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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
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Doll room

The No 7 Castle Hill historical museum has a fantastic collection of old dolls and toys dating back to the Victorian era and which are on display in two of the museum's rooms.  Just off the courtyard is the doll display while the rest of the toys can be seen upstairs in the play room.

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16/02/2012
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Fishing at Montagu Caravan Park

In the post about Montagu Caravan Park I mentioned that the caravan park has a dam that is a very popular fishing spot with the campers.  At times the kids (and adults) were lined up next to the dam casting and reeling in.  Now I'm not a big fisherman.  I enjoying doing it for 15 or 20 minutes and then I get bored, so I don't really have the patience to be a fisherman.  I'll rather sit and watch animals…

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16/02/2012