JANUARY/FEBUARY 2008
Peace, happiness, good health for the New Year from all of us to all of you! We hope you are making provision for lots of weekends and holidays away this year – because you deserve the rest and being in the Berg with fresh air, quiet and time to reflect.
Our staff, reception, workshop, gardening, housekeeping and laundry etc., were working full speed ahead to get ready for the December/January season. The resort looked great, with the rain up until just about Christmas Eve ensuring that the gardens were beautiful, the lawns were green and mowed, all the painting had been done, all the accommodation units were spick and span and fully stocked, linen and towels in the laundry was ready, packed on shelves and/or on the beds. 24-hour security at the boom gate was finalized as well as roaming security in the resort from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sewerage pumped, cleaned and drained, extra refuse bins arranged, overtime staff for the ablution blocks were arranged. The office was organized, bookings checked and rechecked, making sure deposits were in. Caravan storage lists made out and in between all of this, we had the Escom load shedding, sometimes for five hours in a 9-hour working day.
Extra staff were hired for the office and games room, we had an entertainment manager and wife and the entertainment programmes were ready. The canoes had been repaired as well as the oars. The games room had been gone over with a fine toothcomb making sure that all games and pool tables were working properly, at great expense I might add. As hoped, everything was running beautifully to plan and schedule. We could not think of another thing that needed to be done. All we needed now were guests who started arriving, slowly at first, from about the 7th December and then in greater numbers for Christmas and even more for New Year, staying until about a week into January 2008.
Overall, we had a successful season, the weather was most enjoyable with little rain after Christmas and we did not have much load shedding as advised by Eskom prior to the high season. We were very happy with how the systems coped at full capacity, our new reservation system worked well and the sites we had removed helped greatly to relieve problems with over-crowding.
We had a few problems with our sewerage due to the high water table and septic tank rules not being adhered to, but the notices in the toilets seemed to help towards the end.
Unfortunately, we had several unpleasant incidents with teen-age vandalism, and we hope that parents will realise their responsibility to ensure that their teenagers do not vandalise resort property or behave in a rude, drunken or unmannerly way while on future vacation with us. Our Directors have decided that a very strong stance will be taken against this type of behaviour in the future.
We also want to mention that several of our geese, goslings and chickens were chased and killed by dogs that were not on leashes. A condition of guests being allowed to have their dogs here is that they are under control and on leashes when walking around the park, and that their poop is scooped. We also had several dogs in the park that were sneaked in, we ask that dog owners respect the park policy for the good of others if we are to remain pet-friendly.
Very sadly, we had seven members of a company called SIQ stay with us for a night. Some of them flew in and the others arrived by trucks. One of the planes crashed on their way home and both pilot and passenger were killed. It was reported in the newspapers.
Repairs and maintenance as always are on going, and all going well, we should make good head way this year towards our goals mentioned in the previous newsletter. One notable addition to the park’s accommodation is No. 2 thatch cottage, the Tungay family’s home for twenty years. Like No’s 7, 8, 9 it is a luxury cottage, having five bedrooms, three bathrooms and able to sleep twelve. Furthermore, it has stunning mountain views.
We have scrapped the Caravillas of which we had five. They are beyond economical repair for renting in a holiday resort and if anyone has a need for one or two or five for security, construction sites, etc, we can discuss a price.
CARAVAN STORAGE OWNERS
Firstly – pricing. The charge for shade-cloth storage will be R130 per month from 1st March 2008. The price for galvanized storage will be R180 per month from 1st March 2008. Please make sure that your payments are correct, those customers who have debit orders with us will automatically be changed. Please remember that if you paid for your own galvanizing, your tariff will remain at R118 for the total of 3 years from date of galvanizing, thereafter your price will revert to the galvanized rate. We have also increased the price of tent, rally and add a room erection by our staff. The price list is appended to the end of this document together with our new tariff sheet effective from 1st March 2008.
All caravan storage customers who do not spend at least 10 days in the resort over a period of a year are asked to remove their caravan. We have a huge waiting list and it is unfair of caravan owners to expect us to store their, by now, tatty caravans without using them. If you have not used your caravan for at least 10 days in the last year, please arrange to have your caravan removed within 3 months of this letter which gives you to the end of April 2008. If you have not been here for two years, there will be very little to retrieve from these caravans, we can arrange to have the van emptied and removed. Please give me a call on 036 468 1031 to discuss this very urgent matter.
