The Hills are Alive...............!

The hills were alive with a lot more than the sound of music during our days at Dragon Peaks!

 We arrived there on Tuesday 10th after our enjoyable few days at Scottborough.  The scenery around Dragon Peaks is spectacular, especially at this time of year with the trees all in full autumn regalia, and colourful carpets of fallen leaves everywhere.

On Wednesday afternoon we attended a performance of the world famous Drakensberg Boys Choir at the neighbouring Choir School.  This was an absolute standout and will live in all our memories for a long time to come.  The boys give an immaculately rehearsed and polished performance, but in spite of how well-drilled they are, their individual personalities shine through and add a very special dimension to a truly wonderful experience.

That evening we had dinner in the resort retaurant.  There is always a 'gala' dinner arranged to coincide with the concert dates, and it rounded off a wonderful day.

 Off for a stroll on Thursday, Margaret was so overcome with the beauty of our surroundings that she just HAD to hug this very tall tree!

The mountain scenery was so beautiful that whichever way one looked there was yet another photo op waiting to be snapped.  Seen in the background of the pic on the left is Dragon's Back (if I understood the sketch map correctly!)

A stream runs throught the resort and has been dammed in several places; I was lucky enough to spot one of the resort horses posing next to this one. 

 The major peak overlooking Dragon Peaks is Cathkin Peak, seen below left with storm clouds gathering behind it.  On Thursday night there was a thunderstorm of Wagnerian dimensions, which kept us awake for most of the night as the thunder reverberated round the mountains. 

So it was a fairly tired group which set off for Badplaas at 7 on the morning of Friday 13th.   We did enjoy the sight of a dusting of snow on the mountains as we drove towards Winterton. The date should have warned us, as even before we were out of the gate, the computer of our car insisted that our difflock was on.  Well it wasn't, but by the time we had phoned the helpline, set up a VW dealer in Ladysmith, the fault light went off again.  So nerves frazzled for nothing!

Next excitement was the Lahana's caravan blew a tire.  It had to be changed at the roadside, with Margaret waving the red triangle and a pair of red swimming trunks, and Cathy a dishcloth, so that Mike and Bruce wouldn't get run over by passing traffic as they battled with the wheel.  There were a lot of stop/go sections due to roadworks so all in all it was a long day.  Some of us revived with a dip in the hot pools. (see left!)   Badplaas is an amazing  with every facility imaginable and is very well maintained and modern. 
Just one quick statistic, the trip from the Drakensberg to Badplaas saw us reach the highest altitude so far this trip and that was 1843m above sea level between Volksrust and Amersfoort.