Tourism Minister visit Port Elizabeth

Today I had the opportunity to be a photographer at an event featuring the Minister of Tourism. For most of the event I used the camera of the company I work for, but I did get a couple of shots with my own one as well.The Minister of Tourism, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, visited Port Elizabeth today to launch Nelson Mandela Bay's 2010 Visitor Information Centres (VICs). The three world class visitor and tourism centres will form part of the legacy…

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Marine Hall

The Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld has a number of excellent exhibits covering a wide field of subjects and events. One of the main attractions can be found in the Marine Hall and is the 15m skeleton of the last Southern right whale harpooned in Algoa Bay. Now I know somebody is likely to ask when this happened and before they do I have to say I don't know. I have been searching the Internet and can't find a specific…

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Hobie Beach

I know its winter and a bit cold outside and this is a summer picture, but I feel like going to the beach for some reason. Hobie Beach is one of Port Elizabeth's main beaches. It can be found across the road from the Boardwalk Casino complex and is where Shark Rock Pier is situated. The beach is one of Port Elizabeth's 4 Blue Flag Beaches and is a favorite with both young and old.

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Opera House

The Port Elizabeth Opera House was opened in 1892. This makes it both the oldest functional Opera House in the country as well as the only Victorian theatre in South Africa. The building boasts two theatres, The Barn which stages smaller plays while the main theatre plays host to big shows like operas, ballet and musical shows.

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St Mary’s Cemetery

The St Mary's Cemetery is probably the oldest formal cemetery in Port Elizabeth and can be found close to the city centre. It is situated near the mouth of the Baakens River on the banks of what used to be the fresh water lagoon after which Algoa Bay was named. I did a post in The Firefly Photo Files a little while ago with some more pictures of the cemetery.

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Shipwreck canons

The Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld has a great collection of artifacts from shipwrecks found around Algoa Bay on show in the Ship Wreck Hall. The centre piece of the display is a number of canons and ship guns that has been recovered over the years.

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Dinosaur hall

We visited the Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld today in celebration of International Museum Day. I love museums. To me its like an exploration every time I enter one. I also have many fond memories of the PE Museum and the countless visits there when I was still small. Not much has changed over the years at the PE Museum, but I still get excited when I do get the chance to go and visit. Over the next few days…

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Spar Ladies Race

This morning the Spar Ladies Race took place on the beachfront. It consist of 5km and 10km races. The Port Elizabeth leg of the race is one of the biggest in the country with nearly 10 000 entries. Most of the participants take part in the 5km which is mostly a fun walk with big and small as well as young and old taking part while the 10km is a much more serious race with some of the best runners…

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Library stained glass windows

The old Port Elizabeth Main Library was opened in 1902 and has some magnificent stained glass windows which was restored a couple of years ago. One of the stained glass windows in the library The stained glass dome in the roofWhen we were small my mom used to work across the road from the library and we often got to visit it. We used to sneak up on the gallery walkways to enjoy the view from the top. I still…

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Ron Belling Art Gallery

My favorite art gallery in Port Elizabeth is the Ron Belling Art Gallery on Park Drive close to St Georges Park. I recently also did a post about it on The Firefly Photo Files.Ron Belling (1933 - 1998) was a Port Elizabeth architect, aviation and marine painter, and an authority on aviation history, aircraft design, aircraft camouflage and markings. The most amazing fact about him was that he was a self taught painter who could do the most amazing things…

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