May/June 2022

Three weeks at Rose & Ale

When we arrived in East London we had to decide where we wanted to live during the next year. As we don’t know East London, we decided to book in at a self-catering cottage for three weeks, while we look at different accommodation options.

Gonubie:

We ended up in the small coastal town of Gonubie (about 18km north-east of East London) for the next three weeks. It almost felt like we were on holiday with the lovely beach just 500m from our front door.

Rose Cottage at Rose & Ale:

We found great self-catering accommodation at Rose & Ale and our small cottage (Rose Cottage) was the perfect choice.

Before we take you to the beautiful beach of Gonubie, we would like to show you what Rose & Ale looks like – a place that almost felt like a home away from home.

A small enclosed garden at the front of our cottage
Bed with luxurious linen

The cottage is provided with everything one could possibly need. In the kitchen there is a fridge, microwave, toaster, kettle, oven/hob and a full range of crockery and cutlery. The cozy sitting area has a sleeper couch and two chairs, as well as a small desk that can be used for a workstation (as Berto has done a few times).

The little breakfast nook
Part of the lounge and the small desk area

I found the different rose images quite charming – it was perfect for our cottage. One can see the owner has put a lot of thought into the decoration of Rose Cottage.

Here are just a few rose images we spotted:

Original name image for the cottage
The mirror in the bathroom and a rose tile in the lounge
Cushion and wall decoration
Pillow on the bed

The outside area of Rose & Ale is also luscious and green, with lovely areas for entertainment. Surely, a family with kids will have no problem in keeping the little ones busy as there is a swimming pool, trampoline and a jungle-gym.

Trampoline and swimming pool

Of course, for us there is always that one thing that is non-negotiable at any accommodation. Those of you who are regular readers will know that it’s a ‘braai’ (barbecue). And we were very happy to find this at Rose & Ale. Our first dinner in East London was a proper ‘braai’!

Our first fire (of hopefully many) in East London
Something to drink and meat on the fire – happy days
Our first meal (and yummy apple crumble pie which Berto made)

We were very happy and comfortable in our first stay in East London. Rose & Ale certainly lived up to our expectations – they even arranged for our cottage to be cleaned once a week and provided clean linen and towels. We feel very welcome in East London!

If you look down the street outside our gate, you see the lovely ocean

As mentioned earlier, our cottage is only 500m from the beach and in our next post we will take you on a scenic walk along the sea.