In 2009 Oscar the mix breed mutt was sitting on death row at the SPCA in Cape Town and had his lucky break by getting adopted one day before being put down. Since then Oscar has become the world's most widely travelled dog. He had travelled over 200 000 all over and around the world and has visited most of the world's well know landmarks, probably lifting his leg against most of them. Through his travelers Oscar is bringing the…
One of the new art pieces on the Donkin Reserve forming part of Route 67 is a 470m2 mosaic which is seen here from the top of the lighthouse. The mosaic represents the multi-cultural heritage, diverse history and the abundant fauna and flora of both the city and the province of the Eastern Cape.
I have posted a couple of pictures in the past that included the enormous flag pole and South African flag standing on the Donkin Reserve and whenever I tell people that the flag is about as big as a tennis court they tend to look at me in disbelief. Well, viewing the Donkin Reserve from on top of one of the buildings in the city centre the other day I could actually photograph the flag and put it into a better…
When the first Settlers arrived in Algoa Bay they found an array of hills, streams, rivers and kloofs, making habitation of the area a problem. Donkin Street as it stands today was originally a "kloof" (steep valley) with a stream. The water it carried was channelled into the then Main Street. This kloof was eventually filled using convict labour and Donkin Street was established in 1851. The row of 18 terraced houses was built in the 1850's. Over the last few years the houses have…
A different view of the giant South African flag on the Donkin Reserve. This time seen through the Donkin River memorial piece.
A beautiful blue sky day (not taken today though looking out the window at the overcast Friday sky) on the Donkin Reserve with the Donkin Lighthouse and Pyramid on the right and the highest flagpole in South Africa on the left.
The massive mosaic art piece that has been created next to the Donkin Memorial and lighthouse as part of the Route 67 development has become one of the most interesting new art pieces on the Donkin Reserve. It creates a very nice approach from the flag pole to the pyramid and is best viewed from the top of the lighthouse.
One of the oldest post boxes in Port Elizabeth stands on the Donkin Reserve next to the old lighthouse keeper's cottage, now occupied by the NMBT visitor information centre. The post box has the Royal Cipher "GR" on it, indicating that it was erected during the reign of King George V somewhere between 1910-1936. The first roadside post boxes appeared in 1852 on the Channel Islands. Since then all post boxes in the UK has been painted red and bear…
Well, well, well, another year is history and a new one has started. I hope you didn't party too hard last night and please don't tell me you've already broken those New Year's resolutions. Come what may, 2012 is here. I just want to take this opportunity to wish all the PEDP readers a Happy New Year. May 2012 bring you lots of happiness, pleasure and prosperity. Now go take something for that hangover headache and enjoy the rest of…
The Donkin Reserve with the Lighthouse, Pyramid and new Route 67 located there are truly one of Port Elizabeth's main iconic attractions both from a visitor as well as landmark point of view. Here a couple of tourists are standing next to the Donkin Memorial (yes, that's the pyramid's proper name) enjoying the view from the Hill.