The reflection of the sun in one of the farm dams at Buffelshoek near Graaff Reinet. The previous day the area had a monster of a thunder storm which filled in all the dams in the area, so the picture would not have been possible the day before. For more absolutely awesome sky pictures from around the blogosphere, visit Skywatch.
The Maitlands River would never really be called a river of note, more like a local stream. But on its way to the ocean it flows through Sleepy Hollow and past the giant Maitlands sand dune. Just before it slowly flows into the ocean, it forms a small lagoon next to the dune. Usually in summer kids will splash around in it as the sea at the river mouth is a bit of a dangerous spot to swim in.
On my trip to Graaff Reinet we stayed at Buffelshoek Farm Guesthouse. The guest house is on a farm about 15km outside Graaff Reinet. Even though Graaff Reinet is a quiet place, its nice to get away from the whole city life thing and stay a couple of nights on a farm. Quiet nights with no lights around to spoil the view of the stars, the only sound being the frogs by the dam, no cars driving past all the…
Fort Frederick can be found on the hill overlooking the Baakens River valley and Port Elizabeth Harbour. It's a stone fort built in 1799 by the British Forces to defend the mouth of the Baakens River to prevent a possible landing of French troops to assist the Graaff-Reinet rebels. It was named after Frederick, Duke of York and was commanded by Captain Francis Evatt. Even though the fort was built to defend the Bay, ironically, no shot was ever fired…
Havelock Square is one of a couple of public parks around the historic part of Central. Havelock square is a bit different though as it is an unfenced park with a one way paved road going around it. Havelock Square was part of The Grey Institute Grant originally surveyed in 1856, with the oldest houses being built in 1862. The Holy Trinity Church on the eastern side of the square was built in 1866 and re- built in 1897 after…
Millipedes are known as shongololos in South Africa and are arthropods. Arthropods have two pairs of legs per segment (except for the first segment behind the head which does not have any appendages at all, and the next few which only have one pair of legs). Each segment that has two pairs of legs is a result of two single segments fused together as one. The name "millipede" is a compound word formed from the Latin roots milli ("thousand") and…
The Humewood Station is Port Elizabeth's main narrow gauge station and is mainly used by the Apple Express tourist train. Big parts of the old station is in desperate need of repair while a section of it acts as a grave yard for old steam trains and rolling stock. Steam train enthusiasts would probably look at the remains of some of those trains and pick away a tear in sadness. Unfortunately the reality is that Spoornet doesn't have much use…
Graaff-Reinet is South Africa's fourth oldest town and is home to some magnificent examples of Cape Dutch architecture. The town has over 220 heritage sites which is more than any other town in South Africa. For more information on the town, go to Graaff Reinet Tourism.As you drive down the town's main street, an imposing building waits for you at the end of it. The Dutch Reformed Church is situated in the centre of town and is one of Graaff-Reinet's…
Going for a walk along the beach at Cape Recife the other day, we found this big patch of seaweed washed up on the beach. A lot of seaweed like this gets loosened from the sea floor during storms and after a strong easterly wind gets washed up on the beach.