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.…
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.
The Baakens Valley is crawling deeper and deeper into my heart. I really wish more people realised what an amazing place we have running right through the city. The Damselfly packed a picnic basket the other day and we headed into the Baakens Valley for a spot of geocaching, ending up at Dodds Farm with a picnic under the trees. There were a couple of other people having a picnic and painting while a number of joggers and mountain bikers passed us on…
I explored a bit of the Baakens Valley along Lower Guinea Fowl Trail on a geocaching outing with the family and as always my camera went along for the walk. This spot is looking east towards Dodds Farm and down at the Baakens Valley from the mountain bike trail.
I'm usually behind the camera taking pictures for my blogs or occasionally assisting visiting television crews with info about the city, but on Pasella's last visit I actually got to be in front of the camera as well. Here the crew is filming the presenter asking questions at the Cape Recife Lighthouse before I got my turn to tell them more about the history of the lighthouse and surrounding area.
I feel like I am having one of those days where I just want to get out and go for a walk somewhere relaxing. Somewhere in nature. Somewhere with a stream. But alas I am stuck in the office. I do have this picture of a couple of friends doing just that in Settlers Park.
The Baakens River cuts through the middle of Port Elizabeth from its origin to the west of the city and on its way to Algoa Bay where it mouths out into the Port Elizabeth harbour. Most of the Baakens River Valley can be explored via the Guinea Fowl Trail, the trails through Settlers Park and a couple of mountain bike trails. The Baakens River has a number of tributaries, one of which originates around Overbaakens and flows part Upper Walmer before…
The Lower Guinea Fowl Trail starts at the 3rd Avenue Dip and ends down in Settlers Park. I didn't really take the picture to show the start of the trail, but rather the houses overlooking the Baakens Valley.
This is the last of the pics I took on our hike on the Maitland Nature Reserve's 9km trail in December. It was the first time I've been on the Maitland Trail and it just showed me that Port Elizabeth has so much that even I haven't seen. And people say there are nothing to do in PE.
After all the rain we had late last year the Maitland Nature Reserve trail was a little overgrown when I did it in December. What was nice though was the fact that everything was green and there were lots of flowers. We did have to bundu bash a bit every now and then, but it was worth the effort.