26 Armd Eng Sqdn Complete Drakensburg Exercise
July 2009, Northern Drakensberg area, South Africa

Lt. Jane Thorley of 26 Armoured Engineer Squadron recently led her troop on Exercise Diamond Dragon. The exercise was a tough trekking expedition from Sentinel Peak to Cathedral Peak in the Northern Drakensberg area of South Africa.

After two days of acclimatisation, they moved from base camp at the Mahai campsite, and spent seven nights camping in the Drakensberg bush. They camped at Thukela Falls, the fourth highest waterfall in the world. They walked across the front of a cliff face known as the Amphitheatre (widely regarded as one of the most impressive cliff faces on earth), and The Sengali ridge.

The troop were fortunate to have good conditions on most days, with nothing more than a stiff breeze and a single snow shower.