My friend booked us in at the Oyster Box hotel for high tea. Basically, this is a huge amount of dainty eats, both sweet and savoury accompanied with tea. This event was extra special because it was in a landmark hotel in Umhlanga. The Oyster Box was originally used as a navigation beacon and a small wooden, tin (with some concrete) lodge built in 1863. The building was developed in 1954 into the framework for the fancy hotel that it is now.
It's a 5 star hotel complex now, with private residences on a separate part of the ground. Inside the hotel building, there's artworks, chequered tiles, see through floor, restaurants, bars, friendly staff and the wisest resident cat, called Skabenga.
The aircon was a welcome reprieve from the sudden, intense heat of the day and we sat comfortably waiting for our afternoon appointment in the cane lounge.
The food was fabulous, service fantastic and we had to take half of the eats home with us. I was surprised by how busy it seemed. The swimming pool deck, lunch restaurant and bar all had a lot more people than I expected on a random Thursday afternoon post lockdown. It was a delightful afternoon and we stepped out into a crazy strong wind. Trying to walk off some of the cakes along the promenade proved rather cool and painful as the sand beat my bare legs because I wore a dress for the first time on my trip.
A special memory etched forever into my mind.
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