mushroom and feta won-tons on a lentil curry, although his main course of salmon was divine. My favourite was the lamb cutlets, although the entree of chicken and quail with bacon popcorn was a close contender too. The food was spectacular, the wine perfect, and the service exceptional. 

Our room, in a wing built for FIFA 2010 World Cup referees, was very comfortable, complete with a king size bed and huge shower. There was lots of cupboard space, and a nicely stocked coffee station. 

The breakfast buffet the next morning was the stuff of which hotel buffet breakfast legends are made. I haven't seen smoked salmon in a breakfast buffet since I OD'd on the stuff on honeymoon at Spier ten years ago (maybe that's why?!) but this buffet had smoked salmon in abundance... and oysters and Cap Classique! There was a wide selection of continental breakfast goodies, as well as a hot buffet and a chef to cook your eggs on order. 

The estate itself is beautiful, and just emerging from winter. The Cape Dutch theme is whimsical without being cheesy, and the swimming pool area looks like it would be a fabulous location for a summer afternoon of cocktails with a group of friends. 

Kievits Kroon welcomes children over 14, so if you've got babysitters at the ready, it makes for a perfect night out for couples who need some grown up time and to wake up after sunrise instead of before - and although we didn't pay for our night, I believe it offers great value for money. 

They regularly have special offers for overnight stays, or day/half-day spa treatments with associated meals, advertised on their website or Twitter handle. Look out for extra-specials too - for Women's Day, the estate offered a pay for one, get one free deal. 

The money stuff: We were guests of the hotel, invited by its public relations agency to experience what the estate has to offer. My opinions are my own, and this post was not scripted in any way by anyone else.