Eastern Cape

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Port Elizabeth’s Hop on Beer Route Tour

The Western Cape has it's various winelands where one can take daily tours to taste wines and learn more about how they are made.  Port Elizabeth does have it's share of wine lovers, but the closest wines they can taste at source are in Plettenberg Bay so they usually end up having wine tasting events with Western Cape wines.  But how about beer?  Craft beer in particular.  This is probably what Tony Neveling of Gecko Tours here in the Bay was thinking when he came…

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30/09/2015
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The mouth of the Bushmans River

The coastal Sunshine Coast town of Kenton-on-Sea is flanked by two tidal river, the Bushmans River and the Kariega River.  Normally the area is a quite and peaceful area until the summer holiday arrive.  That is when mostly inland holiday makers flock to the area with a lot of them bringing their boats to enjoy the river with.  The Bushman's River, on the western side of Kenton, is the 2nd-longest navigable river in South Africa and offers a 22km stretch of…

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29/09/2015
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A classy day at the Jazzy Boozy Cheezy Affaire

Anybody blindfolded and flown around the country before being dropped off at the Jazzy Boozy Cheezy Affaire would have been excused if they guessed their destination to be somewhere in the Cape Winelands after seeing what was around them.  They would have been very wrong though.  The JBC wasn't taking place in the Cape Wineland.  Far from it.  It took place just outside Addo at Africanos Country Estate in the Sundays River Valley of the Eastern Cape.The JBC Affaire wasn't…

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26/09/2015
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Karoo rain selfie

I enjoy taking selfies.  It is something one has to do if you travel solo a lot (which I normally do when travelling for business) and want to at least be in a picture.  Selfies are also a way to tell people "Look where I am and you're not" making it a great tourism marketing tool.  Driving back to Port Elizabeth from Johannesburg I was on a quiet road between Steynsburg and Hofmeyr in the Karoo and stopped to stretch my legs.  There…

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21/09/2015
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A quick trip through the Bloukrans River Pass

The Bloukrans River Pass must be one of the most beautiful passes in the Southern Cape and Garden Route areas.  Unfortunately after the 2006 floods part of the road was damaged and rather than repairing it, the road was closed.  Although officially closed it isn't blocked off and there is nothing stopping cars from driving down it so that is just what I did a couple of weeks ago returning to Port Elizabeth from The Crags.  There are sections where…

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11/09/2015
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Cradock Moederkerk

Driving through the Karoo Heartland town of Cradock the other day I just couldn't help but to stop and snap a few pics of the "Moederkerk" in town.  I've played around with a couple of effects and this is what I came up with. Oh yes, and what is a post without a little bit of interesting historic info? The first Dutch Reformed congregation (and also the first church) in Cradock was established in 1824.  The present building was completed on the original site…

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10/09/2015
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Hart Cottage at Glen Avon Farm

I told you a little bit of the history of Glen Avon Farm and the historic Glen Avon Watermill outside Somerset East in my previous post.  Glen Avon has a number of other old buildings on the property with the oldest being Hart Cottage.  Built around 1817, Hart Cottage is the only remaining of three of the original cottages built on the farm.  It's was painstakingly renovated and is being used as self catering accommodation for visitors to the farm.  In the background on…

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03/09/2015
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The historic Glen Avon Watermill

A week or two three ago I got to spend an evening on the historic Glen Avon Farm at the foot of the Bosberg Mountains outside Somerset East.  A stay at Glen Avon consist of true farm hospitality like you can only get in the Karoo and the B&B's surroundings is just what you need to get away from the city and take in farm life.  The highlight of my stay though, which was way too short, was a visit to the historic Glen…

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01/09/2015
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Oudebosch – the perfect stop in the Tsitsikamma

It was a cold and somewhat wet winters afternoon and were heading back to Port Elizabeth after a very enjoyable pre-cold front weekend in The Crags.  Driving along the N2, most people make their comfort and coffee / food stop at Storms River Bridge.  I haven't done that for a  number of years now  Not since discovering the Oudebosch Farmstall about 30 km east of the bridge.  We took the Kareedouw / Eersterivier offramp from the N2 and turned right towards the coastline.  Oudebosch lies about 400 meters…

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24/08/2015
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A quick stop at Supertubes in Jbay

A week or so ago I attended the Kouga Baviaans Surf and Safari Marketing Association's AGM in Jeffreys Bay.  It was a perfect winters day and I decided to make a stop at Supertubes before heading back to Port Elizabeth.A deserted beach that was packed during the Jbay Open just a few weeks agoEnjoying one of the best right hand point breaks in the worldAloes on the coastline at Lower Point

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23/08/2015