Please note that all rentals should be paid in advance so if you are paying in arrears, please try to catch up so that you can be one month at least in advance.
When you make your bookings, please advise the reservation staff if you have a van in storage. Please also remember that we must have three days notice to put your van on site and erect a tent, especially if you want the van washed. Please make sure that you have the new site plan so that you and my staff are talking about the same site numbers to avoid confusion. Please also bear in mind that for every 4th visit to the resort during the year, you will get a 10% discount on your bill, excluding tents and washes. Please ask whoever is making your booking to check whether you are entitled to this discount when you book.
One last reminder, please ensure that your caravan is covered by your own insurance, we do not accept any loss or damage to your caravan as part of our general indemnity in Dragon Peaks Park (Pty) Ltd.
Please do not encourage the monkeys by feeding them. We really need to request that you do not feed the monkeys. We have three large troupes in the park and they are causing havoc - in the past week, guests have reported 2 monkeys being killed due to fighting, we dare not leave anything open in any of the park accommodation, and the dustbins are also often turned over. I reported that we are in the process of finding a solution to the problem, so far we have had no success on this, so if anyone has suggestions or can help, we look forward to hearing from you.
As a reminder, there is a complete ban on quad bikes and off road bikes on the property. As such no bikes of any sort will be allowed use of the property without express permission from management. The only exception is for bikers traveling in on road who may continue to access the property. On this note, we have arranged with Four Rivers Rafting for quad biking at a special price on their property and guests who have been have thoroughly enjoyed it. If you go to Four Rivers, please see Reception at Dragon Peaks and get a note from us to give to them.
Please do not request or allow any of our staff to help you erect a tent without this having been paid for at the office. They have been instructed not to do so, so please do not encourage this. In future, our caravan storage customers will have priority on the use of staff for putting their tent up, if and when there is time, there be assistance for other caravan customers.
ENTERTAINMENT AND fACILITIES
Babysitting services are available at night. Please let us know at reception and we will organize this for you.
Jakes and Cornelia (www.champagnecastleadventure.com, telephone 074 1033613) have been here since November 2007 and had a good season with abseiling and paint ball. If you know of anyone who wants to hold a team building conference etc., please contact them (and us for accommodation and meals). They do kloofing, paintball, teambuilding, archery, abseiling and mountain biking. There is now also an adventure course so it is the ideal venue for company getaways, team building, and motivational time for your staff at excellent prices.
For helicopter scenic flights and champagne stops on the Little Berg – please phone Mariette Verryn to discuss prices and arrangements on 082 783 7987. Sunrise and sunset flights are very popular and stunningly beautiful.
Hylton Mercer still repairs caravans here – please call him if you need a quote on 072 262 3326.
Let me remind you about our restaurant. Their email address is dragonsrest@lantic.net or 0364681218. Christmas in July with a stunning lunch with all the Christmas turkey and trimmings is served – this will take place on 9th July 2008. Please always book your table in advance!
The alien plants eradication program has been getting on very well; we have received many excellent compliments on the paths that have been cleared. These will be numbered and/or signposted in the near future, all this information will go onto a proper GPS marked hiking trail.
STAFF NEWS
The office staff has been great and I am very proud of them, Christien, Hlobi, Jani and Loren did very well over the season. The reservations program worked like clockwork and apart from the load shedding over which we had no control, the office systems have been proven to be running smoothly.
The temporary staff over December, Ineke, Erin and Kyle were a pleasure to have and really helped make the extra office duties much easier. I am hoping to be able to have them again over Easter, but if not, we have made contingency plans.
Our intrepid hiker – John-Mark was a pleasure to have around – he is always smiling and was really disappointed when no one pitched for some of the hikes.
Brett’s Titus broke a leg and had to have 4 pins put in. Brett is trying very hard to get him to take it easy – how do you get a puppy to take it easy? He is after all socializing and getting used to being amongst strangers and their dogs.
Glenn’s Church services are now at 10h00 on Sundays and his congregation is growing from strength to strength. Everyone is welcome.
Graham Walker, although retired, still helps us in the resort with the televisions and we are most grateful to have him here.
