I know it's not Port Elizabeth, but I just have to share this with you. I was in Patensie for a tourism workshop this morning and the citrus orchards are just packed with fruit at the moment. The Gamtoos Valley is one of the biggest citrus producing areas in South Africa and it's well worth taking a drive through the valley at the moment to see all the citrus on the trees and the activity going on around the farms.
For just about the last week the residents of Cape St Francis and St Francis Bay along with numerous fire fighters, helicopter pilots, volunteers and more have been fighting a huge fire that threatened their homes, properties, lives and livelihoods. This wasn't just another little bush fire but one that seriously could be referred to as a monster. There are a lot of videos and photos out there on Facebook showing how the fire has been fought on all sides.…
Seeing that I normally (try to) do a Geocaching related post on a Saturday, I really wanted to share this with you today even though it isn't in Port Elizabeth. A couple of Geocachers got together in Nieu-Bethesda for a caching event tonight and one of the Port Elizabeth cachers up there for the event decided to go and climb the Compass Berg today to find a cache located right at the top.The Compass Berg is located north of Nieu-Bethesda…
An early morning walk along the beach at Kabeljous. I know it's not PE but hey, close enough.
I have to admit, I haven't got a Port Elizabeth photo for you today. It's a combination of things, mostly bad luck coupled with being fairly busy at the moment. My external hard drive crashed a little while ago and with it went all my family and travel photos. It's going to cost me around R8k to have the contents retrieved in a specialist environment. Money I definitely haven't got at the moment. Last week my home laptop's motherboard decided…
When was the last time you've been in the Gamtoos Valley? Perhaps I should ask, have you ever been for a drive up to the Kouga Dam? If the answer to both of these questions are "never" or "not recently" then there is no time like the present. After all the rain we have had recently the Kouga Dam is currently overflowing and well worth a visit. The Kouga Dam is located about 21 kilometers west of Patensie and was opened in 1969. It…
Last weekend we took part in the Gamtoos Adventure Drive around the towns of Loerie and Hankey west of Port Elizabeth. At one of the stops on one of the back roads between the towns I snapped this photo of the Cockscomb Mountains beyond the rolling hills of this part of the valley. With a little HDR added, how can I not share this picture with you?
This morning I got to attend the media launch of the upcoming Jazzy, Boozy, Cheezy Affaire that will be taking place on 26 and 27 September at Africanos Country Estate in Addo. Anybody who is into wine, cheese, food, jazz, chocolates, flowers or perfume would really enjoy the event as all of that and more will be represented over the weekend.A “sensory spring sensation” will provide a fine feast for all five senses of lovers of laid-back jazz, full-bodied wine…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbOCIQPDZt8&w=500&h=400]I am currently at the Getaway Show in Johannesburg working off the Kouga Baviaans Surf and Safari stand. The stand across from us belongs to the Sarah Baartman District Municipality (formerly the Cacadu District Municipality) promoting they "7 Wonders of our World". The Sarah Baartman DM is located on the western side of the Eastern Cape and surrounds the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality which includes Port Elizabeth. The 7 Wonders they are promoting are the 7 areas that make up…
After yesterday's picture of the Apple Express narrow gauge line I decided to post another picture featuring the line. After the line leaves Loerie it heads towards Jeffreys Bay across the lover Gamtoos Valley plains. Not far outside of Loerie the line crosses over the Loerie Spruit (a tributary of the Gamtoos River) before passing through Melon Station. There's just something about these old railway and road bridges, isn't there?