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Running Report 4
From the Five Star hotel in Mozambique to the Five Star hotel in Swaziland, to here, another Five Star hotel, but set in the Drakensberg Mountains, and the best of the bunch. We are at the Drakensburg Sun and this is set in breathtaking scenery. Remember the first time you rallied into the Dolomites? Distinctive, breathtaking, unforgettable. This is like that, but better. Its Colorado canyons but greener, set in lush rolling hills and craggy table-top mountains that make this region unlike anything you have rallied before. Everyone is agreed on one thing � the day to here was the best day�s rallying so far.
There was a lunch stop in the simple little caf� at Rorkes Drift, with time to wander around the chapel that was the old missionary, and the museum,, which was once the hospital. Here you can see the hole in the wall where the likes of Hook and other heroes crawled through in the hand to hand fighting in one of the most famous battles of the Boer War, when nearly 100 Welsh soldiers fought off 4,000 Zulus. Bits and pieces from the battlefield have been collected up, and a walk around this remote little knoll overlooked by the craggy hill where the Zulus looked down banging their shields made a rather special checkpoint for the rally.
There were two Medal Sections on long gravel mountain climbs. Medals were won by Roger and Gillian Goodwin who won the Vintageants Category in their Bentley, hard pressed by Xavier del Marmot and Catherine D�Andrimont in the Chevvy Cabrio, and the Classics section saw Paul Merryweather set best time but as he has already won a medal, the award went to second placed Martti and Pirkko Kiikka � both in Merc SLs.
Glorious sunshine, gravel roads, ending with overwhelmingly beautiful mountains of the Drakensberg with Rorkes Drift for good measure made this another great day.
It was no so great for the green Chevy Coupe of David and Sadie Williams, who clobbered a cow when cresting a climb. The cow didn�t come off too well from this confrontation, and the Chevvy was also limping badly into the hotel, after first-aid from The Banhams who had to fibreglass the radiator leaks and pull and wheel so that it was roughly pointing in the right direction. The crumpled wing doesn�t look too good� but still very Fangio.
A rest day by the pool soaking up the sun today, before we head off south to the Indian Ocean and a rather different hotel, little bungalow-lodges by the beach.
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