On leaving Melmoth, Alison had charted a course to Dundee and then heading south to Durban. I had read about the battlefields of the Anglo Boer War last night and was attracted to Spioenkop which was located beyond Dundee and Ladysmith. I suggested that we went there instead of turning south at Dundee which was instantly accepted.

In Dundee, which is a nice laid out town, I found a Ned Bank to get cash for Diesel (always remember that petrol Kiosk do not accept credit cards) and after refueling and KFC, we continued to find our way to Spioenkop. It was the spot where the British suffered a heavy casualty during the Anglo Boer War in an attempt to prevent the capture of Ladysmith by the Boers. The Battle of Spioenkop took place on 23-24 January 1900.  Spioenkop was the highest point on the Boer line and allowed command of the road to Ladysmith and the British troops needed to take the position from the Boers.  At the end of it all the British losses were estimated to be 343 with 563 wounded and 187 taken prisoner. Besides the feeling of sadness for those who died and hardly remembered the spot offered a panoramic view of the surrounding area.

We left Spioenkop and now I was totally in the hands of Alison on where to go and she knew exactly where. It was no wonder that she readily accepted my suggestion not to head south. She directed me down R600 towards Champagne Castle, a world heritage site of Central Drakensberg and we saw the beauty of God’s creation. We ended in Inkosana Lodge and Trekking which had been operating for the last 22years. Unfortunately, no sooner had Alison finished cooking it started to drizzle but fortunately for us there was a kitchen area we could use for dining as well.

The lodge also had a nice seating area where everyone could socialize and we did just that for a while until the rain had totally stopped. It was then time to turn in and although I knew that it continued to rain in the night I was too tired to be bothered by it.