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Bridge series #1 – Mackay Bridge

Port Elizabeth isn't famous for it's bridges but it does have a couple of notable ones.  Some historic, one imposing and a couple that are often used.  I collected pictures of a few of them and decided to put together a series showing you six bridges from around the city.  I'm starting with one of my favourite bridges, the historic Mackay Bridge in Colchester.  During the mid 1800's this specific spot was quite a popular one with travellers as it had…

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04/11/2013
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Jetties on the Sundays River

The Sundays River is quite a popular recreational playground with everything from water ski to just leisurely sitting with a fishing line in the water.  Most of the houses on the riverside (and some of those that isn't) have their own jetties with some of them having been there for decades already.

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02/11/2013
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Riding PE’s miniature trains

Ketik ketik... ketik ketik... ketik ketik... The sound of the train's wheels on the tracks.  A sound which so many kids these days have never heard before.  Everybody loves to ride on a train doesn't matter if its a luxurious tourist train, a cross country train, a day trip tourist train, a commuter train or, in the case of this post, little miniature trains.  On the first Sunday of the month Port Elizabeth parents gather their kids, pack picnic baskets and head down to…

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01/11/2013
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Scottish Cemetery for Halloween

Seeing that today is Halloween I wanted to post a scary or Halloween type photo but alas, I haven't done any pictures like that lately.  Clearly I need to spend some time doing some creative shots again.  I do have a picture of old grave stones in the historic Scottish Cemetery in St Georges Park though so it will have to do. St Mary's Cemetery used to be the only cemetery in Port Elizabeth in the 1820s, but an influx of people…

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31/10/2013
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Cannon Bay on the Sacramento Trail

In 1647 the Portuguese galleon Sacramento ran aground between present day Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay with 72 survivors reaching the beach  and only nine making it all the way to Delagoa Bay (Maputo) in Mozambique.  That is a distance of 1,300 km on foot.  The ship carried a shipment of cannons and these spent the next 300 odd years on the ocean floor until they were salvaged in 1977.  40 bronze cannons were brought up and one of those cannons still stand in Schoenies at the…

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30/10/2013
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Bromance

A couple of elephant bulls interacting at Hapoor waterhole in the Addo Elephant National Park.  Nothing wrong with a bit of brotherly love or bromance.

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29/10/2013
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Succulent flowers at Kuzuko

Succulents always surprise me with the beautiful flowers that they produce specially when they grow in dry and arid areas.  The flowering succulent in the picture was growing next to the path to our room at Kuzuko Lodge in the northern part of the Addo Elephant National Park.After reading the post, Alan Fogarty of Alan Tours helped me out a bit with the name:  Crassula ovata or Kerky bush, Beestebul, iPhewula also commonly known as the "Botterboom"

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28/10/2013
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Langa Memorial

Most South Africans are familiar with the 1960 Sharpeville massacre where the South African Police opened fire on a protesting crowd, killing 69 people.  Very few people know though that on the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville, something similar happened in Langa township in Uitenhage when the Police opened fire on a crowd of mourners on their way to a banned funeral.  Twenty people were killed in the incident on 21 March 1985 and it became known as the Langa Massacre.  The incident was followed by…

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28/10/2013
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What goes up must come down

One of my favourite things about cruising on the Sundays River with the Sundays River Ferry is climbing the dunes at the turning point.  Going up is a leg aching, brow sweating and huff and puff affair but the view from the top makes it absolutely worth it.  Plus what goes up must come down...

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27/10/2013