Agree...sound is another thing on SA Steam...nice compared to European engines in general!
My last trip was 1984, but there was plenty to do for a month trip. We tended to work each area pretty thoroughly which I finally learned to do after my first overseas trip in 1972 where we went helter-skelter covering a lot of ground, but photographing very little action. That was the trip we learned about Thornhills "World Steam" the best rag ever on real steam workings at the time. Glad you enjoyed the SA trips. With the variety of steam they still have I can imagine it will be a good trip, although they are concentrating on only about 3 main areas. I suspect we can write-off SA in the near future unless another David Rogers type organizes something decent.
Greg