Saturday 4 October 2008

Road trip to the Mother City #1: Holiday by the sea

Usually one goes to the coast to enjoy high temperatures, but this holiday is a little bit reversed. For a local that has just returned from the UK, the recent high temperatures experienced on the Highveld feel REALLY warm, and so Ulricha and myself are taking a week out and visiting my parents in Cape Town.

We started off very early on Friday and were already approaching Bloemfontein by the time the sun rose. We continued extremely well, making good progress until Colesberg, when the car developed an emission system problem, which caused the engine management system to limit to power being delivered. As a result our progress was significantly slowed, though thankfully the problem is not serious enough to have caused us to stop.

We arrived safely late in the evening, welcomed to Cape Town by strong winds, but clear and sunny skies – something quite unusual for Cape Town recently.

However, along the way we managed to get some good photo opportunities – especially when we got into the Western Cape, and caught sight of some snow that has accumulated over the high mountains of the Boland. The scenery in the Cape is magnificent, with the recent higher than usual rainfall having left the flora blooming magnificently.

And no matter how much time you spend away from Cape Town, somehow the glimpse of Table Mountain from Blouberg always gives you the feeling that you have returned home.

2 comments:

Arthur said...

At last a comment from me! Nice to have you back in SA - we'll catch up one of these days again!

Having spent 10 years in Jozi, I cannot tell you how fantastic it is to be back in the Cape. Those pics show the remains of heavy snowfall we experienced for most of the winter. I recently drove back from a conference in Bloemfontein and it was an incredible feeling when I finally caught a glimpse of the snow right near our home. We are privileged to have a constant view of these peaks from our home and we never tire of the view!

Next time you visit the Cape, do take a left into Worcester and come and spend some time with us! We would love to welcome you in the Boland!

PS - am glad to hear you are settling down so well in Jozi!

Mike said...

Welcome Arthur - good to finally have a comment from you.

From the amount of snow that we saw, it was obvious that this was just the remnants of a lot that must must have fallen.

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