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Day 3: Tuesday 16th July - Battlefield Tour |
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The sun shone for us today - must have known
we needed good weather! Granny Mouse
had prepared a picnic lunch for us and
loaned us some portable chairs & table. |
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Our first stop was at the site of
Churchill's armored
train disaster. Here
Nicki sets the scene with her map. |
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You can notice our vehicle was parked at the
railway line and we had to wait for 2 goods
trains to pass before it was safe for us to
trundle across to the memorial site and
graves. |
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Nicki's interpretation of the armored train
disaster made history come alive for us |
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From the top of
Spioenkop
- what an awesome view.
Natal is surely a very beautiful place! |
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Our picnic provided by Granny mouse
was a banquet and it took us at least an hour to
enjoy our feast!
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What a fitting place to all sit and
hear the stories of the heroes depicted in the wall
behind us. |
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Nicki relating the final days on the
top of Spionkop.
The British suffered 243 fatalities during the
battle, many were buried in the trenches where they
fell. Approximately 1,250 British were either
wounded or captured.
The Boers suffered 335 casualties of which 68 were
dead. Commandant Prinsloo's Commando lost 55 killed
and wounded out of 88 men. |
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The monument to
the fallen soldiers and the the trenches
which were used as mass graves. |
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Dinner tonight
was at Woodridge Country Hotel & Spa.
After a very full day and a good meal most
were more than ready to travel the 12kms
back to Granny Mouse and the coach was
extremely quiet on the way 'home'! |
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Day 4: Wednesday 17th July: Drakensberg Boys
Choir School |
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Drakensberg Boys Choir School is
a school near the small town of Winterton,
in the heart of the Drakensberg mountain
range inKwaZulu-Natal, |
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Our departure time from Granny Mouse was set
for 11am, so this made the shoppers happy.
The performance started at 15h30, so we
planned a lunch stop at
Drakensberg Sun
Resort. The Choir school was 15 minutes from
here. |
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A misty day in the mountains meant we were
unable to see the beautiful Drakensberg
range in front of the school. One of
the teachers took us on a short walk-about
and told us interesting snippets about the
school and its pupils! |
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Good vibes amongst us all in anticipation of
the afternoon performance. What a
treat and it seemed even better for those of
us who had listened to them in 2010. |
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During the interval the boys did a short
busker performance. After the show we
called one of the senior boys across to have
his photo taken with our group.
Interestingly he was from Bellville and what
a charming young man he was. The performance
lasted 2 hours and we left the school at
5.30pm, with dusk setting in. |
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Fordoun Hotel &Spa
was our next stop tonight after our long
hour and a half trip on a very busy
motorway. "Where do all these large
trucks come from and where are they going
to?" |
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On
arrival we were shown to a private
lounge with a large fire where our
group could relax - what a
treat and very soon everyone had
forgotten that they were tired. |
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The
table was all
decked for the Traveltime group.
David ordered a thai chicken dish
and even though we all had more than
sufficient - he passed his little
potjie around - "Just taste the
flavours" he said. |
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Some of the group outside Fordoun, ready at
10h30 to go back to Granny Mouse!
(long day out). |
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