Adventures in the 'Snowbaru' - Underberg, South Africa

in #life7 years ago (edited)

Snow in South Africa is something of a rarity. So much of a rarity in fact, that there are huge Facebook groups and pages dedicated to snow sightings across the country. While this may seem a bit weird to some of my foreign friends, the mere sight of a small snow dusting on the ground is enough to send thousands of people into a snow-hunting frenzy. People even drive hours to go and see a sprinkling of frost that will melt within a few hours - we take what we can get I guess.

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I should also add that it has pretty much never snowed in a large city here. Due to South Africa having a rather warm all-year round climate, snowfalls are reserved for higher, inland areas, usually about a 2 or 3 hour drive from the nearest city (if you’re lucky). Having seen snow many times in my life, the experience is nothing new to me. I’ve forced my way through it to get to the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, and spent many winters snowboarding over it in Switzerland, but the novelty of seeing it close to home never gets old. And with the news of an imminent cold front arriving, I decided to go on an adventure in my newest snow “toy” - a 2012 Subaru WRX STi.

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Car packed, it was time to head off to my destination: Underberg. This is a small town located in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains (get it? “Under” the berg…clever hey). The drive usually takes about two and a half hours, but with a turbocharged flat-four at my disposal, I made it there comfortably under two hours. I quickly checked into my hotel for the night, and set out on the 30km road leading further into the mountains.

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And guess what? There was no snow. Nothing. Zero. Plenty of damp roads and an annoying constant drizzle, but none of the good powder. All hopes of drifting through forests channeling my inner Petter Solberg were fading as fast the light - it was by this time nearly 5pm. However, on the flip side, that meant that the temperature would eventually have to soon start dropping. I drove around aimlessly for a bit listening to the calming melodies of Slayer, but eventually called it a day, and headed to the hotel.

Somewhere during the course of the night, I woke up and decided to have a quick look out the window. With my half-awake state not doing any favours, I vaguely remember not being able to see anything. I shrugged it off and went back to sleep in a few seconds.

A few hours later, I woke up round about 5am, and took another look out the window. This time, I realised why I wasn’t able to see anything during the night…it was covered. Entirely. With snow. Energised with a new boost of energy, I was out of the hotel and in my car within minutes. It was still dark outside, but I didn’t care. It was time to go play on the snowy roads and put the infamous Subaru AWD system to the test.

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I blasted up and down the entirely empty mountain road for at least an hour, watching the scenery gradually get lighter through the gloomy clouds. Eventually, hunger called and I returned to go get breakfast at the hotel, where I heard people in the reception complaining about some “hooligan” in a “loud car” tearing up and down the road in the early hours of the morning. I wonder who that may have been…

Check out at the hotel done, it was time to go and explore for a few hours before heading back to my home town. I ended up driving so far into the mountains that I reached the literal end of the road, and passed many larger 4x4’s while doing so - all of who gave my Subaru sedan a very strange look. Let that be a lesson - never underestimate the power of Subaru AWD. Along the way, I stopped to take a few pictures, and just enjoyed the surroundings…it was a Monday morning, meaning that all my friends back home were busy doing a dreary morning commute. Whereas I was out in nature, experiencing another snowfall. It’s the little things that count.

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On my way back home, I ran into an interesting problem. About 5 minutes after I passed through a small town, I heard on the radio that the town had actually just closed the road (that I was somehow still driving on). The next town was 40km away, and they had also closed access to this road, meaning that I somehow now had an entirely empty stretch of road to keep playing on, as I was technically stuck between two towns (there are no side roads in this area of the world). I used this time to do many snow drifts and donuts, along with taking photos wherever I pleased - including right in the middle of the road.

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With my petrol now draining fast, it was time to press on, and hopefully make progress back towards my home. After passing a police officer who was blocking the road to oncoming traffic - and who gave me a death stare due to my lack of front numberplate - I had a clear run all the way back home. And just over 24 hours after originally departing, I arrived back in my humidity stricken hometown in an incredibly dirty car, but feeling satisfied. Now…where’s the next cold front?

Interesting sidenote: I was very briefly Facebook famous. Thanks, Subaru South Africa.

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Whoah, hang on just a minute! I didn’t know you lived in some kind of fantasy land. The Dragon Mountains... Under Mountain or is it Underhill? You’ll be telling me next you stopped off at the mines of Moria to pick up some blood diamonds ♦️ 😂
Seriously though... that was a great write up and fabulous images.
Haha the Death 💀 Stare 👀
Ps I’m not Trolling you

Fantasy land? I wish. Underberg doesn't really sound like a romantic name to me :P

Glad you liked the write up. I've got a few other adventures to write about in this area of the world, so stay tuned.

