 
Penny Farthing Country House has been a Semi Finalist from 2001 to 2006 AA Travel Guide Award Tourism Grading Council and Tourism Dundee Recommended AA Quality Assured Highly Recommended. Penny Farthing is a charming country house with luxurious en-suite bedrooms and is well known for its warm hospitality and excellent meals. Penny Farthing is situated on a 3 000 hectare cattle and game farm in the heart of the KwaZulu-Natal battlefields and is in close proximity to Rorke's Drift, Isandlwana and Blood River. The house is built on the original foundations of the colonial home founded by the Vermaak family in 1847. Present owners 5th generation. It is set in a large garden with a fish pond and swimming pool and is graced with an abundant bird life. Foy's late wife, Marinella was a descendant of Dougald McPhail, a founder of the town of Dundee, and one of the few survivors of the battle of Isandlwana. Foy is a registered tour guide, with a passion for history, and conducts regular tours of the battlefields. ACCOMMODATION: Penny Farthing - The House A flight of semi-circular stairs leads one into an impressive 10 X 4 m dining room, furnished with a 16 seater walnut table and carved oak chairs. A Victorian sideboards and server complement this enormous room. A wide passage leads off the dining room and homes a Victorian bookcase filled with a collection of Africana books for guest to enjoy. All five bedrooms have French doors which lead into the garden, and each is tastefully furnished with antique furniture and choice fabric to enhance the ambience. All beds are fitted with electric blankets for those cold winter's nights, and each room has an overhead electric fan to ease the summer heat. An authentic fort is converted to an interesting en suite bedroom. The comfortable lounge has a big fireplace, and wood fires in winter allow for very cozy conversations, while a small bar supplies the refreshments after a grueling day in the African sun. Penny Farthing - The Farm Penny Farthing is situated in the Biggarsberg mountain range. (Known as the Honey Mountains to the old settlers) The 3 000 ha game and cattle farm ranges from 1 000m to 1 500m above sea level. The higher parts can get snow in winter and the lower part is Bushveld Savanna and is the home of most of the 14 species of antelope that can be found on the farm. The 200 bird species are spread over the total area and is a Bird Lovers paradise. Winter nights are cold and the days are crisp. Summers are warm to hot and seldom humid. There are two hiking trails. The Cannibal trail takes 5/6 hours walking time and the Black Eagle trail 4 hours. Both start at the main house and drop down to the lower part of the property. There are shorter rambles that take approximately one hour each. At the lower part there is a 8.5ha dam which supplies water to the vegetable and feed production lands. It is also the haven of many water birds and is stocked with Florida Bass and Telapia fish. There are two rivers flowing through the property and many smaller dams. All these facilities are available for visitors to explore.
A Bit of History:  DIRECTIONS:
GPS co-ordinates: 28° 23' 28.39" S and 30° 22' 0.5" E From Johannesburg: Take either N3 or R23 to Newcastle and then proceed to Dundee. From Dundee take R33 to Greytown for 30 km and at the 14 km milepost turn right at Penny Farthing signpost on to farm road for 2 km. From Durban: Take N3 to Pietermaritzburg Turn off at Church Street/Greytown off ramp and proceed to Dundee on R33 via Greytown, through Tugela Ferry, Pomeroy and by-pass Helpmekaar for 7km and at 14km milepost turn left at the Penny Farthing sign. From Ladysmith travel via Dundee.
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Penny Fathing Country House
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