Journal Comments - Over the hills and far away - CycleBlaze

Journal Comments

From Over the hills and far away by John Saxby

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John Saxby replied to a comment by Mike Ayling on a photo in Through the Benchlands to Waterton Lakes and into the mountains once more

Thanks, Mike, and happy new year to you and Mary. Strange, these connections you find, eh? I had known about Isandlwana & Rorke's Drift long before I visited those places. In 2003-06, Marcia and I lived in South Africa, and in 2004, we visited some of the battlefields in Natal -- those two spots, as well as Spion Kop. The week before that visit, we had spent a morning in the Apartheid Museum in Jo'burg. After all that, I was quite overwhelmed, feeling that the country's history was soaked in blood. Still, its people have managed to produce some extraordinary art and music.

I have a little booklet that you might find interesting: It's called "What Really Happened at Rorke's Drift?", by a fellow named Pat Rundgren, who conducts battlefield tours & does re-enactments. With good use of contemporary references, it debunks the myth of Rorke's Drift quite convincingly, and with wry humour too. If you're interested, send an email with your postal addr to me on jsaxbyatbelldotnet, and I'll mail it to you. You could then send it back to me at our son's addr in Gold Coast.

Cheers, John

5 years ago
Mike Ayling commented on a photo in Through the Benchlands to Waterton Lakes and into the mountains once more

But Chief Mountain, alone, looks like Isandlwana to me, admittedly without the latter's sobering history:

G'day John,
My very first tour mentioned in my profile took in Isandlwana and Rorkes Drift. The Zulus used the classic pre dawn military strike and killed almost the entire Brit force.
Mary found this on the net this morning:
Zulu artefacts including shields and weapons used at Rorke's Drift where British garrison fought 4,000 marauding Zulu warriors are to go under the hammer for £50,000

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6545115/Zulu-artefacts-hammer-50-000.html

Have a great year!

Mike

5 years ago