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Campanile Frieze and Wall of Texts

If you started a walk along Route 67 at the Campanile then the Campanile Frieze and Wall of Texts would be one of the first art pieces you'll see.  Both of these are done by artist Mkhonto Gwazela.  The frieze at the top celebrates the indigenous heritage of Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape with the sculpted visual image being cast in concrete along the curved wall.  The poem just below is engraved into locally-sourced granite.

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31/01/2018
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The Port Elizabeth harbour wall

The Port Elizabeth harbour achieved "port" status for the first time in 1825, long before a proper harbour even existed.  Back then a harbour master was appointed to regulate and oversee the offloading of ships anchored offshore with goods and people being brought to shore in rowboats.  An official surfboat service was established in 1836 and this was followed by the construction of the first jetty in 1837. It wasn't until 1933 and the construction of the Charl Malan Quay…

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25/01/2018
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Nr 7 Castle Hill historical museum

One of Port Elizabeth's favorite museums is No 7 Castle Hill.  The history of the building goes right back to the early days of Port Elizabeth with Rev. Francis McCleland building it as his parsonage and family home in 1825.  The house is one of the oldest remaining dwelling houses in Port Elizabeth and is furnished as a mid-Victorian period family home. A lot of the furniture and items in the house comes from the 1840–1870 era to show visitors…

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19/01/2018
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St Mary’s front on Govan Mbeki Road

Anybody who knows Port Elizabeth and has been down to Govan Mbeki Road (Main Street) in the city centre, would know St Mary's Anglican Cathedral near the Public Library.  But not just know it.  Also be aware of the old United Building Society building that stands on the corner in front of it blocking a proper view of the whole church and causing the front of the church to look like it's standing on its own between the high rise buildings…

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12/01/2018
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Around the Cape in a motorbike sidecar

One of my South African travel bucket list items I got to tick off during 2017 was going on a motorcycle sidecar tour in the Cape.  A visit to a conference in Stellenbosch had the opportunity arise to join a tour from Spier via Strand and Gordon's Bay as far as the Stoney Point penguin colony in Betty's Bay and back and I just could not say no come rain or shine.  Which turned out to be the case. Literally.The…

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10/01/2018
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Capt Francis Evatt’s gravestone

On a walk along Route 67 the other day I popped into St Mary's Cathedral and was reminded that the original gravestone of Captain Francis Evatt was located in the entrance area of the church.  Something a lot of people probably didn't know.  Captain Evatt was commander of Fort Frederick from 1817 until his death in 1850 and is often called the Father of Port Elizabeth because of the role he played in the early years of the town's development.  Among the…

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10/01/2018
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Trampoline park fun

The days of saying there is nothing to do in Port Elizabeth is long gone. Loooonnnngggg gone.  Yes, a lot of the activities on offer is going to set you back a few bucks, but it's exactly the same wherever you are in the world.  We've had to choose very carefully this summer holiday is everything does add up to quite a lot if you do something that costs money every day. Supertube, laster games, ice skating, go-carting, wall climbing,…

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09/01/2018
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Laser games is back in Port Elizabeth

Remember Laser Games? Wow, we used to play so often back in the days when there was still an arena at the old tenpin bowling and game centre next to Greenacres.  It's probably been a good 20 years since they closed down there so I was very excited to see that there are laser Games back in town.  Last week we took the KidZ for a game and the moment I headed into the room with the gun in hand…

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04/01/2018
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Port Elizabeth’s Campanile tower

Although I posted a number of posts featuring the newly renovated and reopened Campanile towards the end of the year, I decided to do another one as a follow up of yesterday's post.  The first post of 2018 featured the Donkin Reserve, one of Port Elizabeth's most iconic attractions.  The Campanile definitely is another one of those.  The word Campanile comes from the Italian word campanile which means bell tower with our Campanile holding 25 bells.  Originally there were 23 bells with…

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02/01/2018
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Donkin Reserve seen from the Campanile

And with that 2017 is gone and 2018 have arrived.  I have seen a lot of people say that they are glad 2017 is over and done with and I took a little time to contemplate my own 2017.  I came to the conclusion that it actually wasn't a bad year for me at all.  It was very busy though both from a personal as well as a work point of view and right now I can't see 2018 being…

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01/01/2018