Author: fitravel

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Fort Frederick

Fort Frederick can be found on the hill overlooking the Baakens River valley and Port Elizabeth Harbour. It's a stone fort built in 1799 by the British Forces to defend the mouth of the Baakens River to prevent a possible landing of French troops to assist the Graaff-Reinet rebels. It was named after Frederick, Duke of York and was commanded by Captain Francis Evatt. Even though the fort was built to defend the Bay, ironically, no shot was ever fired…

19 Comments
18/11/2009
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Farm fence

On my trip to Graaff Reinet we stayed at Buffelshoek Farm Guesthouse. The guest house is on a farm about 15km outside Graaff Reinet. Even though Graaff Reinet is a quiet place, its nice to get away from the whole city life thing and stay a couple of nights on a farm. Quiet nights with no lights around to spoil the view of the stars, the only sound being the frogs by the dam, no cars driving past all the…

4 Comments
18/11/2009
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Havelock Square

Havelock Square is one of a couple of public parks around the historic part of Central. Havelock square is a bit different though as it is an unfenced park with a one way paved road going around it. Havelock Square was part of The Grey Institute Grant originally surveyed in 1856, with the oldest houses being built in 1862. The Holy Trinity Church on the eastern side of the square was built in 1866 and re- built in 1897 after…

8 Comments
17/11/2009
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Shongololo

Millipedes are known as shongololos in South Africa and are arthropods. Arthropods have two pairs of legs per segment (except for the first segment behind the head which does not have any appendages at all, and the next few which only have one pair of legs). Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one. The name "millipede" is a compound word formed from the Latin roots milli ("thousand") and…

6 Comments
16/11/2009
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The end of the track?

The Humewood Station is Port Elizabeth's main narrow gauge station and is mainly used by the Apple Express tourist train. Big parts of the old station is in desperate need of repair while a section of it acts as a grave yard for old steam trains and rolling stock. Steam train enthusiasts would probably look at the remains of some of those trains and pick away a tear in sadness. Unfortunately the reality is that Spoornet doesn't have much use…

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16/11/2009
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Graaff Reinet Church

Graaff-Reinet is South Africa's fourth oldest town and is home to some magnificent examples of Cape Dutch architecture. The town has over 220 heritage sites which is more than any other town in South Africa. For more information on the town, go to Graaff Reinet Tourism.As you drive down the town's main street, an imposing building waits for you at the end of it. The Dutch Reformed Church is situated in the centre of town and is one of Graaff-Reinet's…

5 Comments
15/11/2009
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Seaweed

Going for a walk along the beach at Cape Recife the other day, we found this big patch of seaweed washed up on the beach. A lot of seaweed like this gets loosened from the sea floor during storms and after a strong easterly wind gets washed up on the beach.

4 Comments
15/11/2009
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International Mohair Summit

The first biennual International Mohair Summit took place in the Karoo town of Graaff Reinet last week. "What does it have to do with Port Elizabeth?" I hear you ask. Well, Port Elizabeth is seen as the mohair capital of the world as more mohair moves through this city than anywhere else in the world. If you want to learn more about the summit, you can read more about it on The Firefly Photo Files. Specific posts are: International Mohair…

6 Comments
13/11/2009