We waited in anticipation for Heritage Week-end as our Cape Town kids were coming to stay. Our daughter Laurie and our grandson Josh arrived on the Wednesday before. Lollz is able to work online and Josh is doing his degree through UNISA which is why they could come earlier. Lisa (mother of Josh) and her two friends Dominica and Mulu arrived on Saturday and they all planned to leave on Monday. We accommodated the girls in the two spare bedrooms and Josh slept in the caravan.

But then all hell broke loose and the Western Cape was hit by an enormous storm! It poured all Saturday night and the whole day Sunday.

We were cozy in our home and only became aware of the chaos caused by the deluge of rain when we started getting messages from friends to see if we were okay. The road between Struisbaai and Bredasdorp was flooded and no vehicles could pass through. So there was no way out of our little town but also other major roadways were closed due to the roads being washed away. Thus thousands of weekenders were stranded at their holiday destinations! For our kids, the situation was not too serious as they could work online but Dominica really had to get back to her post. You can just imagine the phone calls that were going back and forth as to what to do. Well, the answer was – stay put until the situation improves. On Monday the weather cleared up but the roads were still impassable so we held our guests prisoners for another two days. The Earl went into survival mode and dashed to the supermarket to stock up on supplies – “There’ll be no deliveries for who knows how long,” he reasoned. I gave him a list but he returned with three times as much as he should have.

We, of course, were delighted to have the kids for those extra days. The weather was lovely and they simply made the most of it.

On Wednesday, the road was open to four-by-fours but not smaller cars. Lisa, Dominica, and Mulu were able to leave as a flatbed truck was taking small cars across the section of the Bredasdorp road that was flooded. It cost them R300 but it was worth it! From there they worked out a safe route and made it home in just over three hours. Laurie and Josh left on Thursday and although the puddle was still quite deep small cars were able to get through.

The surrounding farmlands have become a wetland and many farmers have lost sheep to the floods. Many people donned wet suits and took fishing boats to help rescue the drowning animals. Hats off to those who went to help.

We had planned to visit our Plettenberg Bay kids the week following the Heritage weekend. A visit to a relative in George and a weekend in Addo Elephant Park was also on the itinerary. We were due to leave on Thursday but because of the flooding changed plans to go to Plett first and Addo and George after. Addo had also been affected by the flood and the hostess of our B&B said her rooms were flooded too, so she was delighted that we changed the booking.

So we have just left Plettenberg Bay after five lovely days. I did not take many photos but here are a few.

Watch this space for news of our Addo Adventure.