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Mother and children

Yesterday's post I did about the Port Elizabeth Cenotaph wasn't the first featuring this great memorial.  A little while ago I received a comment on a previous post featuring the Cenotaph from Andy Gardner in Durban.  Andy's father was James Gardner who designed the memorial and also did the sculptures which are part of it.  On two sides of the memorial are sculptures, one representing a mother and child and the other St George, placed so for the purpose of symmetry.  The woman…

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23/02/2012
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Cruising the Breede River at Viljoensdrift

There is probably no better way to enjoy the Viljoensdrift wines than leisurely cruising along the Breede River on a sunny day.  The Viljoensdrift wine estate offers one hour cruises up and down the river from their shop and tasting area on the farm and although we're not wine lovers (and you don't have to actually drink wine to go on the cruise), we decided to go for the outing.The boat seats about 40 people and most of our fellow passengers bought wine…

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23/02/2012
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Cenotaph and art gallery

One of the prominent memorials in Port Elizabeth is the Cenotaph standing in front of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Gallery.  The city's war memorial was unveiled by former mayoress Mrs WF Savage on 10 November 1929.  The memorial was the work of James Gardner of the Art School and was originally erected to the memory of the men from Port Elizabeth that fell during the Great War.  After the Second World War memorial panels were added to the walls behind the…

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22/02/2012
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Viljoensdrift Wine Tasting

While visiting the town of Montagu we didn't really venture through Cogmanskloof into the Robertson Valley area and rather explored our immediate surroundings.  One morning we did decided to venture through the kloof with our camping neighbours and ended up at Viljoensdrift Wine Estate near Bonneyvale for a river cruise on the Breede River.  We had about an hour or so to wait (or waste, which ever word rocks your boat) before the cruise departed so while the women and children sat out on…

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22/02/2012
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Eating oysters

It is claimed that oysters act as an aphrodisiac and perhaps it does, but I'm not a big oyster fan so I can't claim that it has affected me in any... romantic way. I have observed some other mannerisms with people eating oysters though. I recently accompanied a group visiting Port Elizabeth for a couple of days and we went to Barnacles Restaurant in Seaview for a lunch. Two of the ladies ordered oysters as a starter and both ate…

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21/02/2012
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Township vegetable garden

It’s so easy for us to go to the local supermarket or fruit and vegetable shop to buy some fresh veg for dinner, but what do you do when you don't have money to just go and buy left and right? Vegetable gardens are a fairly common sight in the townships and some people put a lot of effort into theirs. This little vegetable garden stands behind a shack in Ramaphosa Village and at first glance you can see spinach,…

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20/02/2012
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Informal shack

Although the government has built a couple of million new houses over the last 18 years since democracy, there are still many people in the townships living in informal settlements in shacks made of corrugated iron and wood.  These shacks stand in Ramaphosa Village, an informal settlement close to New Brighton.

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19/02/2012
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Township view

One of the best spots to have a bird's eye view of Port Elizabeth's townships are the view point at the top of the suburb of Kwamagxaki.  Kwamagxaki first developed as a middle class black suburb and most of the people who lived there during the apartheid years were civil servants like nurses, policemen and municipal employees.  The lookout spot was used by the apartheid police to keep an eye over the townships to identify areas of unrest.

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18/02/2012