Rooihoogte Guest Cottage and Camping

You can take hiking trails from Carolina down to Badplaas (an hour by car) and soothe your feet in the famed thermal springs. The route takes in plunging ravines and out-of-this-world rock formations, and if you don't make it down to the springs, you can cool off in a number of rock pools and waterfalls. Nooitgedacht Nature Reserve (an hour and 30 minutes) is where 200 species of birds thrive in shimmering wetlands, which you can explore by boat or mountain bike. A little further afield, but not to be missed if you've come this far, is the Songimvelo Game Reserve (an hour and 45 minutes); in this ancient landscape (its rocks are among the oldest on earth) kudu and buffalo, white rhino and zebra roam free. Fishing enthusiasts flock to Glenshee (an hour and 30 minutes) in search of trout and bass. There are also well-regarded fishing spots along the Rainbow Route, an eight-hour driving trail starting in Carolina and ending in the neighbouring province of KwaZulu-Natal, taking travellers through grand landscapes, gold rush towns and three centuries of history. On a different scale of time altogether, the geotrail around Barberton (1 hour 50 minutes) reveals the three-billion year old story of the ground beneath your feet.