At Singapore’s Changi Airport, the garden is not an afterthought but the main event, a lush, living showcase that turns tedious transit into something of a wonder, a sight never to be forgotten.
Orchids, Singapore’s national flower, take pride of place among carefully curated tropical displays, while indoor gardens soften the edges of what could otherwise be a purely functional space.
It’s a place surrounded by dense greenery that blurs the line between airport and rainforest.
It is a place where travellers pause, not rush, and where plants quietly transform a journey into a moment of calm, beauty and wonder.
Changi Airport’s greenery operates on a vast scale, with some 600,000 plants spread across its terminals and gardens.
There is solid empirical evidence that plants have calming effects on people.
I recently had the chance to step into a world of ferns, water and wellness on the eastern part of the Garden Route in Tsitsikamma — and I had a real sense of déjà vu from my days of living in Asia and commuting through Changi Airport.
Here at the Fernery Lodge & Spa which hugs its very own cliff, is a brand new feature and that’s a fern garden, nothing short of amazing.
Tourism operations manager Leanne Gammon invited me to come and experience this brand new reception-cum-dining area.
I wander around lost in a paradise of ferns and marvel at the fact that this creation was done by Gammon and the Fernery Lodge & Spa’s general manager Hendrik de Vries, not by a team of interior decorators and pro-gardeners, as I would have expected.
There are a plethora of indigenous fern species that comprise this indoor garden.
One of the most striking species is the Cyathea capensis, known as the Cape tree fern.
These prehistoric-looking plants, which growly slowly and can live for decades, can grow several metres tall with huge umbrella-like fronds spreading above the forest floor and they punctuate this garden.
Then there are other ferns from the Cape tree fern to maiden hair, deer ferns and others I had never heard of.
The forest area here in Tsitsikamma is curiously called the Knysna Forest and it’s famous for its vast fern species which form part of the moist South Afrotemperate forest ecosystem.
Botanical surveys here have listed 51 species of fern.
They thrive on the shade, moisture, mist from the sea and thick organic soil from centuries of forest leaf litter occupying various niches from forest floor ferns to epiphytic ferns which grown on tree branches and trunks.
Ferns have evolved over 350-million years, these plants lived alongside dinosaurs.
I have a moment grappling with this thought that the ferns we see in the forest here, have been on earth forever… they have seen it all. It makes me think of ferns in the movie Avatar.
The Fernery was originally built as a private home and farm which exported ferns, hence the name.
The extraordinary buildings perched on the edge of the mountain apparently took six years to create. It became a lodge in 2004, but nothing like it is now.
Since 2023, it has new owners and the revamped Fernery woos overseas and South African guests.
Lodge manager and head guide Marius Sky takes guests on spectacular walks on these cliffs and through the forests and he has a wealth of knowledge about the important ecological role the ferns play from providing microhabitats for insects, frogs and insects.
Recently the Fernery Lodge & Spa was named a finalist in the Les Nouvelles Esthétiques Spa Awards under the Retreat Spa category placing in the top four in the country — a testament to its world-class service and serene setting.
Nestled into the greenery, this oasis of wellness is open until late at night and offers packages from couple’s massages to facials, to pretty toes, all sorts of treatments.
There is a visual feast during all your waking moments here from having breakfast in a dining room with floor to ceiling windows on the world.
Apart from its locale, it goes without saying that all the creature comforts that tick that four-star criteria box are in place here with rooms and chalets offering the epitome of luxury, space and privacy with special touches like underfloor heating and towel rails.
When it comes to food, breakfast is all that you could want from fresh fruit to salmon and pastries and of course that full breakfast with eggs and their companions like sausages and bacon in various incarnations.
Lunches and dinners are served in the fern garden. At night the garden is softly lit up, and fairy lights set the mood.
You can order the ingredients for a braai should you wish and the kitchen also makes a mean picnic to take with you on a walk.
The pièce de résistance of a stay here for me has to be the water offerings.
There are hot tubs and jacuzzi baths all over the property, tucked into the greenery, private and just fabulous.
The rooms also offer huge tubs with bubbles and massage jets.
In summer, it’s a crisp temperature and in winter the swimming pool is heated so that a romantic mist hovers over it.
Nearby is a traditional sauna and an infra-red version and a steam room.
Known as the “place of abundant water,” Tsitsikamma is home to the iconic Storms River Mouth with its suspension bridges (some of them are closed for maintenance) as well as world-renowned hiking routes like the Dolphin Trail which ends at the Fernery.
There are a choice of hikes from The Fernery and an exciting new one from the lodge down to the ocean about to officially open any day now.
The Tsitsikamma area draws thrill-seekers to the nearby Bloukrans Bridge, famous for one of the highest commercial bungee jumps in the world.
At the Storms River Garden Route National Park (SANParks), there are options from canoe to lilo, kayak and tubing.
Most of the guests here are from overseas, but The Fernery Lodge and Spa has specials for South Africans which makes a stay affordable. Check out https://www.fernery.co.za/ to see a romantic winter getaway for a couple.
If you win the lotto then choose the Eagles Nest Suite which has a cozy lounge, a generous walk-in shower space with a huge jacuzzi tub and a separate bathroom.
In winter, you can lie in bed and watch the whales.
Plan a treat! There are places one never forgets, not ever, and this is one of them.
It’s the place to get married, the place to have a special function, a corporate shindig or just a romantic meal.
Apparently, flowers have become passé at weddings these days with natural greenery now de rigueur so if you get married here then the ferns take care of the décor.
And with the fad these days that weddings last a few days, there is enough accommodation here for a bridal contingent.
With the spa also on the property, it makes for a one-stop wedding venue. Email: reservations@fernery.co.za or phone +27 42 280 3588
Since the Fernery is no longer a working farm, it now offers an indigenous nursery where you can buy plants including the popular seven-week fern as it is known in the florist trade, because it lives for weeks in a vase.
