Thursday, May 20, 2010

Day 9-10

Day 9 Badplaas to Amsterdam
111km
From Badplaas the terrain flattens out and the route takes me past Chrissiesmeer, through Lothair and into Amsterdam.

Chrissiesmeer (Lake Chrissie) is a small town situated in a wetland area of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. The San inhabited this area along with the Tlou-tle people who lived on rafts in the larger lakes. The Voortrekkers established a town here in the 1860s and named it after Andries Pretorius's daughter Christina. In the 1880s the town became an important stopover for wagons travelling to the gold mining town of Barberton. Crissiesmeer is one of the best kept secrets in the Mpumalanga Province, in total there are more than 270 lakes in the immediate area (located not far from Carolina). Every year nearly 20.000 flamingo come into the area to breed.


http://www.chrissiesmeer.co.za/

Lothair I or Lothar I (GermanLotharFrenchLothaireItalianLotario) (795 – 29 September 855) was the Emperor of the Romans (817–55), co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria (815–17), Italy (818–55) and Middle Francia (840–55).


But this Lothair that I am riding through looks like a big railway station and a loading zone for wood harvested in the plantations around this area. Anybody know more?


Amsterdam is a small sheep farming town in MpumalangaSouth Africa. Other than large sheep farms, there are large plantations of gumpine and wattle trees in the area. The town also lies close to the border with Swaziland. Established in 1866 , this small town was known as Roburnia (after Robert Burns the Scottish poet). President Paul Kruger ordered that the name be changed to Amsterdam in 1882.


Day 10 Amsterdam to Lunaburg
109km


From Amsterdam tho route takes me South and riding through Iswepe you get a feeling of deja vou. It is pretty much the same situation as Lothair. You then ride past the Heyshope Dam and then up a mountain that looks like a crater. On top of this mountain is a wetland and this is where the Ntombi river originates.



Ntombi drift - Anglo Zulu War of 1879 KwaZulu Natal South Africa

Ntombi drift (12 march 1879) is the site where the Swazi renegade chief Mbilini ambushed a supply column, under command of Capt. Moriarty, that was heading for Khambula to replenish Col Sir Evelyn Woods No 4 of left Flank Column. With half the wagons over the Ntombi River, if flooded forcing the British to spend several days waiting for the waters to recede. The British laager was poorly fortified and was ambushed by the Zulus at dawn. The British lost 73 officers and other ranks while the Zulu casualties were negligible.

What else is in Luneburg
Filter Larsen Monument
Lüneburg Pirmary School, oldest German school in Northern Natal which has a small museum which can be viewed by arrangement
Lüneburg Cash store - a unique general dealer where close to anything can be bought
Lüneburg Church
Monument at Lüneburg Cemetry for orignal missionary settlers
Braunschweig Church

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