The Fat Mulberry in Fouriesburg

It was a last minute decision to get away for the weekend before the Easter weekend. We booked a place near Fouriesburg, just over an hours drive from our house, called the Fat Mulberry. The place is pet friendly so Chilli and Rexi came along too. We lit the fire in the fireplace in our bedroom and watched the fire dance and the stars sparkle. This was after watching Leo and Natey rearrange pillows and jump everywhere including on us.

The Saturday morning we went to have breakfast in Clarens and walked around the square. There were a lot of people everywhere in the little shops and people sitting enjoying food and coffee. Very cheerful atmosphere. The kids spotted a place selling superhero outfits which was very exciting for them because they are into superheros at the moment.

From the recommendation of the lady who was at Fat Mulberry we stopped at the Mile High Vineyards, The Rose Hip Restaurant and tasted some of their wine. We were very impressed with the place, the owners, and their wine and would like to go back there. The vineyard is 1700m above sea-level, one of the very few producing vineyards at that altitude in South Africa.

We fed the horses, sheep, chickens and huge pig at the Fat Mulberry. I was a bit scared of the horses because they were so big but pretended not to be so that the kids won’t also be scared. We walked around the dam in the mornings. Natey loved finding the small spiderwebs in the grass. Luckily no spiders were in them.

On the way back home we stopped at Ionia Cherry Farm and went into the Farm Stall. We tasted some Cherry Liquor and the very friendly guy working there gave Leo and Natey cherry juice to taste… Which was very nice. Except Natey didn’t like the juice and spat the juice out all over the floor in front of the friendly guy. After that we felt compelled to spend some money at the stall so we bought some cherry liquor and a few other things.

The road between Ladybrand and Fouriesburg is in a very bad condition and at one point cars have to basically stop and drive at snail pace to get over the pot holes on the non-existing path which used to be a road. Not a good idea to drive that way at night. Besides that, the Free State is really scenic this time of year with millions of pink, purple and white cosmos flowers growing everywhere.