We had some heavy downpours in the Mother City on Wednesday. Since the Cape Peninsula falls squarely in a winter rainfall region, this sort of thing isn’t an outlandishly strange occurrence. Nevertheless, the good people at the TV station I was watching decided to show us footage of the River Club’s flooded parking area. Again. Exactly like last year. Why they think this is unusual enough for prime-time viewing is a bit beyond me. I mean, the RIVER Club is next to a RIVER, isn’t it? You know, the things with the water in them? If we were talking about the flooded parking area of something called (for example) The Desert Club, then I believe you might just have a story.
Okay, it may have been a bit of a bummer for the people whose radiators were topped up the hard way, but our intrepid reporters chose not to focus on this obvious human-interest aspect of the situation. Sadly, there were no interviews with tearful yuppies standing knee-deep in mud, bewailing the fate of their waterlogged leather upholstery. A really nice touch would have been a pair of idiots on jetskis in the background and maybe a short clip of James Bond making a speedy getaway in his amphibious Lotus Esprit.
Slow news day in Cape Town, obviously.
the other side of the mountain 
Obviously.
I really enjoyed reading the almost subtle humor in this piece 😉
Luv
Liddie
Making the best of my only shot
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However, if the following report is true, then the weather certainly was news!
Come on guys, no cell phone camera photos?
Well, did it or didn’t it snow in Cape Town?
August 18 2005 at 07:35AM
Did it snow in Cape Town’s city centre on Wednesday? Yes, say office workers. Unlikely, says the SA Weather Service.
As the city shivered in a biting north wind and driving rain, callers to a local radio station reported seeing snowflakes in the centre. One man said he had seen snow in Muizenberg.
Although an email photograph of snow on Table Mountain was circulating in the city on Wednesday, a staffer at the Table Mountain cableway said it was an image taken several years ago.
The staffer said the cableway did not have staff on top of the mountain, which was covered in heavy cloud, and it was not known whether it was snowing there.
South African Weather Service forecaster in Cape Town, Carlton Fillis, said the level at which moisture froze was 2 100 metres.
“Table Mountain is (about 1 086m) high and the possibility of snow there is remote – more so the possibility of snow in Muizenberg,” he said, adding that snow in the city centre would require a much lower temperature. -Sapa
This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Times on August 18, 2005
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LOL! I happened to drive past the River Club flooding last year and chortled to myself at the site of people rowing dinghys. (sp?) I mean, come ON people, it rains in Cape Town, you’re next to a river, GET REAL. Bad Bee to laff at other’s misfortune I know but do ya think it could be the proximity to Valkenberg mental hospital that makes them act this way? hehehe
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Since your world is so empty right now, tell me: what is Rooibos tea? I keep hearing about it and am finally curious.
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Yuppies were probably all safely tucked inside, waiting for choppers to taxi them to their homes. As you do.
Slow brains day in Paris.
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You’ll have to be more prepared next year, KN, and get your jetski out so u can personally see to it that the news piece is more interesting next time.
“Man in suit on jetski in floodwaters taken to Valkenberg“?
Someone else can tell bee about rooibos cos I can’t stand the stuff.
Loong friday in Dublin today. And rainy. And windy. And chilly. And its still summer.
Oh no, don’t get me started on the weather again..!
😉
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liddie: Thanks 🙂 I am nothing, if not almost subtle.
IITQ: I think the fellow in Muizenberg may have lost the aerial on his TV. Either that, or he’d been spending too much time indoors with an open tin of varnish. It has been pretty chilly here, but I seriously doubt that there was snow in the city centre. The only ‘snowflakes’ you’re likely to encounter here are those weird cocaine addicts who all appear to work for advertising companies.
Bee: I think it’s just the usual short-memory syndrome at work. It seems unlikely to me that Valkenberg would have much of an influence – the inmates may be insane, but they aren’t stupid.
andrea: Rooibos tea is not technically a tea, but a caffeine-free herbal infusion made from the leaves of a bush that is indigenous to the Western Cape. Locally, it is referred to simply as ‘Rooibos’. Sadly, it has no know hallucinogenic properties. It’s brewed like a tea and looks a bit like tea, although the drink is redder in colour. It has a strong aroma and subtle flavour, which is almost floral in character. Some people find it nauseating (e.g. Terri), but it is the drink of choice for many in this part of the world. Anyone have anything else to add? Did I miss anything out?
anne: As I mentioned above, it was cold, so it was a small chopper day in Cape Town, too.
terri: Frankly, I’d prefer the Lotus, but I think it got blown up in the movie, so that’s out.
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Hee. The Desert Club. You crack me up.
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Loved it. Thanks for the laugh. :o)
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Rooibos tea sounds like something I’ll have to try: maybe chilled and put in a water bottle for a run?
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Zube Girl: You watch. Some sharp-eyed idea thief is reading my blog this very minute and in a year or two a whole franchise chain of Desert Clubs will open.
christel: Excellent. My pleasure.
andrea: Sounds like plan. Let us hope that you don’t fall into the category that hates the stuff.
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