The sun doesn’t always shine

Perhaps the weather will be better tomorrow…..I’m bored….what can we do, the pitiful cry from your children whom you’ve taken on holiday. The whole family looking forward to a well deserved and excitingly anticipated break, the weather however doesn’t always play the part.

The family has packed the bags and made off to a wonderful holiday destination…fun in the sun…the brochure said.

Speaking on brochures, isn’t the internet just absolutely fantastic, hasn’t it just changed our lives so much with regard to travel arrangements. Whether you are arranging flights or simply booking a Bed and Breakfast as a stop over along the way, the internet has made this process not only quicker and easier but also more efficient by enabling you to view far more information than any brochure could. Just a few years ago, one had to rely on word of mouth from a friend, perhaps contact a travel agent, make enumerable and costly phone calls asking all kinds of questions and asking for a brochure to be posted. Modern day holiday planning is far simpler. Type in a few keywords into Google, Ananzi or any of the wonderful search engines available and you will be able to browse through more options than you can handle. Even if you don’t have immediate access to a computer, a quick and inexpensive visit to one of many internet café’s will do just fine.

Whatever system you might have used to select a destination or resort, you finally find one accommodating all your needs and off you go. The lodging really looked lovely, if you used the internet, the web site probably included many photos and plenty of information. Your family would be comfortably accommodated with a little extra space if the grand parents popped in for a visit. Photos on the web site showed excellent Braai facilities and the resort boasted a tennis court. Open air chess; a mini-golf course and a stunning swimming pool surrounded by sun loungers were all features that appealed to you. Fun for the whole family seemed the obvious result of all your effective planning; a de-stressing opportunity for everyone was clearly on the cards.

One sometimes forgets that most of our coastal areas, certainly as regards the Eastern and South Eastern holiday destinations along the South African coast, are summer rainfall areas. Put simply, that’s what the weather statistics show. Whilst not always exactly accurate, this is a good general indication that at some point during your holiday it will rain. If you are fortunate it will be occasional, a little unlucky and you will not see the sun at all! In addition to these odds being against us toward the Eastern shores of our beautiful country, the Western Cape, Garden Route and all weather patterns in general seem to be a little topsy-turvy. Aside from a high probability of rain, the summer winds will also at times be so strong that a walk on the beach, never mind a day in the sun, can be really awful.

Without even pretending to be an expert on the change in weather patterns, one only has to look at the storms last two years along the Garden Route, the devastation of some beaches along the Eastern Cape and Natal coast. Golfers, fishermen, hikers, boating enthusiasts, in fact anyone participating in outdoor activities faces the same risk, the risk that your well deserved and excitedly anticipated holiday becomes an expensive bore.

Holidays are expensive and getting more so by the day, how does one avoid a disaster or similarly what can one do to ensure the holiday is not a total waste of money and effort. Without including the obvious such as taking in a movie, stage show or the local aquarium, one can actually make the most out of a grim situation with a little planning.

Having recently spent a lovely holiday on a farm with some friends a little more experienced in farm life, we were amazed by what a little planning can do to ensure every ones needs and every weather condition is considered. Taking a hike in a light rain is actually quite different and a lot of fun if you are equipped with a rain poncho and some gum-boots. A pootjie (or a curry or stew), even if cooked on a gas stove on an outside covered patio can be a lot of fun when the open fire isn’t really an option.

Use the opportunity to do different things with the children that you wouldn’t otherwise do, depending on their ages of course, let them make some jelly; cook a desert on their own or with a little guidance, during our farm stay our children, who I might add are not normally chore volunteers, made home made kebabs, fruit salad and other simple fare quite enthusiastically. These can be quite fun family experiences.

The last but perhaps not the least of our suggestions is all about bringing along the right holiday goodies. Electronic toys aside, the good old fashioned games, perhaps a pack of cards; board games and even a model or two to build can be a good experience and fun for the whole family. There are more and more educational toys available for the younger children, from growing odd looking fish to actual scientific experiments in kit form. One of our friends recently purchased an “archaeological kit” where a child gets a block of what appears to be stone and slowly but surely digs up a dinosaur.

Holidays are all about planning, take a little time on your planning and preparation and you will be one up on El Niño and the weather man. Most of us only get the opportunity to holiday with our families occasionally; trying to make the most of these special opportunities can be very rewarding.