Snow Hunt 2012

Two natural events make me want to hop in a car and head off on a spontaneous trip.  One is when Augrabies falls is in flood.  The Orange River in South Africa runs through desert and arid areas , every few years it floods and results in the transformation of Augrabies falls into an awe inspiring spectacle of nature.

The other event which has me packing bags is snow.  When I hear that there is snow in a 300km radius I get a bit silly and desperate to head for it.  It helps my cause to have a 5 year old son who is just as keen as me.  The last time there was a good snowfall in Johannesburg was 1981, I lived in Durban then.  In 2007 we woke to a white garden one morning, the snow was not very thick.  Last week Tues 7/8/12 snow started falling very softly in the morning, it continued on and off for hours but it was melting as it hit the ground and between falls the sun would pop out from behind a cloud.

Cliff came home from work for lunch and I persuaded him not to go back to the office but rather go on a snow hunt to find somewhere where the ground was white.  I tossed some clothes into a suitcase just in case we ended up far from home and stayed away for the night.  We ended up driving about 300km to Golden Gate National Park. As we got there we received a call to say that snow was falling hard and staying on the ground at home, yup in this case I think my choice to travel was a bit daft.

None the less Golden Gate was beautiful the snow was thick and it was still snowing when we went to bed.  Fjord had a ball making snowmen and having snowball fights with Cliff.  It was freezing cold and my packing had not been quite up to scratch.  We had to buy firewood for the chalet at about R30 a bag which is pricy and the chalet cost over R800 not to mention the petrol cost, so it was expensive considering we could have enjoyed the fun at home even if the snow was not as thick.  None the less we had a little midweek adventure and a lot of fun.