Mountains to climb
A long weekend with family in the mountains offered ample opportunities to walk, mostly uphill. It may not have been easy for us “flat-suburbians” but doing it brought a sense of satisfaction.
Enabling The How #218. Reading time: 6 minutes, 42 seconds
We took some time away in the Drakensberg this long weekend. With Youth Day on Monday 16 June, it was an opportunity to get away with kids and grandchild to a very family and child friendly hotel in a beautiful part of northern Drakensberg.
Judson drove with us in our trusty Kia. Cailyn, Sean and Leah in their car.
“What time should I be at you?” Judson asked the day before we left.
“Come at 9am so we can get the car packed and leave by 10am,” Chantal responded.
Judson is notorious for being perpetually late.
He was late but so were we. He arrived at 9.45am and we were nowhere near ready. We hadn’t even had breakfast yet. We had been delayed by trying to get a quick bit of work done before leaving. Tech issues, email glitches and a desire to complete a special project task kept us at our desks for way longer than we anticipated.
Eventually, after a quick breakfast of french toast, we were packed and on the road. Luckily we did not have too far to go.
Idiot drivers
The traffic was Friday-just-before-a-public-holiday busy. Getting out of Johannesburg always takes the longest time and this occasion was no different. We breathed out once we had left the big city behind and settled in for an uneventful drive.
“What the hell?” spluttered Matthew staring into the rearview mirror.
We all sat up, alert.
“What’s happening?” asked Chantal
“The guy behind me is so close that if I touch the brakes he’ll hit us. I was already going a little over the speed limit to pass the slow traffic. He just raced up like a madman.”
The car was dangerously close. Matthew put out his indicator and started moving to the slow lane. The car behind moved with us, and drove next to our car in the emergency lane. Too close.
“Oh my gosh, he’s going to hit us,” said Chantal.
The car swerved in front of ours, braked so we had to slow almost to a halt, and then sped off again.
Adrenaline pumped through our systems. Chantal leaned over and hit the hooter, not letting it go for a while. Matthew flashed his lights repeatedly and Judson lowered the window to wave some sign language to the departing vehicle.
“What an idiot!” said Mathew.
“What on earth was he trying to prove?” gasped Chantal.
He could have caused an accident, and for what? A few extra minutes less on the road?” grumbled Judson.
“What a way to start a relaxing weekend away,” said Matthew shaking his head.
A too hasty, too arrogant, too self involved individual almost knocked us off our path. It was his way or the highway. We were relieved to be rid of him when he took the off ramp to Heidelberg.
Doing hills
The rest of the drive was uneventful. Thank goodness. We arrived at our destination snuggled at the foot of the mountains, booked in, unpacked and met the rest of the family on the lawn. The weekend stretched before us: slow walks in the mountains, hearty meals we did not have to prepare, play spaces for Leah to use up her abundant energy and a cosy pub to gather in.
The days were sunny and clear and cooled with snow brushed wind that drew our layers closer. On the first morning Judson went exploring in the gardens digging up memories of a younger him jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the pool and playing loudly wherever he could.
Cailyn and Sean took Leah to climb and swing and slide on the toddler playground, while we went for a short walk up to the two dams.
We are “flat suburb” people and although we walk quite a bit we don’t encounter many hills. Not on purpose, anyway. Those we have are not very steep or very long. The walk to the dams was uphill all the way. Yes, we would be coming downhill on the way back but we still had to get to the dams first.
Matthew took several breaks to catch his breath while Chantal strode ahead enjoying the extra challenge that the rocks and makeshift steps were giving her legs.
“You okay there?” Chantal shouted back at Matthew.
“I’m fine,” responded Matthew surveying the land, “I realise I need to do more hills when we’re back home.”
A guided walk
Determined to take advantage of the guided walks and undeterred by the morning's experience we put our names down for the following day’s short walk to the Silent Woman.
“It’ll be fine,” said Chantal, “It’s not really uphill, if I can remember, more of an undulating flatter walk.”
Her memory had deceived her. There were plenty of uphills and lots of climbing. Matthew stayed near the back while Chantal walked with Judson further ahead.
A group of children jostled to stay in front while their puffing parents negotiated the route in smaller clumps. We all came together at regular intervals to allow the stragglers to catch up.
As it was a guided walk we all had to continue together. There was no turning back if it felt like it was taking too long. We wouldn’t have known how to get back anyway. So we all marched forward and upward and along until we reached our destination.
Michael, the other guide, was already there waiting for us with flasks of hot tea and cool Oros and crunchie biscuits. The children did not pause as they clambered down to the stream. The adults collapsed on the rocky outcrop. After some sustenance we ventured behind the crevice to see the Silent Woman, a large sculpture carved out of the rock face by Willie Chalmers in the 1950s.
Judson disappeared to the river to find rocks with crystals and fossils. He was so engrossed we almost left him behind.
“It wouldn’t have mattered”, he said both his hands weighed down by stones, “I know the way home and I’d forgotten how much fun it is to do this.”
Mountains to climb
We went back a different route that included a steady climb up to the hotel. Our lungs and legs felt the exertion.
Two and a half hours from setting off for the fern forest and Silent Woman we were back on the lawn enjoying a cold drink. It felt good to have spent the morning in the sun and fresh air. It was good that there had been forced stops. It allowed us to pick up our eyes from the rocks and knotty paths and take in the sweeping valleys and towering mountains.
Matthew had done it and was grateful for the challenge. He had made friends and taken photos as he held up the rear. Chantal had enjoyed the opportunity to walk with Judson and reminisce about previous visits to this place. We all got to where we were going to in the end.
Sean and Cailyn had gone for a shorter walk to the natural pools. Leah, comfy in her child carrier backpack, had promptly fallen asleep lulled by the sway of her father’s gait.
Some mountains are harder to climb than others. Usually the ones we lay before us in our minds are the ones that hobble us.
The Proteas, South Africa’s national cricket team, summited theirs over the weekend claiming victory in the ICC World Test Championship final after decades of stumbling at the last turn. With few back home expecting glory, the team had to maintain their focus and determination over the four days of play. They see-sawed between winning being a sure thing and a momentary detour causing doubt.
In a post match interview, Temba Bavuma, the captain, said, “The belief was obviously there but it was hard to accept the fact that we were close to doing something that had never been done before [by a South African cricket team].....The experiences I’ve had in the last couple of years, it’s not easy being captain of South Africa. All the sacrifices, all the disappointment, at that moment really feels worth it.”
The joy and satisfaction of success belies the hardship of getting there. The hours of training, the ability to regroup and come back time after time after a loss and another disappointment. Through it all being able to sustain the belief that it can be done. For the SA Cricket team it took 26 years.
Our mountain may not be as big but it helps to be reminded that it is often us that are the biggest boulders to our dreams. Your mountain may consist of several peaks. Whatever rises in front of you, remember to take time to stop and survey the scenery on the way too. Notice how far you have come and be grateful for the stamina to continue.
Until next time.
Yours in feeling,
Matthew & Chantal
