LET IT SNOW, LET IT
SNOW, LET IT SNOW
Dragon Peaks, 8 – 12 August 2012
With a long weekend beckoning us, on Monday 6
August 2012 we booked a chalet at Dragon
Peaks, in the Drakensberg
mountains.
Tuesday 7 August 2012
It started to snow … everywhere! Even in Gauteng!!!!
And the road to the Drakensberg
Mountains was closed ….
Wednesday 8 August 2012
In the morning I packed everything, crossing
fingers that the road will be open. At
12h30, after a quick lunch at home, we left Randburg. Not quite knowing if we’re going to reach our
destination …. Or will have to turn back home.
Just before the town, Vrede, we started to see
patches of snow on the ground. The
mountains were all white-capped and glorious.
By the time we reached another little town Warden, the snow was thicker
on the ground … and then we reached Harrismith.
Oh my word!!!!!!!
The town was coated in a thick, white
blanket. It was breathtakingly
awesome!!! I must have taken a hundred
pics … mumbling ‘wow, wow, wow’, all the time! Driving through Harrismith to
Van Reenen’s Pass, we were on edge …. But glorious news! Although the whole pass had snow all over, it
was open!!!!!!
And then we descended Van Reenen’s Pass, drove
on … and all of a sudden …. No more snow!
Brown trees, dry shrubs, bare rocks … but no snow. Weird!!
Just before 17h30 we arrived at Dragon Peaks
– we drove in 5 hours. Fantastic!!
Picked up the key from reception
and drove to our Drakensberg Park Home for the next 4 nights. (http://www.dragonpeaks.com/web/home
- tel: 036 468 1031 / dpp@dragonpeaks.com)
This resort has accommodation for
everyone. Camping, caravanning (you can
even store your caravan there at a monthly rate), chalets for couples or bigger
groups. It has an on-site shop, on-site
pub, on-site restaurant that offers 3 meals a day at reasonable rates, an adventure
camp, a games room and the mountains. Driving through the resort, only a few people
were camping/caravaning and in chalets.
Our chalet was right at the back, in front of big trees. It has 2 bedrooms, 1 with double bed, other
with 1 single and a bunk bed, bathroom with bath, sink & toilet, open-plan
kitchen & lounge and a lovely undercover patio. A tabby cat came to say hello. After quickly unpacking everything, I warmed
up my ‘snow bones’ in the bath (with my sparkely toenails)
while Hein had a
beer and then we walked down with Hein’s Maglight torch in the dark to the
pub.
After a drink, we walked through to the
restaurant. On Wednesdays nights, it’s
buffet dinner for R90/person. I have had braces on my teeth for almost a year now ... so I was really careful about eating ... I learned to chew every bite numerous times. And when the braces were hurting my gums, I would only eat liquid meals (or should I say ... drink my meals.)
And what a spread!! I first had some mushroom soup, then a piece
of chicken, pumpkin & mash and managed to ‘squash’ the tiny bites of
chicken to the roof of my mouth with my tongue.
It was delicious. Hein wanted
some Eisbein slices, but when the cook struggled a bit to slice it, he gave
Hein a whole Eisbein! Hein didn’t say
no. He thoroughly enjoyed that!
The dessert table was a glorious spread and a
feast for the eye (I just wondered what they did with all the
leftovers???) I had a piece of malva
pudding with custard & cream and a lemon meringue tartlet. I managed the lemony and meringue part of the
tartlet. Delicious!!!!
Walking back in the dark, Hein said to me: ‘I’m
so proud of you – you had solid food for the first time in a week!’. Hahahahaha.
The internet signal is very very bad at the resort. Luckily Hein downloaded some Police Academy
movies on his IPad, so he sat in bed, chuckling away, while I had another nice
bath.
Now, if you stand in front of a bed, facing the
headboard – I always sleep on the right-hand side. Have been for 20 years. But Hein loves fresh air – and this chalet’s
bedroom window was at my side. So I
generously offered that Hein sleeps on my side.
Although I adore fresh air, I don’t like it on me. We went to sleep.
Or rather tried to sleep. Halfway through the night, I went to the
bathroom, came back and told Hein – ‘this is not working, please can I have my
side back?’. He then confessed that he
had difficulty sleeping as well! So, if
something works for 20 years – DON’T CHANGE IT!
Thursday, 9 August – Women’s
Day
After a good half night’s sleep, we woke at
7. When I mentioned its Women’s Day,
Hein said that means I have to work extra hard.
Hahahahaha. Hein made coffee (our
fabulous grind-beans-on-demand coffee machine came along) and we sat in bed, watching
the trees, listening to the wind dancing through the treetops.
After dressing warmly (I even donned a beanie),
Hein started the fire. Yip –
breakfast!!!!! And opened his first
beer. It was still cold outside, his car
had frost on and he wrote me a message.
With a troop of monkeys in the trees, we made sure that all windows were
closed.
