August
15th August A Snow Travel Warning
Well, I've learnt a lesson. For weeks I have put off buying snow chains because we have only been traveling on major highways. Because of the continuous, scraping and grit laying that happens on these highways I didn't realise that I could get stuck.
How wrong I was. After a day of traveling and tobogganing we tried to return home only to find the road through Porter's Pass (highway 72) was icy and too slippery without chains. I was actually lucky to realise this while driving to the top. Things could have been very serious if I had attempted to drive down the other side.
My car basically slid to a standstill . With some help I got the car to the side of the road where continuous snowfall turned it into an igloo. We were not alone, a number of cars without chains were stopped. With the car stopped the temperature inside the car dropped rapidly. I started the car and ran the heater every 30 minutes until the interior was warm. I always make sure I have plenty of fuel so this wasn't a problem.
We had a well packed survival pack. It contains chocolate, butterscotch, biltong, emergency foil blankets, matches and a first aid kit. We also had several bottles of water. We could have spent at least 24 hours if we needed to.
Thankfully the Canterbury road clearing crews made that unnecessary. We got on our way again about 5 hours later with some help, a freshly scraped road and a lot of fresh grit. We followed the grit truck down the scary side of Porter's Pass without incident. We stayed in low gear all the way so it took a long time to get to the bottom.
I've learned my lesson. A little bit of snow can turn a charming drive with spectacular views into a nightmare drive with deadly views. I'm off to get chains and I won't be going anywhere without them again. The weather can change quickly here and you need to be prepared for these eventualities.
I strongly suggest you carry chains, a survival kit, water and plenty of fuel at all times while traveling here. Trust me, its much better to learn this lesson from me rather than spending 5 hours in a freezing car or getting into a bad skid on a mountain road.
--Brook
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