One of the most popular vendor stalls at the stadium during a rugby game is the biltong vendor. For those non-South Africans amongst you who don't know what biltong is, its dried meat and in the USA they call it jerky. The guy in the picture is my Boet. He knows the owner of the stand who asked him if he would help her out at the game. I stood there chatting to him for a while and was amazed…
Our provincial rugby team (in the red and black) is known as the Eastern Province Kings. Previously known as the EP Mighty Elephants, the team has fallen on hard times lately and has struggled keeping players. This year, with new administration at the helm, the team has florished. Last Saturday night they played in the Currie Cup 1st Division semi final against the Boland Kaveliers at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, beating them in a tense game. This means that EP is…
Today the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium here in Port Elizabeth is hosting its 4th game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup between Chile and Switzerland. So far the stadium has already played host to Greece, Korea Republic, Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Germany and Serbia. The last first round match here will be England vs Slovenia on Wednesday. We are all still waiting with bated breaths to see who will play here during the knockout rounds. Since the start of…
Looking up at the roof of the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. The stadium's nickname is The Sunflower due to the petal like look of its roof structure. I know its a bit tongue in cheek, but if you look at it from the outside or above, it also looks a bit like a meringue. But that I say with all the respect in the world, as I am very very proud of our magnificent stadium. For more…
Today is the start of what must be the biggest event ever staged on the African continent. The 2010 FIFA World Cup opening game between Bafana Bafana (South Africa) and Mexico takes place in Johannesburg this afternoon (11 June 2010) while the first of 8 games in Port Elizabeth is tomorrow (Saturday 12 June 2010) between Greece and South Korea. The games in Port Elizabeth take place at the magnificent new 48000 seater Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next to the…
Today is 100 days to the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and 101 days until the first match in Port Elizabeth. To celebrate it I decided to post this night photo of the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium with its lights on as seen from across the North End Lake. .Last Friday night I went to the Warriors vs Cobras cricket Pro20 semi final at St Georges Park. After the game I took a detour via the lake…
Rows of seats in the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Notice how the seats are different shades of red and orange. The reason for that is that when seats are broken and replaced the new seats wouldn't stand out amongst the slightly faded older chairs. To facilitate that there is no definitive pattern of colours and the seats were just randomly places..GPS: 33°56'16.53"S, 25°35'58.27"E
As everybody should know by now, South Africa will be hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June and July this year. Port Elizabeth is one of the proud host cities and matches will be played in the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. The final draw for the tournament was done early in December and we found out that Germany, England and Portugal will all be playing in PE in the first round. Another one of the teams that will…