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Donkin Garden of Remembrance

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality has put aside a small section next to the lighthouse on the Donkin Reserve as a Memorial Garden in memory of municipal councilors who have died while serving the public.  The garden was unveiled by the mayor a couple of months ago and it remembers 52 (at the time of unveiling) councilors from different political backgrounds who's deaths while in office range from illness to car accidents and even assassination.

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11/11/2014
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Looking down on the Campanile

The Campanile stand 52 meters tall and to get to the top you have to climb up 204 steps which will take you to the half circle windows above the clocks.  Looking at that you would think it there wouldn't be much opportunity to look down (and not in a bad way) on the Campanile.  That is unless you are standing on top of the lighthouse on the Donkin Reserve.   The Campanile is currently closed for renovation.

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06/11/2014
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Beachfront seen from the top of the Donkin Lighthouse

The top of the Donkin Lighthouse must be one of the best view point in Port Elizabeth.  My favorite actually.  Looking south this is the view of the beachfront beyond the harbor area.  The Kings Beach parking area is in the foreground, then the Humewood slipway and Shark Rock Pier just beyond.  In the back Something Good at Pollok Beach is visible and the tall building in the skyline is the Radisson Blu Hotel.  It wasn't the clearest day when I was…

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05/11/2014
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The Prester John Cross – a monument to a mythical King-priest

The story of Prester John is a mysterious one.  In some circles he was believed to be a descendant of the Three Wise Men, some believed he was a crusader-era Christian king based in Ethiopia or possibly a high-born Mongol from the time of Genghis Khan.  Then there were those who said that he watched over Holy Grail, never growing old but wiser and wiser as the years went by.  Whoever this mythical king-priest Prester John was, it was the quest of the Portuguese explorers not…

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06/10/2014
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Election Queue

The pathway winding its way up the Donkin Reserve from the back of the Opera House to the Great Flag wasn't just made like this by accident.  The winding path represents a 1994 election queue winding its way towards the election box.  An addition to the Election Queue path is over 3000 crosses left by youth of the city during the official opening of Route 67 and representing future votes in a democratic South Africa.  This is the Election Queue as seen…

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30/09/2014
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The woman and the chair

One of the art pieces installed on the Donkin Reserve as part of Route 67 is a woman standing behind a chair.  It’s become quite a popular piece with visitors climbing onto the chair for a photograph with this strange looking woman.  But why do I say strange?  This untitled sculpture by Anton Momberg takes the form of a female figure without any distinct features and clothing.  This leaves her neutral and open for conversation and interpretation rather than being…

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25/09/2014
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Donkin from the Campanile

Climbing the 204 steps to the top of the Campanile one would think that you would be in one of the highest spots in the city centre (this is no chirp at the fact that PE doesn't have a lot of high rise buildings), but once you are up there you realise that the Donkin Lighthouse up on the Donkin Reserve is actually higher.  Its a lighthouse who's light was supposed to be seen out to see after all.

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08/09/2014
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Aloe garden on the Donkin Reserve

The aloe garden on the Donkin Reserve in front of the lighthouse building forms part of Route 67 and contains aloes taken out on the reserve before the redevelopment took place.  The aloes are in full bloom at the moment making the garden particularly beautiful.

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07/08/2014
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Donkin Heritage Trail on Pasella

I got to be on Pasella on SABC 2 for the first time in 2009 when they were in town to film an insert on the Donkin Heritage Trail.  At the time I worked for Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism and got to do the insert with my colleague and good friend Sadie Issacs.  We met presenter Vicky Davis and the team at the Donkin Reserve and ended up shooting around the reserve, on the lighthouse, around City Hall and Market Square, at…

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04/07/2014