We thoroughly loved our room, and having taken a peek ‘round the other rooms, feel it is the best one in Summerville.
Each morning, we enjoyed waking up (early, for us) at 0630 and ringing our butler to bring in “Bed Tea”, while starting a fire for us in the sitting room.
Cozy!
Eventually we’d get up and head out to have a relaxed breakfast on the porch, which was always wonderful – they’ll do the full English Breakfast, if you’d like, but we were eating so much at other meals we would invariably just have tea, a croissant or pastry, and a fruit plate. I did try one of their sausages one morning, and it was (like all other food at any Tea Trails lodge) fantastic. You will NOT have a bad meal at any of the lodges.
The first morning, after breakfast, we headed off to do the Tea Plantation Tour with Andrew Taylor, a highly recommended experience.
Norwood Tea Plantation (Norwood Bungalow is a 5-10 minute, uphill walk from here)
Norwood Sign
Andrew is beyond passionate about tea, and incredibly knowledgeable – not surprising given his background, and the fact he gives the tour every day (sometimes twice or thrice!).
Andrew demonstrating a “Tea Tasting”
Tea Tasting
As I said, Andrew is very passionate about the tour, though as others have pointed out, I can certainly see the tour becoming tiresome. It is REALLY in-depth, and I would have liked a pamphlet summarizing the information covered on the tour, if only because there was so much info I found it difficult to keep up.
But, this is a minor quibble, and most of the time Andrew was either intentionally charming, or unintentionally amusing/hilarious … there are times when my wife and I were chuckling, thinking, “he cannot be this serious, yet campy simultaneously”; his actual tasting was like performance art!
There are many, many interesting elements to the tour, and as I don’t want to give too much away, here are just a few shots for you:
Turning the leaves
Output for the Day
Finished Product!
After the tour, we went back to Summerville for lunch, before heading out on a highly recommended walk in the afternoon, with views of Adam’s Peak.
As with any Tea Trails meal, lunch was fantastic.
Broccoli Soup with Bleu Cheese (most meals started with a soup)
Pan Seared Tuna with Greens, Tomatoes, Potatoes
Apple Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream
As I said, after lunch we headed out on the longest of the three hikes from Summerville (S1), which is a mixed-terrain 9km walk. One of the many things I loved about Tea Trails is they provide laminated maps for you to take on your hike, and all trails are, for the most part, really well marked.
We were quite fortunate, in that a lot of the time while at TT we had overcast weather, but on this hike we had low clouds with the sun occasionally peaking through, providing us with some breathtaking vistas.
View over Castlereagh Reservoir
Adam’s Peak!
Tea Plants
Even more Tea Plants … so peaceful, so beautiful
Laminated Map
Limes for Leeches (they think of everything!)
I assure you, none of these photos do the hike justice. And while there are some steeper parts, I don’t know that you need full on proper hiking boots like we wore – though if you do have some, I’d recommend them for peace of mind, if for no other reason than if it rains, you’ve got a bit more grip.
We probably took right around the 2.5 hrs they say it will take, though we did stop frequently to take pictures, and there is one part where we got a bit turned around. If you take the hike, at a certain point (looks like around Marker 8) you end up walking into a sort of rustic, very small lodge/holiday spot, where the markers peter out. Just so you know, yes, you ARE supposed to walk through the middle of it and continue ascending … took us a bit to pick up on this, though we did get a full-on tour of the property (thankfully uninhabited but for the one caretaker we finally stumbled upon). Suffice to say, I don't think it will be making an appearance as a Luxury Forum recommendation.
It was very nice to return to Summerville for afternoon Cream Tea, and then clean up and relax with a pre-dinner cocktail before availing ourselves of the Sri Lankan feast for dinner.
Yum!
We also enjoyed, each night around the fire, a postprandial drink, chatting with other couples we met during our stay.
Our next day (last full day) saw us lounge through the morning, waiting out a morning shower, before having a car take us over to Norwood where we had lunch and explored the bungalow and grounds (pics to come).
We then hiked off lunch with a 12km walk over to Castlereagh Bungalow, a hike we enjoyed much less than the one we took the previous day - though it was still enjoyable. We did have the pleasure of stumbling on some young kids playing cricket, which was quite fun to watch. Less fun was getting caught in a torrential downpour for 30 minutes, though we just had a laugh … thankfully we’d brought along light rain jackets, and our hiking pants are of the quick-dry variety.
(I’d also mention here that Tea Trails is (or already has) purchasing a lodge 10 minutes walk uphill from Castlereagh, which looks to be REALLY nice, though it will be the largest of the lodges, with 8-10 rooms)
Dunkeld Bungalow (Castlereagh is a 10 minute walk down the path you see cutting in front of the lodge)
We were warmly greeted when we arrived at Castlereagh, and so thankful they immediately brought us out towels and hung our jackets up to dry out. Meanwhile, we enjoyed another delightful Cream Tea and explored the grounds (pics to come), which are beautiful.
Towards late afternoon, we took the opportunity to catch a boat across the lake (note: for many couples, the boatman will “conveniently” seat any male such that you can help row … all in good fun!)
Castlereagh Reservoir
Our evening ended, as had the couple prior, with a stiff drink by the fire, a lovely meal, and a nightcap while chatting with newly made friends.
The next morning we had an early breakfast before catching our 0800 car to Amanwella.
Up next ... Summerville and Norwood