what happens when the miskins go hiking...

yes, we miskins went on holiday last week. and yes, we did some serious relaxing. and yes, alas, we did go on a hike. do you really want to know what happened?! of course you do!!!

well, there are three trails to do at the farm where we were staying. one trail is an all day trail. the other is a five hour trail. and the last, easy, trail is a 5.5 kilometer, 2 1/2 hour trail.

so dad decides, we miskins are going to do the easy trail!!! TWO AND A HALF HOURS!!! POOH!!! we will do it in less, he boasts confidently. ok, we agree. sure, we'll hike the less-than-two-hour-trail.

so we kiddies are aroused at 7:30 on friday morning to go hike. i didnt even shower. alas though, we peer outside, and lo, there are clouds that descendeth!!! so after speculating for about half an hour on wether it was going to rain or not, we decide, we shall eat brekkers, and then see how the weather fares. cool. then i got to shower...:)
well, we ate. royally. a really nice breakfast, including fried mushrooms and onions (which is REALLY REALLY nice...wow) and then dad decides rather than risk rain, we will go to a little country town and enjoy a day there. so gordon decides to clean himself up for that. and i even fixed my crazy hair.

so after gordons bath, and my hair fixing, dad decides, well, the weather isnt that bad!!! LETS HIKE!!! so we had to change back into our hiking gear, and kiss our good hair days, and clean bods good bye. this is the mountain we scaled. dont be fooled, it was a big deal.

we set off, all fire and enthusiasm, with yours truly taking pictures of many things. then it got steep and strenuous, so we stopped under a tree for about 15 minutes. there we sat, mopping our brows and drinking water. and, of course, bemoaning that the "easy trail" was not as easy as we had thought it might be. then we're off again. until we get to a stream. where we rest around for about 2o minutes at least. by this time, we're not even 1/4 of the way, and morgy is already proposing that she and mom stay at the stream, and meet the rest of us down at the house.

after our "brief" rest, we set off again, after dad who went on ahead of us. by now, the clouds have vanished, and the mid-summer african sun is baking down upon our heads, causing our upper lips and brows to sweat, just a tad.

we walk up the one side of the mountain, on a winding trail. by the time we get to the top, another rest is needed. for water, and for pictures. dad then announces "THE WORST IS OVER NOW!!! NO MORE UPHILL!!!" the view from where we were was stunning as well, calling for photographs to be snapped left and right. this is what the view was like:

so as soon as this rest is over, we climb over the fence, and lo and behold!!! are greeted with some more strenuous uphill. what fun!!! so up up up we go. not that far, you must understand, but our limbs were by now heavy and unwilling to go up any further. but after braving on, and much grumbling, we reached the top of the mountain. and there what did we do? why, we rested again!!! and we drank some water!!! morgy drank alot tho, so we chastised her for it. and she wasnt happy with our reprimanding of her. all this time we were waiting for dad, who unfortunately started feeling rather ill.

by now we were really done with uphill climbing, and were walking along the top of the mountain and the view really was something. but mom was walking with dad, who was ill. so the three miskin kiddies forged ahead. by the time we were significantly ahead of mom, she hollered what sounded like "dad... wait...find...shade... wait...us..." so we figured we should find some shade and sit around, wating for the parental authorities to come along. we waited for a little bit... then they caught up. so after they had some water and some rest, we set off again. but then we miskin kiddies, by now thoroughly sick of hiking, struck off on our own, following the little trail indicators. we decided to finish the hike within the hour. thus we had 1/2 an hour to finish it.

so off we went, all good intentions and shining hopes. they all vanished when we were confronted by, *gasp* some MORE uphill... this one pretty intense, because after all this hiking, our limbs were on strike. but so great was our desire to get done already, that we scaled the uphill in a record time of THREE MINUTES!!! (i checked on my watch) heartened by this new achievement, we were ready to get back within fifteen minutes. until we rounded a corner of the mountain peak, and saw the house way down there, shining like an oasis of hope that we would never reach, by the looks of things.

yet, we pressed on. now the hike became a downhill trek, which was quite dangerous at times, if one was not careful. slippery rocks and loose gravel and all that. so the whole way down we were all looking down at our feet, making sure that we would not fall. by now we were all sweaty and icky, tired, feeling mutinous, and longing for the sun to give it a rest already!!!

but, at long last we made it back to the house. and we vowed that we would first pour ourselves something to drink before we sat down, lest we be too tired to rise again. and so we did. we stumbled into the kitchen, and poured ourselves some coke!!! then we went and sat on the porch in a kind of exhausted stupor and sipped our coke. half an hour later mom and dad arrived back.

the rest of the afternoon was spent lying on our beds or sleeping, whichever we preferred.

my only regret from the hike? that we didnt take a south african flag to put up on the top of the mountain, so that people would know we had been there.

oh, how long did we take to do the two hour hike? well, with the miskins, two hours is unheard of.

it took us four hours.

talk of cheesy...

you want to hear of an irony? or of a cheesy thing... course you do.
the western influence is very very strong. its amazing. so now its the Christmas season. which in much of North America means snow and cold and stuff like that. so here we are in SA in BLAZING heat, since its mid-summer, and STILL they will haul out the santa suits... and some poor man has to prance around in a hot red suit, complete with fake white beard, in the heat and sun. along with this are the adverts all over the place... boasting "snow" and holly like its winter.
along with all this are the Christmas lights that some people put up... its actually really depressing. i havent sighted any fake snow yet, but if i do, dont worry, i shall tell you.
now to complete this set of... ironies or cheesy things, the radio...;)
every now and then they get festive and play a Christmas song or two... now there is a station called "Jackaranda... lifes greatest hits" (they play lots of lame songs...:D) and this station plays everywhere. so gordon, dad and morgy stop at a petrol (aka gas) station to fill up our car's tank. and what do they hear? what song is tickling their ears? none but our all time favourite "let is snow" yes yes, the weather outside is so hot its frightful, but i doubt anyone will find a fire burning in their fireplace very delightful right now... but what can i say? let it snow? if that doesnt strike your funny bone... i dont know...:D
or shall i say, we africans should give up on trying to have the "all american" Christmas complete with snow, and just make up our own cool traditions. that sounds great to me.

a small note

guess what? its hot here. very hot. so im just writing to say this:
I PITY YOU PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO DEAL WITH SNOW!!!
im no sucker for cold. so you have my deepest sympathy, all you who are living in the snow. or any cold weather.
and dont say im mad for not liking snow. im just african, and by now im far too used to relatively warm temperatures all year round. the winter isnt hot, but its warmer than in MI. its in my blood stream.
so until i think of some events worth blogging about, i hope this note of sympathy finds you all well, wearing your winter woolies, drinking your hot chocolate, sledding down union, skiing or snowboarding and making snow men. i hope at least one of you can do all of the following for me, since i wont be doing any of those this december...:)
ENJOY YOUR CHRISTMAS SEASON ALL MY READERS!!!