The next step
Well, we were sitting at a local rugby club when the subject of our next trip came up, we had done some seriously long trips ( over 5000 km ) which took a toll on one from a driving perspective as time was not on your side and they did not always provide the opportunity to fully explore the area and take in what it had to offer.
So our next trip had to be interesting and closer to home ( sort of around 400 km ) and we would apply this rule to future trips unless something awesome called for more.
With the next trip planned Ian collected me at 0600 on a recent Friday morning and we headed towards Dundee where we were to meet Don who would be our tour guide on the Saturday.Having been inside the Talana Museum on numerous occasions we concentrated on the mining exhibits around the grounds which bore testimony to the fact that that the area had borne considerable coal deposits in days gone by.And still did.
Much of the machinery on display had been donated to the museum and made for interesting external displays.
The adjacent hill was the site of the battle fought in the Anglo/Boer War but we did not do the climb and rather stopped at the original skirmish line.The hill was steep and I often wondered how the heights were scaled when one considers sites such as “ Majuba” Spionkop” as well as “Talana,”many other battles were fought on flat ground. And they were still interesting with a good guide. The climbs were amazing and let us see the scenario as it took place which covered the terrain and the movement of the troops from both sides.Initially the British made many tactical errors which cost them dearly and resulted in the defeat at Isandlwana .The stone cairns that dot the landscape give testimony to the battle that the British lost.
A battle that is still spoken about today and is still visited by numerous overseas visitors today,
Fast forward and we see a handful of survivors making their way towards the Buffalo River and the Rorkes Drift stronghold many of whom would never make it.That evening the very small garrison of around 100 men prepared for the battle that was yet to come ! And it was an amazing defence against fieresome odds .
