The Sundays River is said to be the fastest flowing river in the country. The Khoisan people originally named the river Nukakamma (Grassy Water) because the river's banks are always green and grassy despite the arid terrain that it runs through. The picture was taking from the Mackay Bridge looking towards Cannonville with the sand dunes in the background.
Sand blowing on top of the sand dunes at Colchester. Wind or no wind, its still an awesome view from up there.
Standing on top of the sand dunes at Colchester and looking towards the ocean you will spot what looks like oases. (One oasis, many oases. Something I didn't know). But this isn't a desert so its not oases. Although its kinda is. Fresh water falls on the sand dunes in the form of rain (duh!). The fresh water then sinks away and appears again in low lying areas between the sand dunes. In these low lying areas you will find…
Today's post is a follow-on after yesterday's showing the camera man from Real Goboza filming on the Sundays River Ferry. After the ferry stopped at the sand dunes I climbed the dunes with him in the hope that he will do some filming up there as well. He just could not believe the views from the top and shot it at all angles and in all directions. It really is a stunning view.
A week or so ago I accompanied a group of media around the Port Elizabeth area for a couple of days. One of the activities we did was cruising down the Sundays River with the Sundays River Ferry before climbing the big Colchester sand dunes. The camera man of the SABC 1 show Real Goboza had a ball of a time both on the boat as well as the dunes and here he's busy filming while we were cruising downstream.
Most people living in Port Elizabeth has driven along the N2 past the Sundays River and Colchester at some stage in their lives and would have seen the sand dunes beyond the river. But I want to bet that very few actually realise how big the dune fields out at Colchester really is. Its huge, as you can see from the pic I snapped on the return flight from Indaba in Durban the other day. The Colchester Dunefields are just the first…
The Alexandria Coastal Dunefield to the east of Port Elizabeth was formed over the past 6 500 years when the sea level returned to its present level after the last Ice Age. The dunes can rise up to 140 metres, with the average dune height being 30 metres above sea level. The Alexandria Coastal Dunefield, of which the Colchester section of the dune field falls within the metro, is the largest coastal dunefield in the Southern Hemisphere one of the most impressive in the…
The Sundays River Ferry proudly flies the South African flag along with the flags of some of their international visitors when cruising down the river. I was one of those who wasn't happy when the old South African flag was replaced by the new one, but damn, you have to admit we really have a stunning flag. Something for all South Africans to be proud of.
Some of the residents of Colchester jokingly refer to the water monitors living in the Sundays River as Sundays River Crocodiles. The reason for this is because visitors spotting them swimming in the river often think that they are looking at a crocodile. Crocodiles never occurred in the area naturally as it gets too cold for them during the winter. Water monitors (or Water liguaans) can grow over 1,5 meters in length with their biggest defence being their tail which…
I have always known of the old Mackay Bridge in Colchester just outside Port Elizabeth, but I have never actually gone to it to have a look. A little while ago we had the absolute pleasure to spend a night at the awesome Elephants Footprint Lodge right next to the bridge, and took a walk to it just before sunset to have a look (and obviously take a couple of pics). The Colchester area was a very busy spot the…