Climb Gently
Distance: 93 kilometres
From: Rorke's Drift Lodge
To: Elandslaagte
Grade: Distance long, riding strenuous
Overnight: Mawelawela B&B Retrace the 5 kilometres back to Rorke's Drift battle site, then swing a left, North West to ride more or less parallel to and above the famous river for about 7 kilometres till the main course of the Buffalo/Nyathi River veers to North East and you continue northwest following the Gwamana tributary for another 7 kilometres. You've been going upstream since Rorke's Drift, so climb gently.
Now, where the route swings West, the incline steepens and you top out at around 1400 metres, before swinging North West again, attempts to find an alternate route over the hills are blocked by private farms and no visible way through. For a while pastoral Zululand gives way to formal Natal-type farms where, at 21 kilometres from Rorke's Drift, the route turns sharp left, South West.
Best Part of the Day’s Ride
After some kilometers of roller-coaster riding, you once again climb slowly for about 10 kilometres where you reach the tarred R33, and here do a sharp right for 2 kilometres towards Dundee.
Where you turn off the tar to the left begins the best part of the day's ride, a 13 kilometres sweeping, swooping, turning and tumbling ride down Van Tonders Pass, dropping 350 metres down the Dlomodlomo River gorge.
There you hit the kind-of tarred P192 and head right, West, on a roll on the tarred road for 34 km to the sad settlement of Wasbank. It was here the Voortrekkers stopped to wash before taking up position for the impending battle of Blood River.
Sharp Gravel
We'd be lying to you if we said there were any redeeming things about the 20 kilometres ride along the train line from Wasbank to Elandslaagte stations, passing several ruins of stations that used to be places when steam trains ran this way. The service road is a bed of sharp gravel that makes riding rather unpleasant. It's also overgrown in places and in summer becomes a gauntlet run of slapping buffalo grass and thorn branches.
There just doesn't seem to be a decent alternative. If there is, it lies within the Nambiti private game reserve that seems to occupy a vast tract of virgin veld in these parts. The Elandslaagte battle site lies on the reserve, about 3 kilometres from the station, on the hillside to the South East. To reach Mawelawela you need to ride about 5 kilometres up, North, the N11 towards Newcastle.