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Barnacles

One of PE's best kept secrets is Barnacles Restaurant in Beachview. Set high on the first dune overlooking the rocks and sea, Barnacles serves great steaks, breakfast, lunch and dinner, and especially wonderful seafood. (lousy cappuccino, but hey, you can't be PERFECT!!) But for us, apart from the excellent food, service and atmosphere, the best thing about it is the open deck that hangs out over the hillside, which leaves you with panoramic views of the coast. We have yet…

2 Comments
05/11/2008
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The Big Pineapple

During my series on The British Settlers is posted about the history of Bathurst here and here. The biggest attraction in Bathurst is not an historic one, but a bit of a gimmick. Bathurst is in the heart of one of the biggest pineapple growing areas in South Africa. The Bathurst Pineapple Growers Association is base on Summerhill Farm on the outskirts of town. Some years ago the farmers from the Association visited Australia on a fact finding mission and…

4 Comments
04/11/2008
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PE Tramways Building

Another shameful example of urban decay in Port Elizabeth. The old PE Tramways building was once a hive of activity, first as a tram and bus depot and then as an ice rink. It was then used for other businesses and now stands unused and derelict.It was announced with great fanfare that this historic landmark, was to be developed into an entertainment area, with the river in the foreground being turned into a small lake. Work was due to start…

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04/11/2008
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Cave drawings

The Khoisan people were the original inhabitants of much of southern Africa. Having had a relatively lighter skin color than most black Africans, evidence shows that they lived in the area long before the Black people moving down the east and west coasts of Africa arrived in the south or European colonization. The Khoisan people are divided into two cultures. The hunter gatherer San (commonly known as Bushmen) and the pastoral Khoi (sometimes known as Hottentots). The San was found…

3 Comments
03/11/2008
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such a shame

We have taken you to the fascinating Red Location Museum before. It documents the movement against apartheid, and the red location was one of the significant places in the evolution of the ANC and the struggle for democracy in South Africa. We have written in more detail about this fascinating place on our personal blogs, and lamented the fact that the last few remaining historically significant shacks, built in 1903, are being vandalised and sold to unscrupulous scrap dealers. It…

3 Comments
03/11/2008
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Tsitsikamma

The area between Port Elizabeth and Cape Town is known as the Garden Route. It is one of the most popular tourist routes in South Africa. About 160km west of Port Elizabeth you enter the Tsitsikamma. The Tsitsikamma is the area wedged between the ocean and the Tsitsikamma Mountains and consist of indigenous forests, magnificent coastline, river gorges, streams and some of the most awesome scenery on the whole Garden Route. The indigenous forest consist of trees like the Yellowwood,…

5 Comments
02/11/2008
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more maitlands

Two more views of the wonderful pristine coastline at the Maitlands River mouth. This one looking West towards Blue Horizon Bay, with miles and miles of unspoilt white sandy beaches and dunes..... ..... And this one looking back along the rocky section of coastline to the East, towards Beachview, Sardinia Bay and Schoenmakerskop

2 Comments
02/11/2008
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maitlands dune

In response to yesterdays post of the beach at Maitlands River mouth, Richie requested some views of the dune and surroundings. Here it is from the beach, and in the foreground is the lagoon formed when the river mouth when it is closed by sandbars. The pipeline that feeds water to Port Elizabeth from the Churchill Dam is seen crossing the river. The little building to the right is a rather tatty ablution block on the edge of the carpark.…

3 Comments
01/11/2008
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Mailand River Mouth

The Maitland River Mouth must have one of the nicest unspoilt beaches in the country. This is a view looking toward the coastal suburb of Blue Horizon Bay, taken yesterday evening with oyster catchers feeding in the foreground. Judging from the signage at the parking lot this is about to change with some planned development. There are some places along our coastline that would be better served by leaving them unspoilt by development - this is one of them.

8 Comments
31/10/2008
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Oh the Horror!

In the spirit of tomorrow being Halloween, I decided to do a horror picture tonight. But not a conventional horror pic, something different. In the townships they sell most goods from the side of the road. In this case chickens are sold "life or plucked". I thought it to be an interesting photo to have the life chicken in the front with the plucked ones in the back. As I took the pic the chicken looked back at the plucked…

8 Comments
30/10/2008