I've always wanted to take a couple of pictures of the canola fields in the Overberg to post but I always seem to travel through the area in summer or winter and never in spring. Attending the e-Tourism Africa Summit in Cape Town and having driven up via the Klein Karoo I didn't even think of canola fields until we dropped over into the Overberg at Botrivier and there is was down below. Patches of canola field flowers in all…
My quick two day visit to Cape Town for the e-Tourism Africa Summit just wet my appetite for a bit of a Cape holiday again. Not that I know when I'll get the opportunity but I do know that I need some explore time in the city again. The three things I would really like to do is a tour of the underground tunnels that run through the city bowl, to hike up Table Mountain via Platteklip Gorge and to do…
The town of Ashton is situated on the Robertson Valley close to the start of Route 62. As one drives along this road between Worcester and the Klein Karoo there is a steam locomotive on the left about halfway through town. Heading down to Cape Town I made a quick stop to have a look and with the sun heading to the horizon I snapped this picture. The locomotive is a No 2010 class 14 CRB and was designed and built by the…
One of South Africa's most popular sunset view sites is from Signal Hill in Cape Town. Visitors and locals alike head up to its lookout spots to see the sun set over the Atlantic Ocean. And that is exactly what I did last week on a whirlwind visit to the city for a tourism e-marketing summit. The conference ended just before six and I rushed up, parked the car and made my way along one of the paths to find somewhere…
Over the years the Cape has been occupied by different countries and there was always a threat of an invasion because of the Cape's strategic location. Because of this a big number of defensive positions have been set up all around the Cape Peninsula from the time that the first European's colonised the area. One of these can be seen at the top of Kloof Nek. Two 12 Pounder Guns were placed on Kloof Nek in 1782 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC)…
Bartholomew Dias was the first European to discover South Africa. On an expedition looking for a sea way to the East he sailed around the Cape in a storm without knowing it. On 3 February 1488 he landed in Mossel Bay which he called the Bay of Saint Blaise. On 12 March they reached the furthest point of the expedition when he anchored at Kwaaihoek near the Bushmans River mouth. It was here that Dias planted a stone cross (padrao) before…
The first sighting of the Cape, False Bay and Table Mountain one gets approaching from the east is from the top of Sir Lowry's Pass on top of the Hottentots Holland Mountains. The view sight is situated at the top of the pass and about 920 meters above sea level. The view site gives a beautiful panorama from Gordon's Bay and Strand on the shore of False Bay on the left towards Somerset West and the Helderberg on the right. …
The Wheel of Excellence (or just Waterfront Big Wheel as most people refer to it) at the V&A Waterfront has become a favorite activity for visitors in Cape Town to do. The surrounding view of the Waterfront and city from the top is stunning. My last visit to Cape Town was a brief one and there wasn't time for a trip, but I did snap this pic of it on a walk through the Waterfront before heading to dinner.
A bit of an unusual view of the upper cable station on top of Table Mountain seen from near the top of Kloof Nek (unusual unless you live in Cape Town and come along this road often that is)
A panoramic view of Nature's Valley from one of the scenic view site on the trail to Salt River