The smell of bbq boerewors filled the air and
we settled into holiday mood. With the
beer finished and the boerewors rolls gobbled up, we quickly bathed, dressed
and walked to the one dam (there’s quite a few in the resort.)
Passing the
on-site shop, we browsed through the shelves – they have everything and
anything there! At the pub/restaurant
area, we wanted to see if they’re serving tea.
When there’s a lot of people, they serve tea and sometimes crumpets
outside. But since the resort was still
quiet, no tea.
I ordered tea from the restaurant and we
watched the mountain and people. When it
was lunchtime, I ordered battered fish & chips, Hein - bacon & egg
burger. He gave me the egg and had some
of my chips. It was yummy!! Being on holiday, I ordered homemade ice
cream with fudge sauce.
Deeeeeelicious!!!!
Walked back to
the chalet. With the car parked for the
weekend, we have decided to walk everywhere in the resort, which helps when you
over-indulge …..
A nap was in order. Snuggled under the duvet & blanket,
that’s just the way to spend a lazy afternoon. Late afternoon sitting on our patio,
the resort slowly filled up with caravans, tents, kids, dogs and holiday
atmosphere; Hein started the fire for dinner.
The tabby cat came back with a little tabby cat. We gave the big one some biltong and for the
small one milk (although I don’t know why, since I’ve heard milk is actually
not good for cats …...)
Dinner was a good T-bone steak - cooked to
perfection, lamb chops, tinned peas & sweetcorn. I blitzed my meal, but Hein happily munched
on his yummy steak. I took a long bath
while Hein watched another movie on his IPad.
Friday 10 August 2012
7 am, seemed to be the magic wake-up
number! Coffee on the patio, then quick baths
and decided on breakfast at the restaurant.
I had French toast with cheese, Hein had a bacon & egg butty (just a
fancy word for a hamburger) with pork sausages on the side. I managed my breakfast with my
tongue-squashing food-against-mouth-roof-routine.
It was lovely!
Walked to another dam, close to the
‘backpackers’ area, as well as helicopter pad.
Hein tried in vain to get a better signal for internet.
At the chalet, Hein drove to the on-site shop
and came back with bags of wood and 4 magazines for me. The
fire smoked a bit in the beginning, but after a while, roared like mad. It was heavenly, sitting next to a wood
fire, under a tree, relaxing, chatting, staring to the chalets, bushes … just
being.
I made a steak sandwich for Hein and blitzed the rest of last night’s chops for me. Craving some bread, I buttered a hot dog roll
and dunked it into my coffee. Hmmmmm. After some blissful time outside, we had a
nap.
Hein walked down to the pub – I read for a
while, had a relaxing bath and slowly walked down with my Sharks scarf and a
thick jacket for later. In the pub, we
watched all the different people. After
a while, it got a bit rowdy, so we decided to go outside for some fresh
air. I didn’t even sit down – it was
freeeeeeeeeezing! The smoky and rowdy pub
it is then.
At a machine, an elderly gentleman was playing
some gambling game. His (alleged)
granddaughter came to the pub counter to order more drinks and told Hein and me
that her granddad is addicted to gambling.
But the profits all go to charity.
When she turned her back, Hein and I looked at each other and said: why was she talking to us??
My inner alarm bells went crazy ….. We watched them carefully, but kept a
distance. A young and very tall guy was
standing at a table next to them – this girl invited him to their table,
introduced themselves and gave the whole ‘gambling for charity’ speech. Hmmmm,
sounds a bit fishy to me. Wonder
if she got lucky that night ….
When 6 o’ clock came, Hein and I walked through
to the restaurant. It was a la carte
night. Scrutinising the menu, I decided
to have their starter of chicken livers.
Hein ordered a Malay Fillet steak – well, it looked more like a minute
steak. And even when the waiter asked
how the steak must be cooked, it was well done, not medium like Hein asked. But the sauce was very flavorsome.
My livers were absolutely
outstanding!!!!!!!!!! The sauce was just
toooooooo heavenly and Hein kept dipping his chips into it. The livers were soft and I could ‘squash’ it
easily. It was also a reasonable price,
being a starter. But I was quite
worried, cause I smelled curry in the sauce … and with my braces, curry is a
definite no-no for the elastics – it stains.
A glass of water helped me to ‘swish away’ the sauce. I ordered an apple dessert – a cross between
a cake and a pie. It was lovely. We slowly walked back to the chalet.
Saturday 11 August 2012
We slept late!!! Only woke up at 8. After brushing our teeth, Hein started the
coffee machine and decided – coffee outside today. It took him only a few minutes to make
another decision … coffee next to a fire.
Although there were now more people in the resort, it was still
peaceful. Everything smelled so fresh
and we worked up an appetite … for boerewors rolls, of course. I blitzed my boerewors with some boiling
water and tomato sauce, Hein had his on seeded hot dog rolls.
