On New Years Day we went looking for a quite beach to relax on, cool off and catch some sun. We discovered the ideal spot in Kini Bay. A gully right in front of Sea Otters Lodge. While Port Elizabeth's main beaches were packed to the brim, the Kini Bay beach was nice and quiet and the gully was a safe spot for the KidZ to swim and snorkel at their heart's delight. We will definitively come back to this spot…
Over the years Willows Resort along Marine Drive on Port Elizabeth's Wildside has become an PE institution. During the year many locals spend weekends here camping or staying in the very distinctively Willows rondawels while out of town visitors pack it out during the Summer holidays and over Easter. I've popped into Willows for various reasons in the past, but got to stay over for the first time on a weekend organised by my in-laws recently. Willows has it all to…
I've realised how few beach photos I've been posting over the last couple of month, but its been winter after all. Last weekend I went for a walk along the beachfront I suddenly realised that summer is around the corner and people will be flocking down to the beaches again very soon. Not that the weather's been very cold lately, but continuous summer weather will be very welcome and I can't wait to get back in the pool or down…
The Boardwalk Hotel and Convention Centre has really changed the beachfront skyline since it opened a year ago. I've heard that some people think it looks out of place while comparing it to a Disney like castle while others absolutely love it. But love it or hate it, the hotel and convention centre has become an integral part of the city's leisure, business and events tourism landscape and a great asset to Port Elizabeth. The photo was taken while on a bay cruise on the…
The muzzle of the Sacramento Cannon, pointing towards to wreck site where the Portugese ship Sacramento sank in 1647
In 1647 the Portuguese galleon Sacramento ran aground between present day Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay with 72 survivors reaching the beach and only nine making it all the way to Delagoa Bay (Maputo) in Mozambique. That is a distance of 1,300 km on foot. The ship carried a shipment of cannons and these spent the next 300 odd years on the ocean floor until they were salvaged in 1977. 40 bronze cannons were brought up and one of those cannons still stand in Schoenies at the…
One of my favourite things about cruising on the Sundays River with the Sundays River Ferry is climbing the dunes at the turning point. Going up is a leg aching, brow sweating and huff and puff affair but the view from the top makes it absolutely worth it. Plus what goes up must come down...
Its Spring Day!!! Spring hasn't really sprung just yet but psychologically at least we start to think Spring and we know its somewhere on the horizon. I'm celebrating Spring Day with a photo of the Wildside with Willows in the background. PS, I'm currently at the Getaway Show in Johannesburg so please excuse the short posts.
On a geocaching outing along Marine Drive the other day, Chaos Boy was very chuffed to find the spot where Santa hangs out during the year. The painted rock is visible from the road but not as well known as the bikini tree lady on Buffelsfontein Road.
Port Elizabeth has some great rock pools to discover between Cape Recife and Sardinia Bay and then again out at Seaview. Some are ideal for kids to explore while others are deeper gullies and pools and great for snorkeling. Pity my wetsuit has shrunk so badly over the last couple of years...