TRAVEL
Writer: Duane Stacey
Drakensberg
– the thrill of the space
S
pace. Great, big expanses
Creighton, a little dot on the Kwa-
of it, as far as the eye can
Zulu-Natal map, is one such mid-
I wander up and down the
see. I didn’t know how
dle-of-nowhere place, with plenty
platform, taking pictures of the
much my soul thirsted for it. But
of space. My journey begins here,
gleaming red carriages and
the southern Drakensberg and
on the sun-drenched platform of
the engine – GMAM no. 4707, or
surrounds will show you that, if you
a middle-of-nowhere train station,
‘Lindie’ as she is nicknamed by
allow it to, and so much more.
where an excited crowd has
her driver. Suddenly she belches
Space is a funny thing – swathes
as the day warms up.
gathered. Having been warned
a cloud of inky smoke, surging to
of land on which we might, in
that winter – and even spring – in
life. I clamber aboard and begin
modernity, make the mistake of
the high-lying parts of KwaZulu-
exploring the coaches – the
saying there is ‘nothing’. You know,
Natal where we’re headed, can
dining coach, with its carpeted
those places in the middle of
be worlds apart from the balmy,
floors and wooden beams across
‘nowhere’.
tropical temperatures of Durban,
the ceilings, and the lounge
With a population of just 899,
I’m wrapped up in all my layers,
coach, furnished with plush
according to the 2011 Census,
which are disappearing rapidly
armchairs and sofas upholstered
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Public Sector Manager • September 2019
