Its another beautiful sunshine winters day in Port Elizabeth and to celebrate that and the coming long weekend, here is Shark Rock Pier at Hobie Beach with the early morning sunshine reflecting off the ocean.
Everybody likes to stay in hotels and guesthouses if they could and I'm no different, but when we go away on family holidays we like to camp. It brings us closer to nature and gives the kids a lot more freedom to roam. I love sitting in my camp chair by the fire with chops sizzling over the coals, a drink in my hand and chatting with my neighbour. Once its gets quiet you hear the night sounds all around and it…
I often wonder how many people realise how many beautiful open spaces Port Elizabeth has. Some of them are natural open spaces like the Baakens Valley which includes Dodds Farm and Settlers Park, Cape Recife Nature Reserve, Sardinia Bay Nature Reserve and Maitland Nature Reserve. More formal open spaces like St Georges Park, Victoria Park and the Kings Beach lake area gives one a place to go for a walk where you are surrounded by paved paths and gardens. This spot with the…
Winter has set in and the mornings and evenings are nice and cold, but we're lucky here in Port Elizabeth in that we have a very Mediterranean climate which makes our days quite mild. That is when there isn't a coldfront passing over. Winters means that the beaches are empty but people are still using the beachfront to walk, jog or just enjoy the outdoors.
I've been on a horse only twice before. Once when I was in matric and again about 10 years ago. So I jumped at the opportunity when I was invited for a ride by the friendly ladies at Heavenly Stables on Sardinia Bay Road. Although there are many stables in the Sardinia Bay area, I don't think many people know that the public can go for rides here as well. Heavenly Stables offer an 1 hour as well as a two and…
Visits to wine farms are normally associated with wine tasting, good food and historic buildings so wizzing around Spier Wine Estate on two wheels is something of a change. I'm not referring to riding a mountain bike though as the two wheels in this case are next to each other and not in front of each other. I've done the Segway tours in Storms River Village on two previous occasions with Tsitsikamma Segway Tours and absolutely loved it so grabbed the opportunity…
I've posted a couple of Dodds Farm photos lately and have a couple more to come, but somebody asked in a comment how to get to Dodds Farm. So to accompany today's picture looking down at Dodds Farm from the top of the steps on the Lower Guinea Fowl Trail are the directions to get there. Its quite straightforward really. Driving from the beachfront side one has to get to Main Road Walmer via Walmer Boulevard which becomes Heugh Road.…
Mountain biking seems to be getting more and more popular alongside trail running. This means that more people are also starting to get out there and back to nature, returning to places like the Baakens Valley where there are some awesome trails for both running and cycling. This guy was one of three cycling together on the trails through Dodds Farm.
Most people associate the Baakens River only with the 3rd Avenue Dip and the narrow canal the flows into the harbour along Valley Road and don't always think what it looks like in-between. During its meandering flow along the Baakens Valley it passes through Dodds Farm and Settlers Park, amongst others. This section is just above a weir at Dodds Farm and forms a nice little dam which is ideal to attract birds.
A Burchell's Zebra (Equus quagga burchellii) or just Plains Zebra as they are apparently being referred to now, grazing in the late afternoon sun in the Addo Elephant National Park.