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Geocaching in Uitenhage

Port Elizabeth is fortunate to have quite a lot of Geocaches to keep the local cachers, specially newbies, nice and busy.  Uitenhage unfortunately hasn't been that fortunate until recently.  A year ago there were probably only four caches in the town but thanks to cachers like Franmarie and Snuffeltuffies who live there the town now has enough to keep visiting cachers busy for a couple of hours.  We spent a Sunday exploring the town a little bit while picking up…

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24/01/2015
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Ironman African Championship video

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/OIfF88IRZas&source=udsWith Ironman 70.3 taking place in East London this weekend I thought it to be appropriate to post this awesome promotional video that has been put together for this year's Ironman African Championship here in Port Elizabeth.  I can see there is a bit of confusion out there,  Yes, Ironman South Africa is now known as Ironman African Championship and is one of only five championship level events in the world.  It means more prestige, more entries and more international…

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23/01/2015
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Concrete, glass and colours at the Owl House

The Karoo Town of Nieu Bethesda is the kind of place everybody needs to try and visit at some stage in their lives.  Its not a big tourist orientated city but rather a small village that embrace their visitors.  The most famous attraction in Nieu Bethesda is the world renown Owl House. The late Helen Martins spent most of her life in the town and the latter part of it transforming her ordinary Karoo home into a place of colour and light.  Over the…

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23/01/2015
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Croc on the beach at Lauries Bay

The wild Croc is not endemic to the Eastern Cape so I was very surprised to find one basking in the sun and taking a rest between the rocks at Lauries Bay on the Wildside.  It wasn't threatening at all so I got nice and close to get a photo before leaving him alone.  He probably would have left at the next high tide.  

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22/01/2015
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The Grave of Joseph Crowe in Uitenhage

Making my rounds through Uitenhage on a Geocaching expedition a week or so ago I got to visit the MOTH garden for the first time.  The garden is where the grave of Joseph Crow is located.Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Petrus Hendrik Crowe VC (12 January 1826 – 12 April 1876) was the first South African-born recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and…

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21/01/2015
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Little rock creatures

It's amazing how much life one actually finds in rock pools at low tide.  The other day I was looking for stuff to photograph and amongst others snapped a pic of these little guys in their "volcano" shells.  I have no idea what they are but after lots of consultation with my friend Google I came across the name "Buckshot Barnacles" on an American website.  So I'm still not to sure what we call them here in good ol' South Africa but…

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20/01/2015
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Visiting a cumcumber farm of all places

Visiting a cucumber farm probably isn't very high on anybody's list when you talk agritourism, but I'm always up for something new.  I  was in the Gamtoos Valley as part of a media tour recently and Gamtoos Tourism organized for us to visit Malan Cucumbers.  This isn't a technical post so I just want to tell you about the experience.  We were met by the farmer and his daughter who took us on a walk around the facilities situated just outside…

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19/01/2015
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The fountain in the Pearson Conservatory

I swung past the Pearson Conservatory last week while looking for a Geocache in St Georges Park and was happy to see that the fountain inside had a new lick of paint.  Whatever they put on it after the Conservatory's renovation started to get ugly.  The fountain itself wasn't working but I'm hoping its a case of not being turned on yet after it got painted.  The Pearson Conservatory was originally built in 1882 and restored to its former glory between 2009 and…

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19/01/2015
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Unique skull cache

While out there in search of Geocaches one can find all kinds of containers.  Bison tubes, pill bottles, clip lock lunchboxes, plastic peanut butter bottles, ammo cans, etc, etc, etc. Some Geocachers put in a lot of effort to create really unique and memorable caches.  One of these I found in the Baakens Valley close to the Lower Guinea Fowl Trail under the fynbos a year or so ago.  The container consisted of a pill container nicely fitted in a…

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17/01/2015