This property belonged to Happy Day Tours form the early 1930s to 1964. According to our older guests (who have been bringing us their photos as proof) the most famous activity was to book a Tour to Oribi Gorge at the office in Margate. They offered tours to the Oribi area in a little ‘bread box’ bus up a dirt road (which must have been fun in the rain season!). This included a visit onto the overhanging rock which hangs over approximately 2.5m. If Mr Clyde Sussens (from Tshukudu Game Farm – Nelspruit Area), who used to visit the farmers in the area was around they would fetch him and his tame pet leopard Suzie (that travelled everywhere with him) to pose with the group on the rock for ‘really dramatic’ pictures. We have an original article from the local South Coast Herald from 1948 with Clyde and Suzie on the overhanging rock – this was how Happy Day Tours used to advertise this specific Tour.
In 1964 Happy Day Tours sold the property to a private owner so from then on there was no access back onto the rock. We (Andries & Sue Bruwer) bought the property in September 2000 with the idea of building a house, we started clearing all the invader plants and rediscovered the overhanging rock which was hidden in the overgrowth. The neighbors told us that it was on this property, but it was so overgrown that it took a while to find it. We decided to open a view site for people to be able to come and see it again, and got such an overwhelming response with so many people asking why they could not have coffee and cake with this view, that we decided to open a Coffee Shop. There are not many places in this country where you can sit down and have a meal with such a spectacular view. We started building in August 2002 and opened to the public in December 2002 and have never looked back. We grew due to public demand from a shop that was serving mainly sandwiches, cake and tea to a restaurant that offers anything from breakfast to steaks, lamb curry & rice, salads etc. and then there is our scrumptious homemade cakes! All our food is prepared fresh by Sue and her team. We might not be very fancy but we do it with a lot of love.
The Coffee Shop was closed from 1 March to 15 November 2011 and reopened on 16 November 2011. (Sorry about this but we needed a little rest).
We would love to share our unique piece of heaven with you so please contact Sue with inquiries.