A quick bath and we dressed into shorts,
t-shirts and tackies. Off to another
dam. But the sun was already quite warm,
so I bought a wide-brimmed hat for R50 from the on-site shop and I was
ready.
This resort has a whole
‘adventure camp’ – tree slides, tree ‘ladders’, paintball, etc. A group of young people was dressed and ready
for paintball.
And posed for a
photo. Sitting in the shade at the dam,
we saw a tame zebra and donkey slowly walking our way. It was so tame, I easily took close-up
pictures.
Walking back slowly, we looked at the Wedding
Area – close to the pub/restaurant. This
resort is perfect for a wedding – its own chapel, accommodation for overnight
guests, restaurant and catering facilities and beauty all around!!!!
It was 11 o’ clock – and goodie, tea was served
outside the pub. But no crumpets. It was fun watching the people, although
after a while the kids and numerous dogs really got a bit rowdy. Deciding against having lunch at the
restaurant, Hein suggested we drove to Drakensberg Sun Hotel. I immediately agreed.
At the chalet, I quickly changed from shorts
& tackies to pants and flip flops.
The weather was lovely and the snow on the mountains were only on the
tops now.
At the Drakensberg Sun Hotel (a mere 10 minutes
away from Dragon Peaks), we sat outside on the
patio. I had craved scones for a while
now … but I’m very picky about my scones.
It has to be light, fluffy, not too dry.
And served with jam in a little bowl (NOT those little plastic
containers) and with butter and cream.
Oh my gosh! I was blown away –
the presentation of the scones was outstanding!!! And so was the taste. I only managed one scone. Hein walked down to the pool – activities for
kids were arranged, boat trips could be made – but no-one was swimming. It was a bit too cold.
Hein ordered a roast beef bun, I ordered some
linguine with a tomato sauce, but still struggled with it, so took it as a
doggie bag. Hein’s bun was lovely. Some fresh chillies made Hein’s day, so I
packed the rest of the chillies in a Ziplock bag for dinner
Feeling a bit restless, Hein took the camera
and decided to go for a walk. We planned to leave very very early the next
morning, so I asked Hein if I can make him a boerewors roll. He just looked at me funny and said: I’m just going for a walk. Noooo, I meant a boerewors roll for ‘padkos’
the next day. Hahahaha. The weather looked funny …. As if a storm is
brewing …
Knowing that we’re not going to have dinner at
the chalet, I packed all the kitchen stuff, including our coffee machine. Kept a few pieces of clothing out for the
next day and managed to pack everything else. The 2 big crates we packed in the
car. After a quick bath, Hein and I walked down to the pub – there was a big
Sharks/Stormers rugby game on at 7pm. On
our way, there are a few cages; there were lovely birds and some gorgeous
ducks! After searching the Internet, we
saw they were called Mandarin Ducks!
In the pub, we watched some Olympic Games on
the big screen TV. But people are just
soooo weird …. They will also watch the big screen, but will go and stand RIGHT
IN FRONT of you. Uuuu, halllloooo, are
you made of glass???? A row of plastic seats were ready for the game.
Promptly
at 6pm, we walked through to the restaurant for dinner. This time Hein ordered a Prego Roll. Hahahaha, well that’s the name of it, but what he got was …. Not! It was sooooo saucy, even I didn’t like the
look of it! He just kept quiet and ate
it. I decided to order the chicken
livers again; at least I knew it would be delicious. And it was.
Just before 7, we walked back to the pub and
were ready for the game. At halftime, I
ordered ice cream with fudge sauce (cause it is the last night of our weekend,
so I could) and we watched the tense rugby game. Our team, the Sharks, won. Then we watched as Caster Semenya came second
in the Olympics. Briskly walked back to
the chalet in the dark night.
Sunday 12 August 2012
The alarm was set for 4h45 am. We didn’t even have coffee, just brushed our
teeth and got dressed. I quickly
smoothed some make-up on my face, Hein packed the car and just after 5, with a
sad heart, we left the resort.
A warning of more snow on Van Reenen’s Pass was
more than enough fuel to get us home early.
The road was nice and quiet, although still dark – I kept my eyes peeled
for any ‘jumping buck’ or cows or goats.
We didn’t see any.
Two hours later we pulled into the rest area
outside Harrismith. And there was no
sign of snow. Except a small dirty pile
next to the road. But it was
freeeeeezing!!!!!
I was dying for a Mugg & Bean muffin, so we
decided to sit and have our first cuppa of the day. You can’t go wrong with Mugg & Bean’s
coffee.
A strawberry & walnut muffin was my choice,
Hein had a yummy-looking ham, cheese & tomato toasted sandwich. I nearly drooled over his choice. (I’ve
completely forgotten to take pics of our breakfast.)
With tummies filled and energy levels soaring,
we drove the last leg home. No more snow
was seen and after 10am, we arrived back home.
What an amazing weekend it was! Snow, best company ever, good food, good
chalet and one of the most relaxed weekends we had in a long, long time.
ooo000ooo