Carolyn (Housekeeping) and Hester (Laundry) faced many challenges during the season, especially with the load shedding, illness amongst staff, but they came through – as usual
Henry and his staff are still going strong and with the addition of Greg Strydom continue to plod through the endless lists of repairs and maintenance. Greg has been of great assistance to Henry and although he is at present doing flying training in Bloemfontein for five weeks, he is coming back. We have many unsung stars in the resort and it is impossible to mention them all.
Tino - our accountant for many years still occupies his office at the back and although very few people see him, he makes sure that salaries and wages get paid, accounts are up to date and creditors are paid.
Denis and Vivienne Hawksworth returned to Dragon Peaks in January and we are delighted to have them back, our gardens will now again get the tender loving care that Denis gives them.
Roger Nsele, has joined me from February, he will be helping with the out rides once he is familiar with all the horses. He is related to both the grooms, Moffat and Jackie and probably half of Dragon Peaks' staff!
Over the past couple of seasons, we have noticed a fall off in the popularity of the horse rides. This seems to be a modern day trend as other riding establishments have commented that they are finding the same thing with their rides.
Spring Dance is training up well and has not given us any surprises. All the other youngsters are now been ridden by the public although we do still restrict their use to advanced riders only as they are still young enough to pick up bad habits when being ridden by inexperienced riders.
Regrettably, we had to put Black Magic down in December as her condition took a turn for the worst and it seemed to us that she would not recover.
The other three 'rehab' horses are still not rideable but are often seen cantering in the paddocks.
Miss Marples, the zebra mare and her donkey sidekick Jenny, have colonised the farm but still visit the stables on occasion and the father springbok visits them from time to time.
I have just hosted a four day training practicum for the two South African student trimmers who are studying the Strasser method of hoofcare. Their instructor is Jane Kempton from the UK. We were joined by the other two trimmers from Gauteng and the Cape and a productive and enjoyable time was had by all. Their next practicum will be held at Dr Strasser's hoof clinic in Germany in September, which will coincide with our yearly recertification and conference.
FUTURE HAPPENINGS
Our ANNIVERSARY (SIXTIES) WEEKEND will take place on the first weekend in October 2008. The same discounts will be given, i.e. 50% discount to guests on sites and 25% discount on accommodation. The original idea of this weekend, at discounted prices, was to thank our regular guests for their support throughout the year. However, we have found that over the past two years, guests who are booking only come here for the Sixties Weekend and we unfortunately find that they do not appreciate this gift from us - people were caught, even with the discount, sneaking other friends in.
Discounted bookings will therefore only be accepted from guests who have visited the resort at least once in the time period since October 2007, ensuring that our regular guests are ensured of a booking and that loyal guests are shown our appreciation. Please make an effort to dress up in the 60’s style and there will be prizes – bottles of wine, free weekends, etc. We will have the usual Karaoke on the Friday night in the Pub at Dragons Rest and the party with a disco – free of charge for all our guests on the Saturday night. The braai fires will be lit and it should be great, as usual!
TO END
Added to the end of this newsletter are our prices from March 2008 to February 2009, as well as our high, mid and low seasons. You will see that we have kept our High Season price the same as for last year; we have also shortened the high season. We have changed the ages for half price rates for children – instead of the age limit being 3 to 18, we have changed it to 3 to 16. We have also realised that we cannot accommodate all the cars in the resort, so we have pulled back some more sites to make parking areas and each site may have one car included in the tariff. Additional cars will be charged at R20 per night and they will have to be parked in the demarcated areas.
Pensioners will get their usual discounts on the site tariffs; however, the monthly rate has been increased to R1000 in summer and R800 in winter. Pensioner’s dogs will be charged at R300 per month per dog, which is a saving. The monthly tariff does not apply to mid and high season tariffs, in other words, if a pensioner is staying here over a low season period for 1 month, he will be charged R1000. However, if a mid of high period occurs during that stay, those nights will be at the normal price and the R1000 will be reduced accordingly for that many nights (it rounds up to R35 per couple per night). If you wish to speak to me about anything in particular and I am off that day, please leave a message or email me and I will respond as soon as I get back to the office. If you change any dates or details on your booking please request the staff to send you an updated confirmation so you have in black and white confirmation of your changes. We all look forward to seeing you at Dragon Peaks again in the near future and for our new guests, we would welcome the opportunity of having you here again. Warm regards and lotsaluv, Bithia Email: bithia@gwisa.comTelephone: 036 468 1031 Fax: 036 468 1104
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