My apologies for missing yesterday's post, but I had some problems with my internet. All fixed now and back to our tour. The next town on the tour is supposed to be the millionaires' playground of Plettenberg Bay. Unfortunately I don't have any good digital pics of the town so we will bypass it and move on to the town of Knysna.Knysna have twice been voted South Africa's favorite town and is the most popular town on the Garden Route.…
Admittedly steam engines are not every conservationists ideal, but there is something about them that people respond to, much more than the diesel or electric engines that run our trains these days. As of next month, the beloved apple express will be running on steam again, YAY!
Yesterday the crossings on the narrow gauge line in PE resounded with the friendly whistles of the first steam engine to ride on these tracks for almost 2 years. Citizens from all walks of life greeted the train with delight as she went on a test run out to Chelsea, in preparation for her maiden run, due soon. It is so good to have our steam train back, and we owe a big thank you to the enthusiasts who have…
Seeing that we started touring down the Garden Route I decided to just continue and show you why it is such a popular tourist route. I may interrupt the tour every now and then to do other posts, but we will keep on making our way westwards.The next stop after the Tsitsikamma National Park and the Bloukrantz Bridge is Birds of Eden, situated just outside the town of Plettenberg Bay. Birds of Eden is the World's Biggest Free Flight Bird…
Since we seem to be on a nostalgic kick at the moment, let's feature another shot of PE in the 90s.... this is the Casbah Carvery that used to be in Cape Road, in the old Kine 500 complex. This was sent by Darren Theologo, who says :"The photo of the Limousine infront of the Casbah Carvery & Grill also taken 1992 , People in photo From left to right _1. Riaan Roux , 2.Darren Theologo , 3. Lillian Van…
This year's Remembrance Day Parade, held at the Walmer Cenotaph, started with a parade of ex-servicemen and women. It was led by a Scottish pipe band, which is always guaranteed to stir the heart strings and set the right tone. Wreath laying ceremony by all sections of the armed forces and ex-servicemans societies."They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun…
One of the old landmark historic shops in Central, this has housed an antique and old bookshop as long as we can remember. The simple unpretentious architecture is typical of many of the colonial buildings that went up in the 1800s in PE.
I can't believe our 1st blogiversary slipped by yesterday, we clean forgot about it, but would love to thank all our visitors who have really become friends in the past year.One of our readers, Brenda from UK, grew up in a house which is just across the park from us. She has sent us some lovely old photos from the 1930s to 60s, and this is one taken in 1949 in St Philips Street. Note the newly planted sidewalk trees…
The Garden Route is not just a very scenic area but also an adventure junkie's playground with near countless activities to be done by thrill seekers of all shapes and sizes.The ultimate adventure activity can be done at the Bloukrantz River Bridge in the Tsitsikamma. The river is also the boundary between the provinces of the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape. Here you will find one of the highest commercial bungy jump sites in the world.Measured at 216 metres…
There are two areas within an hour's drive from Port Elizabeth that are major citrus, and in particular orange, farming districts. The Sundays River Valley is to the north of the city while the Gamtoos River Valley is to the west. The Gamtoos Valley is often called the food basket of the eastern Cape as they grow all kinds of crops there. The main products are oranges and potatoes, but they also grow lots of pumpkins, cabbage, cucumbers, watermelons, chicory…