Overwhelmed by the moral decadence you see in others? Perhaps in
yourself? Then you’re going to need more from a holiday than
just a break: you don’t want escape, you want redemption.
Well don’t feel too badly about it. A couple of hundred years
ago some rather talented people felt pretty much the same way.
Like Rousseau. Byron. Wordsworth. Turner. And a whole raft of
others. Exhausted by the squalor and brutality of a rapidly
industrialising Europe, they found their redemption in the Alps.
This was a new one. For 2000 years mountains had been considered
nothing more than a nuisance. Unproductive, obstacles to
communication and the refuge of bandits and heretics.
Not any more. “Not a precipice, not a torrent, not a cliff, but
is pregnant with religion and poetry”, says Thomas Gray.
Well two hundred years down the track, that seems a bit
excessive. But even those of us with no religion like to claim
that we are spiritual, at least. And from time-to-time, one
needs to remind oneself that one is part of a greater whole.
So if it’s redemption you’re after, head for the mountains.
Mountains are good for that.
Take the Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. It’s an
ancient place, with ancient resonances. The ancestral home of
the Bushman hunter-gatherers. One of those peaceful and
harmonious societies that Rousseau et al would have said proved
their belief in the divinity of nature and the superiority of
natural man.
Peaceful and harmonious, certainly. But fragile too. “No more
do we Bushmen hunt in these hills. The fire is cold. Our songs
are quiet. But listen carefully. You will hear us in the water.
Look carefully, you will see us in the rock”.
Are you listening, carefully? Are you looking, carefully?
A starting point? The Royal Natal National Park in the north.
With its Amphitheatre - a work of art nature has been patiently
honing for millions of years. To the south, you’ll find nature
reserves, rivers and lakes. With these, to continue the artistic
reference, we have the composition.
To animate it, we need colour and movement. Here are the broad
brushstrokes: lush valleys, flushed dawn mists, implacable
rugged peaks in dynamic harmony. Volatile afternoon skies. Tall
biscuit-coloured grass glowing orange in the fading light. You
may cross paths with an oribi, or an eland on a hiking trail.
Feed the soul.
But hey, you can’t plumb the depths on an empty stomach. More
brushstrokes: freshly caught subtly flavoured fish, farm stalls
with homemade fruit tarts and pickles, jam, unique cheeses and
organic vegetables, garden herbs. Cosy fireside pubs, delightful
out of the way gourmet restaurants. Feed the body.
Even the retail therapy has a spiritual edge to it. For a
shopping mall with a difference there’s an art and craft trail
called the Midlands Meander. Wonderful crisp fragrant linen,
rainbow beadwork, stylish ethnic basketry, tooled leather,
woodcarvings. Hand-tuned wind chimes to harmonise your soul. No
bling, I regret. Not.
Can’t you hear it calling you? Even the names, Mont-Aux Sources,
Cathedral Peak, Giant’s Castle, Champagne Valley, are evocative.
Think the Holy Grail of getaway destinations. Where astonishing
natural beauty seems to be able to just blot out your sins.
Need redemption? Drakensberg, Drakensberg
A slip jig set of Silver Slipper/Dusty Miller/Snowy Path being played by áthas on the Castle Garden Stage of Irishfest in Milwaukee with Kari Barton and craicFiddler dancing.
Rochester castle views, River Medway,High St.Webcam,French Hospital, Poor Travellers Hostel,Internet Cafe,Museum,and finally the garden of Ye Arrow hostelry.Filmed on a windy July morning after an early start!(3.00am)