I got to visit the Sea Otters Lodge in Kini Bay just west of Port Elizabeth today and was stunned by its perfect setting. Walking out onto the back garden you are literally on the beach. At the bottom of the garden is a two seater swing with the perfect view. I could see myself spending a day sitting there with a drink, a book and lots of peace and quiet.
Driving from the Garden Route to the Klein Karoo over the Outeniqua Pass, one passes a couple of farms growing plats that creep up strings hanging from wire frames. I used to wonder about it till I found out that it was hops. Now I don't know much about hops other than the fact that it is used primarily in the brewing of beer. So I went to the handy information tool that is Wikipedia. Hops are actually the female…
There is quite a number of interesting and historic buildings in the area around Market Square in the city centre. One of those which is just across the road from the City Hall is Pleinhuis. The building belongs to the municipality and houses amongst others the offices of the portfolio councillors on the mayoral committee. Like so many other buildings built in Port Elizabeth at that time, Pleinhuis was built in the Art Deco style. When I passed it the…
Feather duster sellers with their colourful ware in front of the CP Nel MuseumI have said so before I will say so again. I love small town museums. They are never pretencions and tells it as it is. If you want to know more about a town and its history, just look for it's museum and go and loose yourself in it. The CP Nel Museum in Oudtshoorn is one of these where one can go and be transported back…
Taking a walk around the city centre the other day, I noticed this feature on the side of the Main Library building facing St Mary's Church. The emblem in the middle is Port Elizabeth's old coat of arms, but I found the knight at the top to be quite a peculiar site. Oh and, is that a gargoyle I see at the bottom? Not many of them around town.
On the top of Plein Huis across the road from Market Square there is a number ornamental birds. They actually look like they should rather be Gargoyles than birds, but what do I know about those ugly fellas that usually sit on top of buildings scanning the ground? My theory for these birds are that they were put there to stop actual birds from sitting on the top of the building messing on the walls and possible the heads of…
I had to pop down into the city centre this week and found this tree in front of the City Hall with all its bright red fruit, flowers, fruity flowers (sorry, but I don't really know if they were the tree's fruit or flowers). As I was walking past it and I found a very nice angle to include it in a picture of the historic City Hall. Never leave home without your camera.
As our round trip day outing via the Swartberg Pass to Prince Albert and back through Meiringspoort was coming to an end, we made a quick stop in the town of De Rust. Named such as it was a place to outspan the oxen to rest before or after a journey through Meiringspoort, the town is quaint place with a couple of interesting shops and eateries along its main drag. As we were coming into town I noticed a donkey…