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A “No” and many “Refrains”

This sign at the Southern entrance to St George's Park has the usual restrictions that the bureaucrats feel are needed to, "maintain good order in the park". With all the restrictions the the sign writer has managed to use only one "no". The polite use of "refrain", makes it sound a bit friendlier and more welcoming.Perhaps they should have added "please refrain from throwing eggs or other messy fluids on this sign!"We were too late to register for the monthly…

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01/07/2008
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skylines #3 Old Erica and the bay

This old school building is one of PEs landmarks. Whenever you want to give directions in this area, you just have to say "do you know the Old Erica Building" and 90% of the time, the answer will be yes. It was built in 1903, and housed the Erica School for girls. When they outgrew it and moved across Albany Road to their new home in Mount Croix, it served many purposes, and currently houses the Art School of the…

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29/06/2008
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Swartkops Estuary Area

Yesterday we saw the "nice" side of the Swartkops river. Today we see the West bank, which is low and flat, forming a marshy wetland. The riverbank on this side is known to locals as "smelly creek". It is home to the Carbon Black factory, (to the left of the picture) and right next to that is the sewerage reclaimation works, (on the right of the photo) so the name is not unjustified. Generations of PE families have driven past…

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27/06/2008
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Sky Watch – Whirly Bird

Well this is one way to cruise the coast in style. This shot was taken at Schoenmakerskop, looking towards the Maitland River Mouth and Beach View.Most of our visits to other sky watch posts will be as either Suzi-k or Max-e.Visit Tom at Wiggers World for more Sky Watch pictures.

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26/06/2008
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Skyline #2

Continuing our look at PE's eclectic skyline, from the same viewpoint as yesterday's photo, but a bit to the West, you see another iconic landmark which we have featured before, the Donkin Reserve, with its lighthouse and pyramid. You also see a mixture of some of the earliest residences in town, mixed with more modern (30s to 60s) blocks of flats. In the far background, the ugly new post office building, (which blocks many potentially sweeping views of the bay…

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25/06/2008
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Skyline 1

One of the things we love about Port Elizabeth is that she has some fascinating eclectic skylines. There are interesting viewpoints around the city where you get to see such a mixture of the elements that make up this town.Standing on a hill in south End, overlooking the ruins of St Peters Church (a reminder of the injustices of our Apartheid past) we see the bay sweeping around in the background, with a bustling modern harbour. And in front of…

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24/06/2008
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Keeping the Parks clean….

Even in winter, the Kikuyu grass in Richmond Park, and many others around the city, remains green and needs mowing, although it is certainly not as rampant as it is in summer. The Municipality has outsourced the mowing of the parks to private companies run, according to the latest PC Speak, by PDs, as part of its BEE initiative. I could write a book about how irritating I find acronyms, and when you get into the international realm of blogland,…

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23/06/2008
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Anyone for prawns?

The penguin on the Oceanarium Complex looks like it is hankering after some of Jimmy's killer prawns, at Brookes Pavillion at the beach front. MMMM, come to think of it.....

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22/06/2008
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Delightful old cottage

This quaint little historic cottage is in Richmond Hill. (In fact it is a couple of houses away from the burnt out one we showed you recently, but this one is fortunately better cared for.)

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21/06/2008