Author: fitravel

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Celebrating Heritage Day at Van Stadens

Today is Heritage Day in South Africa and all South Africans celebrate the day differently.  Some like to dress up in their traditional clothing while others come together for a braai.  Political parties have gatherings, clubs use the day to organise events and some people just stay home and do a few chores or watch tv all day long.  I celebrated Heritage Day with my fellow Geocachers at the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve taking part in the second annual Geocaching…

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24/09/2015
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A very unusual beach

Can you guess where this beach is?.........Technically it's not a beach.  Not a coastal one anyway.  It is the sandveld on the banks of the Bloemhof Dam on the border between the North West Province and the Free State.Bloemhof Dam was built in the late 1960's and is located at the confluence of the Vaal River and the Vet River.  At 25 000 hectares the dam with it's 4 270 m long dam wall is one of the largest in South Africa.  The dam…

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23/09/2015
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Flashback to the Apple Express

I received this breathtaking picture of the Apple Express crossing over the Van Stadens Railway Bridge, the highest narrow gauge railway bridge in the world, from fellow Geocacher Graham Chrich yesterday.  Graham was in the Van Stadens area for the Rhino Run last weekend and decided to do a couple of Geocaches located in the area.  Looking for info on the gorge he came across a post of mine about the railway bridge and it reminded him of a trip…

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23/09/2015
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Beer bread from Dockside Brewery

Dockside Brewery in the Baakens Valley doesn't just brew craft beer for the drinking market.  They also brew a craft beer specially to bake beer bread with.  Their very first beer wasn't the best drinking beer but they quickly found out that it was perfect for baking beer bread so they continued making it.  As they put it, All of the flavour has been imparted into the beer leaving the dry ingredients very basic, resulting in an original unmistakable extraordinary…

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22/09/2015
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Karoo rain selfie

I enjoy taking selfies.  It is something one has to do if you travel solo a lot (which I normally do when travelling for business) and want to at least be in a picture.  Selfies are also a way to tell people "Look where I am and you're not" making it a great tourism marketing tool.  Driving back to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg I was on a quiet road between Steynsburg and Hofmeyr in the Karoo and stopped to stretch my legs.  There…

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21/09/2015
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Have you ever heard of the Dockside Brewery?

I want to bet my bottom dollar (ok, so I'm not a betting man, is really confused with why the dollar is at the bottom and why are we talking dollars and not rands?) that you have probably never heard of the Dockside Brewery.  Located just behind the Herald in Horton Street in the Baakens Valley, the Dockside Brewery has been producing beer for just over a year and is breaking some serious ground when it comes to craft beer…

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21/09/2015
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Prince Alfred Guard Drill Hall and Museum

One of the lesser known museums in Port Elizabeth is the Prince Alfred Guard Drill Hall in Central.  The museum was established as a fusion between the old military museum that was housed at the Donkin Reserve and the old Prince Alfred Guard regimental museum.  The Prince Alfred Guard was founded in 1856 as a City Regiment but had their name changed when they provided a Royal Guard for Prince Alfred, the second son of Queen Victoria, on his visit to Port Elizabeth in…

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20/09/2015
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Bridge Street brewery tour

A brewery tour at The Bridge Street Brewery is a special treat if you have the privilege of having master brewer Lex Mitchell do the tour.  Lex started his career in beer making joining Ohlssens Brewery in 1977, moving on to Amstel where he left as master brewer in 1981.  He then started Mitchells Brewery in Knysna in 1983 where he produced the very popular Foresters Lager and Bosuns Bitter.  After moving to Port Elizabeth in 1995, Lex sold Mitchells Brewery in 1998 although he stayed involved until 2002.  Bridge…

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19/09/2015
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Fountains display at the Boardwalk

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aMuytsdCbE&w=500&h=400]I was looking for a video to post for this week's Video Friday and came across this awesome video of the Boardwalk's Fountain Spectacular by Limewave on their YouTube channel. Enjoy.

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18/09/2015
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Karoo windpomp

Two birds with one stone.  In this case two Karoo icons in one shot.  A windpomp and a couple of Karoo koppies.  In this case the Koffiebus and Teebus outside Steysnburg.

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18/09/2015