The N2 near Lady Slipper

Standing on the road bridge over the N2 in the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve looking down the highway towards Port Elizabeth.  Looking down on this dual carriage way it's hard to believe that it is the main highway just west of Port Elizabeth.  Nice and quiet.  Just the way we like our roads.

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The road to Noodhulp

The road to Noodhulp (Afrikaans for First Aid) is not what you call the route somebody takes when they are cruising for a bruising and looking for trouble with a big oke.   Not that kind of thing at all.  I found the road to Noodhulp while en route to Mount Camdeboo Private Game Reserve outside Graaff-Reinet and after a double take reversed back for a better look to make sure that was the name I saw and then a…

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There is no end to the adventures we can have

On a game drive at Mount Camdeboo Game Reserve near Graaff-Reinet recently we stopped to watch a couple of  Gemsbok on the side of a hill.  Strangely enough my attention wandered from the antelope to the road in front of us and I snapped this picture.  Looking at it afterwards I wondered how to use it as I didn't have enough material to do a full article on my visit to the reserve.  I decided to rather post it along…

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Down the hill into Sundays

We spent the weekend in Kenton and heading back along the N2 this afternoon I asked the Damselfly to snap a pic with my phone as we came down the hill towards Colchester.  I've got to say this is one of those views that is a lot better in person than on a photo.  I'm curious why the lamp pole next to the road is wobbling... 

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Off the off the beaten track in the Langkloof

Most tourists and holiday makers traveling from the Western Cape to the Eastern Cape (or vice versa) do so along the world famous Garden Route.  It means that they miss out on the very scenic Route 62 through the Langkloof which runs parallel to the Garden Route on the other side of the mountain.  You could say traveling through the Langkloof is travelling off the beaten track.  On my last trip up the Langkloof I detoured off onto a dirt…

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Driving down Heugh Road

For some reason I also loved the view of the Harbour, with the Rudolph Street Mosque in the foreground, as you come down Heugh Road.  I always wanted to take a picture of the view and this morning I set up my camera on the dash and snapped that picture.  So the picture doesn't have the same impact as seeing it first hand but don't you just love the view of the sea and harbour as you come down the…

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A Karoo road – doesn’t matter which way you go

“Would you please tell me, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.“I don’t much care where … ” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.”— Lewis Carroll

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Then and Now – Target Kloof

I am sure all of us who live in Port Elizabeth drive through Target Kloof between Walmer and the Central / Cape Road area every now and then.  Some on a more regular basis than others.  But do we ever think about the history of the road and area? Probably not.  So here is a tidbit of history.  Although I couldn't find any info on where Target Kloof got its name from, I have found that on 22 April 1896…

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Off the beaten track

Everybody should head off the beaten track at some stage or another. Stop in the middle of a Karoo dirt road and switch off the engine. Get out and stand in the middle of the road.  Feel the sun on your face and the breeze in your hair.  Listen to the cecadas with no car noise in ear shot. Smell the Karoo vegetation.  Watch the clouds move across the blue sky.  Can you taste it? What can it be?  Freedom.…

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Then and Now – Top of Whites Road

The Port Elizabeth tramway network was opened on 14 May 1881 and was initially operated horse-cars.  On 16 June 1897 the network was converted to electrical power and the system operated until it was closed on 17 December 1948.  One of the most challenging parts of the tramway network was going up Whites Road past the Opera House.  Apparently at one stage boys with buckets of sand used to throw sand on the line to give the trams more grip going up the hill.Looking down Whites Road today it's all…

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