After spending 5 hours next to the road supporting the Ironman competitors on the cycle leg and popping home to do a couple of things like mow the lawn, we headed down to the beachfront after sunset to cheer on the runners. My mouth just hangs open year after year watching people who have already swum 3,8 km and cycled 180 km still run 42,2 km as if its just a jog around the block. You can see some of…
Today is Ironman Sunday, one of the biggest sporting days in Port Elizabeth. We decided to spend most of the day supporting these inspirational sportsmen and women and headed out early to cheer on the guys and girls on the cycle leg on the intersection of Buffelsfontein and Walter Road in Charlo. This is the chasing pack of 11, a couple of minutes behind the first four on the second cycle loop. We spent about 5 hours out there and…
It's Ironman weekend in Port Elizabeth and the vibe in town around this iconic event is absolutely mind blowing. In addition to the main event on Sunday, there are also two events taking place on Saturday. First off was the Corporate Challenge followed by Ironkids in the afternoon. Drama Princess entered Ironkids after missing last year and this year had to do the slightly longer 100 meter swim and 2 km run as she just turned ten and thus moved…
A visit to Graaff-Reinet isn't complete without a trip up to the Valley of Desolation in the Camdeboo National Park. It's hard to say when the best time would be for such a visit though. That depends if you would like to enjoy all the views in bright sunlight, want to take photos in the early morning light or want to see the sun set on the distant Karoo horizon. Personally I like to go up in the late afternoon…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=680KMOnNfx4&w=500&h=400] It is Ironman weekend in Port Elizabeth and the buzz outside my office at the Boardwalk has been awesome over the last two days. Tomorrow the day kicks off with the Corporate Challenge (or Corporate Ironman as everybody but the organisers like to call it) followed by Ironkids. With Drama Princess taking part in the latter I will be down on the beachfront with my camera so look out for pictures on that in the coming week. On Sunday morning…
Statues is a bit of a sore point in South Africa at the moment (referring to the Cecil John Rhodes statue at UCT and and and...) but there are some truly special ones out there. One of these is the War Memorial or "Victory Peace Angel" outside the town hall in the Karoo Heartland town of Graaff-Reinet.About three months after the end of World War One, the Mayor of Graaff-Reinet called a public meeting to discuss the erection of a war memorial. …
This is how you cool off on a hot day. Floating in one of the Maitland River pools on at Sleepy Hollow.
Spending a night in Graaff-Reinet recently I made sure I popped by the Dutch Reformed Church (Groot Kerk) on the Monday morning to see if I could actually get into the church. The cornerstone of the church was laid on 12 April 1886 and it cost what was then a staggering 7,500 pounds. The inaugural service took place on 11 of September 1887 with 2 000 people attended the service. People must have come from far and wide to attend. I wonder how many…
I've visited Sleepy Hollow a couple of times now and the one thing I would still love to see is an otter. How do I know there are some? Because last time I found otter droppings on the rocks around one of the river pools right up in the valley.
One of the pools in the Maitland River as it flows through Sleepy Hollow farm. Yes, this is right on our doorstep