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Earth
and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountains and
the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us
more than we can ever learn from books. John Lubbock (1834-1913) Over
the weekend of 14th June, 20 girls from Brescia House High
School based in Bryanston, Johannesburg, accompanied by three
of their teachers visited Sandstone Estates. A lot of
preparatory work had been carried out by one of the Geography
teachers, Heather Auchterlonie, to prepare them for a
visit to an area which is globally renowned for its ancient
rock formations and attractive topographical features. Friday,
13th June The
group arrived midday on Friday, 13th. After a short break
from the four hour car journey they were taken on a walking tour
of all the facilities at Sandstone Estates. This included
modern farming facilities, silos, workshops, and then a tour of
the heritage department including Military vehicles, 2-ft
Narrow Gauge, tractors, vehicles, ox wagons and horse drawn
vehicles.
Walking
tour... in the combine shed At
16h00 Sandstone's 1895 Lawley, No. NG97, which had only emerged
within the last two weeks from our Bloemfontein Locomotive
Refurbishment works, arrived at the station with an open
carriage and our 2-ft Narrow Gauge dining car. Being
cognisant of weather conditions it originally specified a 1901
closed carriage from the Port Elizabeth Narrow Gauge which had
originally done service on the Port Elizabeth-Avontuur Line, but
the girls asked for the more communal open carriage and they
enjoyed a ride to Grootdraai where a group photograph was
taken. From there we proceeded to Mooihoek where they saw
how the engine used the passing loop to take the leading
position to return. However, on the way, the train stopped
next to one of the numerous dams along the line so a
discussion could be held regarding wetlands and how the railway
line had contributed to the ecology of the area.
Views
from the train
Group
photo at Grootdraai For supper Hester Papenfus and her Mum produced their world renowned Eastern Free State bean soup, followed by chicken pie, in front of a big log fire in the Waenhuis. Saturday
morning was an early start. The girls had to be ready to
depart at 05h00 and we arrived at the Fouriesburg Country Inn at
06h00 to meet Michael, who was to our tour guide to Lesotho for
the day. After coffee and rusks we proceeded to the
Caledonspoort border post which we traversed without
interruption. We then had a 200-kms drive ahead of us to
take us up to Katse Dam in the Lesotho Highlands. Our trip
was broken by a visit on the top of the Maluti's at the well
appointed vantage point which gives one an opportunity to look
down upon the Katse Dam in the distance. We were taken by
how neat things were in Lesotho and of the quality of this
magnificent road that was built in order to allow the
construction of the mighty Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a
joint venture between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho.
On
the way to Katse Dam, Lesotho
The
Dam itself... an engineering marvel
We
arrived late morning and Michael suggested an early lunch at
the Katse Lodge before proceeding to the Lesotho Highlands
Water visitors centre where a very competent and qualified
guide provided the briefing on the entire project. We
then proceeded to the dam wall and toured the amazing tunnels
and caverns that contain the instruments, control room, and
sluice gates that are used to manage the water supply which
flows either through or over this mighty dam wall. The
wall is in fact the highest in Africa at 185 metres and is a
masterpiece of Civil Engineering ingenuity.
A
feature of both the trip up and the trip down was the
amount of snow, icicles and other frosty souvenirs of some heavy
snowfalls that the mountains had been blanketed with a few weeks
before. Many of the girls had never seen snow and
really enjoyed the experience.
On
both the up and down legs of the journey the girls insisted on
taking a break and running around the snow and pelting each
other with snow balls. On the way down however we had to
keep this fairly short because we needed to be off the
mountain before the temperature dropped below zero, which
would have made road conditions hazardous.
Back
in South Africa in Fouriesburg we said goodbye to Michael who
did an outstanding job hosting us for the day and returned to
Sandstone for another excellent supper supplied by Hester and
her team. Sunday,
15th June Sunday
morning was the day to explore. The start was more
leisurely. Breakfast was at 08h00 and by 08h30 we were
on our way up to Kommandoberg Mountain. Our transport
for the day was our Mk IV Sherman Tank, our Casspir, and
our Samil 50 personnel carrier. Military vehicles were
chosen in order to provide us with the off road capability
that we needed for the day. However, the Sherman was
something of an overkill but it needed its weekly run in order
to keep it in good operating condition and this seemed a very
useful opportunity for us to give it some exercise.
We
assembled at the base of the Kommandoberg Mountain at the
farmhouse and the girls tackled the climb to the top with
gusto. This is a 40-minute climb to the summit.
From there one is able to experience breathtaking views of the
Sandstone panorama and many interesting features were pointed
out. The teachers, Heather Auchterlonie and Liz Norman,
were able to discuss the various rock formations in great
detail. Throughout the weekend the girls were taking notes
and arming themselves with facts for the completion of a project
to follow.
The
farm through Telephoto
The
rugged eastern Free State lies below
After
climbing down the mountain we reboarded the military vehicles
and proceeded to our neighbouring farm, Boschfontein, the home
of Charles & Annette Barrett. Charles Barrett has
put together one of the most comprehensive and beautifully
presented military small arms museums anywhere in the world.
His collection is focussed on guns used in the many skirmishes
and Lesotho wars. Of course of prominence was the
Anglo-Boer War and the First and Second World Wars. The
programme at Charles Barrett's home included a tour of the
magnificent old farmhouse that has been occupied by the Barrett
family since the mid 1800's, a tour of the firearms collection,
followed by lunch. After lunch the group walked a short
distance to the Caledon River were the significance of this
river from an environmental and geographic standpoint was
explained in detail.
Once
again the military vehicles were boarded and we proceeded to
Diepkloof on Sandstone Estates for the other end of the
environmental experience. We had been to the top of the
highest mountain and we were now going to inspect the bottom
of the deepest kloof. Visiting Diepkloof is always a
surprise for visitors because it has a unique micro climate
and apart from being a haven for wildlife is fascinating due
to the way in which erosion over very long periods of time has
clearly defined the soil formations which exist below ground
level on the farm. Fortunately
the erosion has been arrested and green grass and crystal
clear water is in abundance in the bottom of this impressive
geographical feature. On
the way back we stopped at a natural spring and wetland so the
girls could gather facts for their project.
Our
final adventure.. A visit to Diepkloof..a hidden world Dinner
was a traditional South African potjie cooked by the Sandstone
Estates staff and then it was off to bed. Monday,
16th June Monday
morning saw the girls revisit the vlei near the main complex
for a final briefing and then they boarded the bus for
their return to Johannesburg. We
believe that the girls learnt a tremendous amount in a short
time and were exposed to a suitable combination of travel,
environmental experiences, with a satisfying cross section of
heritage experiences thrown in, this being principally the
chance to ride on the Narrow Gauge railway and to travel in
vehicles from the Sandstone Heritage Trust / School of Armour
Military vehicle collection. Our thanks go to Brescia House High School and our compliments go to the teachers who were so diligent in the way in which they organised and supervised the trip, and to the girls who were attentive and immaculately behaved throughout. We also extend our special thanks to Dave and Caron Rossiter of Geomechanics, and also Barazone Dhlamini.
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Sandstone Estates, Eastern Free State, South Africa |