South Africa

• The Cape Escape - Cape Town
• My Mountain High in Cape Town - Cape Town
• The Drop Zone - Cape Town
• On the trail to true adventure - Johannesburg
• The great es-Cape - Cape Town
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• My Zulu Extravaganza - Durban
• Up Close and Personal - South African Safari
• Tracking Big Game - Kruger National Park
• Sleeping with the Lions - South African Safari
• A Safari with real pride - South African Safari
• Where the Lion King comes to Life - South African Safari
• Our guide to the top 10 safaris - South African Safari
• A Roaring Success - Victoria Falls
• Come into the Garden - The Garden Route
• The Worlds Most Beautiful Road? - The Garden Route
• Zipping off to Zanzibar - Zanzibar, Kenya
• Africa's catch of the day - Mozambique
• The Cape escape… and it was right up my Street - Garden Route: South Africa
• The nation kissed by a rainbow - South Africa
• Our wild silver wedding! - Kenya

WORKING ON CORONATION STREET means time off has to be requested way in advance to fit in with my character Kelly Crabtree’s storylines, so holidays are at a premium.

My boyfriend Mark and I wanted to spend a week of that priceless time on a dose of winter sunshine with a bit of adventure thrown in. We decided South Africa was the perfect solution. It turned out to be a fabulous experience – a combination of nature, culture, fine wine and fantastic food, wrapped up in plenty of excitement, all held together by a lot of driving.

Lush Green Surroundings

We flew from Heathrow to Cape Town, where we picked up our hire car - the plan was to drive the famous Garden Route from the Western to the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

An hour from the airport, in lush, green, mountainous surroundings, we arrived at our first port of call, The Franschhoek, a stunning, six-bedroom boutique hotel with a homely English country garden feel about it, nestled in the charming little town of the same name.

As you walk through the rose-clad arches of the courtyard, you cannot help but feel the warm welcome. And who would not smile when told all the drinks are free?

Yes, everything from the fully stocked wine and spirits cabinet in the lounge, to the mini-bar and decanter of port at your bedside.

Our beautiful large bedroom backed on to a small patio and garden, perfectly secluded for afternoons reading or sunbathing. Being on the High Street, the hotel provides easy access to shops and restaurants.

Franschhoek, or ‘French Corner’, is where the French settled and planted vineyards, giving Franschhoek a very European feel, but also making it the food-and-wine capital of South Africa.

Vineyard tours are a must and we visited five, The Dieu Donne, Moreson, Solms-Delta, Haute Cabriere and, the most picturesque, The Grande Provence Estate. We lunched at the Moreson, famous for its home-cured meats as well as its wines, and dined at Haute Cabriere. And I thoroughly recommend the Pinotage, made from South Africa’s signature grape.

The South African sun beamed down on us as we started the next leg of our trip round the mountains towards Lake Pleasant. The glorious stretches of road were comparable to the Nevada Desert – vast, picturesque and cinematic, but with green mountains in place of huge rocks and sand. We seemed to be the only people for miles, passing through towns every half-hour or so.

Lake Pleasant is a huge, peaceful resort overlooking the Groenvlei Lake. It’s a great base for exploring the neighbouring villages of Knysna, George, Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay. There’s so much to do – watersports, whale-watching, paragliding and, not least, bungee-jumping, something Mark and I had both always wanted to do.

Bloukrans Bridge, a short drive from Lake Pleasant, is home to the world’s highest commercial bungee-jump and we braved the record-breaking 709ft drop after much trepidation.

The experience kept the adrenaline coursing through us for the whole of the next day. Do it! Not only is it the ultimate thrill, the team who run the event are fantastic. They somehow manage to instil you with a strong sense of achievement for throwing yourself off a bridge.

Joined by Inquisitive Monkeys

During our stay in Lake Pleasant, we dined out only twice but, had we stayed longer, we would have returned again and again to the Lush restaurant in Knysna, for the music, decor, menu choice, wine and great personal service – a superb end to an action-packed stay at Lake Pleasant.

Another drive of four to five hours along the Garden Route brought us to our last stop, the Shamwari Game Reserve. We stayed at the luxurious Eagles Crag Lodge, where the welcome was warm and hospitable with afternoon tea and home-made lemonade waiting for us. Our room was breathtaking – the huge four-poster bed faced long patio doors, which opened on to a wooden decked area, a dip pool and, the piece de resistance, an outdoor shower – something you certainly wouldn’t find in Weatherfield!

We looked out over mountains and were warned about visits from inquisitive elephants and lions, but were joined only by a couple of monkeys.

Shamwari was the biggest wild expanse to host the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo and rhinoceros in game-hunter speak) before settlers turned the land into farms.

It is now a nature reserve spanning 61,000 acres that is managed so there will always be a natural food source for the animals. We were assigned a ranger who took us out on morning drives (5am) and afternoon drives (4.30pm). We were advised to wrap up, as it can get chilly on the afternoon tours.

It Does Not Disappoint

Warm and dry, we felt seasoned safari-goers in our outdoor essentials of sweatshirts, hats and jackets, bouncing around in the Jeep.

The rangers know the terrain like the back of their hands and are on constant lookout for footprints and fresh dung. They can spot the slightest movement from a great distance.

After a day with impala, lions, giraffe, elephants and rhino, we reassembled with the other guests for dinner and were encouraged to mingle by the fire.

Food is laid on all day – even snacks and drinks during the drive, with a choice to satisfy the fussiest of eaters.

Everything we had experienced along the way was a marvellous contrast to our own daily lives, and we were sad to leave our African adventure. Standing in the rain, back on the set, I felt as though I had imagined the whole thing.

The scenery, safaris, the people, food and wine are why people go to South Africa, and it does not disappoint. We were made to feel like guests in a friend’s home, which is surely reason enough to return.

South Africa thrives on tourism. It was a unique and beautiful experience unmatched by any other, which I can’t wait to repeat.