Berg is mountain or it can be hill... http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Mr._Underhill
See its all a fantasy! :)

European mountains are far more impressive though. As mentioned in the story, I've been to Switzerland to snowboard over many winters, and those peaks make our local mountains look like a puny speedbump :P

How's the snowboarding up in Sweden? Might have to come take a look on the next trip.

We don’t have the same peaks as in the alps, I live near a small ski center I made a post here:
https://steemit.com/photography/@jasonwhite/any-sunny-sunday-in-winter

We have a good park if you like rails and jumps through. Åre is the best place to go if you want big mountains in Sweden, it’s been listed in the top 10 of resorts worldwide.

Oh, and forgot to expand on the no front numberplate / death stare part. Having no front numberplate in South Africa is illegal, and will get you a fine (should you be stopped). However, lots of high-performance cars drive around with no front plates... the fine is so minor and no-one ever pays their fines here. I didn't have one for nearly two years and had no issues, but have recently put one back on - just need to watch the speedometer a bit closer now :)

Hmm wonder what the fine is over here... I know they will be not so pleased. My car is illegal anyway, no cat, open wastegate, does not pass emissions, has too much BHP. Yeah even that's illegal.
You have some similar rules about modification though right?

Fine here is about 40 USD, but barely anyone pays them. Still a huge saving over the potential speeding fines you could get - also, a small "peace offering" goes a long way ;)

Modification laws are a bit more relaxed. The police make a big song and dance maybe once a year about cracking down on modified cars, but it never comes to anything. There are some street cars with insane builds running huge power figures, and they never get in any trouble.

That was a pretty decent adventure. I have heard fables of snow in far away northern Nigerian town of Jos, but I don't believe that one bit. i'll love to be proven wrong though, and I would want to be in the wheels of a Subaru Snowbaru AWD when it happens :)

Nice read.

Thanks @misterakpan, glad you enjoyed the read. I was worried it might have dragged on for a bit too long, but it seems like most people like the details.

It snowed in the desert a few weeks ago didn't it? So maybe snow in northern Nigeria is also possible :)

Awesome snowbaru! I had a subaru one time and it was a great car. It was the most stable car I have ever owned. Thanks for sharing those pics. It looks like you had a great time.

They really are great cars hey :) My 60 year old mom has used mine a few times when I've gone overseas, and she liked it so much that she went and bought a brand-new Forester a few months ago. Apparently the performance was intoxicating, but she couldn't stand the strange looks she'd get while driving it - the Forester suits her much better.

Also, glad you enjoyed the read! I have a few more stories coming from this area of the world, so check back soon for more :)

aww this is SOOOOOO cute ha ha ha
I do get the fab about finding snow for you over there :) You got slammmmmming pictures !!! well done :D by the way, Drakensberg is swedish spelling for, =Dragonsmountain :P ha ha

RIP headphone users

This guy, he's got a pair haha.

Probably not an MR2 owner then?

Definitely not an MR2 owner.

Thank you - nearly all of the pictures were off my cellphone (Sony Xperia Z5). I'll make an album sometime with the ones from my proper DSLR.

Interesting note there about the Swedish spelling, as the range of mountains originally got their name from early Dutch settlers. The appearance of the mountains apparently resembled the back of a mythical dragon. Check out the article on Wikipedia, there's a lot of cool info there. @jasonwhite, you were also on the money with your Dragon Mountains comment :)

Hnnnghhh, da power of "snowbaru" AWD... 🚗💨💨, we only have rains here in Malaysia.. no sign of snow spotted 😂

hnnnnnnggghhhhhhhhhhh VTEC

Trust me, the "Snowbaru" AWD system made a lot of people surprised that day - even on non-snow tyres.

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Hey @jznsamuel, happy to have you promote this post anytime if you like :)

Thanks, I've nominated your blog today. Hope it gets selected to be featured in today's @ocd compilation post.

I love road trips. Last time I did one was about 12 years ago - my eldest was 4 and we drove to meet her grandpa in Durban. I think it's time for another road trip and this should be it. We are all familiar with snow, living in Korea, but it will be great for us all to do this drive.

Congrats on a fabulatious post - featured in the OCD Daily #180

Thanks for the comment @trumanity :) It's great to do this drive in either summer or winter, and being only about 2 hours from Durban, it's the perfect distance for a bit of a getaway.

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