Durban to The Golden Gate National Park

Durban was hot and busy at 8.30am as we passed road works and accidents. We were driving inland to Howick for the first coffee stop of a long day – 398 kms from Umhlanga Rocks to The Golden Gate National Park.

Leaving Umhlanga Rocks early in the morning

The new bridge & interchange over the N2 at Umhlanga Rocks

Howick is named after Howick Hall, the home of Earl Grey, the British Colonial Secretary, whose tea blend we still enjoy today. We visited the Falls of the uMgeni River, carefully avoided the wonderful craft shops, and headed for a cup of tea – coffee stops in South Africa tended to be Five Roses Tea and something sweet!

The uMgeni River creating the Howick Falls

Howick craft shops

Yummy scones in Howick

Disgraceful waffles, syrup, & cream

Suitably fortified, we drove onwards, over Van Reenen’s Pass to Harrismith. The town was named after Sir Harry Smith, a British Governor of the Cape Colony, 1847-53.

The railway at Van Reenen's — The railway at Van Reenen’s

Harrismith Town Hall, sandstone & brick, 1907

The main door of the City Hall, Harrismith

The Deborah Retief Gardens, Harrismith

Harrismith shopping street

The town has a darker side from the years of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902. The Free State Boers moved through the town to Natal, and later the town was occupied by the British forces. It was a site of one of the many concentration camps for women and children authorised by Lord Kitchener.