Road Trip: Port Elizabeth. Beach and wildlife

Today is our anniversary. 39 years ago we were married in Port Elizabeth.  It is very special to be able to celebrate one's anniversary in the place one was married.
It dawned a beautiful, sunny, windless day - perfect for the beach.

On the way we saw the giant flag was flying again. The pole is 60 metres high and the flag is the size of a tennis court and can be seen even from the beachfront. There is a you tube video of it being taken down in a typical Port Elizabeth wind.

First we went to Angelo's on the beach front for breakfast. We had a lovely table with a view of the beach.

We watched kayaks paddle past, swimmers doing laps to the pier and back and people just enjoying the sea.

After a yummy breakfast we went to the other side of the pier to Hobie Beach.

I had forgotten how much fun swimming in the sea can be. Port Elizabeth must have some of the best beaches in the world.  The sand is clean and neither too course nor too fine. The sea bed is soft and the water is clear. We went beyond the breakers to the swells and bobbed up and down hoping the waves wouldn't break in our faces. I thought I was too old to enjoy swimming in the sea but I had so much fun!
A number of other people had realised what a lovely day it was and the beach was reasonably crowded.

Different people were having fun doing different things.

Divers coming in from their morning dive

Families making memories together

Nobody is too young to go to the sea

Some people had fun surfing in the waves

Others enjoyed digging in the sand

Once we'd had enough sun we made our way to Seaview Predator Park. It is a cross between a game park and a zoo. We drove around the game park area by car and saw some giraffes and wildebeest.

The lions and tigers were in fenced off enclosures

Lions sleep 18 - 20 hours a day

Tigers are not indigenous to South Africa. These were Bengal and Siberian Tigers.  Unlike lions, tigers lead solitary lives in the wild. Unlike most big cats, tigers love swimming. Every tiger in the world is unique; no tiger has the same stripes.

There is a restaurant nearby where even the chairs fit the wildlife theme.

From there the Sanctuary, or zoo,  is accessed via a rather rickety bridge/walkway.

The animals I found most interesting were the caracal and the meerkats.

Lots of information was given about the various animals on large signboards.

After an enjoyable  and interesting day in the sun, we finished off with dinner at the Beach Hotel which is where we spent our wedding night 39 years ago. I'm happy to report that the standard is just as good as it ever was. Tomorrow morning we are going to church at Walmer Methodist Church, the church in which Brian's Dad and his Uncle John conducted our marriage ceremony.

Road Trip Day 30. Port Elizaberh - memories and history.

We've been in Port Elizabeth two weeks now and have only been to the beach once.

Both Brian and I have lived in PE at some time during our past. We've visited before as we both have family here.
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We decided to go for a picnic to Settlers Park which Brian had not gone to since before we were married. When we got there, it didn't feel safe to us. There were 2 beaten up combi taxis and about 2 other cars.  2 Homeless people (apparently they are called Valley People in Port Elizabeth)sat on two separate benches. We phoned our relatives and were told it probably was unwise to walk alone there. The Donkin Memorial site would be a safer bet.

Facing the Donkin is the Grey Institute building. When I was 11, our family moved to Port Elizabeth and I went to the Albert Jackson School in that building.

In the 1850's a large grant was made for the establishment of a school in Port Elizabeth which became known as the Grey Institute. It was completed in 1859. By 1900 the school had about a thousand pupils.  The building became too small for so many pupils and in 1915 the school moved to more spacious premises in Mill Park.

This building became the Pearson High School (1928 to 1941) and later the Albert Jackson Primary school.
It was sold to the Mediterranean Shipping Company a couple of years ago and restored to its former glory.

We hope to be able to look inside once the New Year festivities are over.

The Donkin Reserve was proclaimed an open space in perpetuity by Sir Rufane Donkin. His wife, Elizabeth, after whom the city is named, died at the age of 28, leaving behind a seven month old baby. A pyramid monument was erected by Rufane in her honour. The lighthouse was built in 1861 and now houses the Tourist Information Centre.

On the way home we passed the Horse Memorial.

Road Trip Day 12. Nieu Bethesda

I ran out of data so I couldn't do yesterday's post yesterday.

We moved from one extreme to the other as far as caravan parks go. At Gariep it took us more than half an hour just to get from our caravan site to the entrance of the resort. After some fairly hairy mountain passes we got to Nieu Bethesda and a caravan park that I could walk across in less than a minute.

It could take 6 caravans but we were the only one there. Again bathroom to ourselves with hot water and everything we needed.

From our campsite we walked across the foot bridge to visit the Owl House. It was the house of a school teacher, Helen Martins who was born in Nieu Bethesda and then returned after her marriage failed, to look after her aging parents. Her mother passed away and then after her father died she seemed to have been in a dark place in her life and started decorating her house to let in as much light as possible, replacing some of the windows with panes of coloured glass. She was an artist and with the help of workers from the village she filled her garden with cement sculptures, many with religious themes although owls, snakes and mermaids also feature prominently. She became something of a recluse, eventually taking her own life  by drinking caustic soda. I found it a fascinating place to walk through.

It was also interesting to see some of the old furniture and household items that were used in those days.

After visiting the Owl House, we tried to get to the fossil centre before 6 but we couldn't find it and then time ran out. Nieu Bethesda is a little Karoo town that seems to have managed to stop the clock and still does things the old way. The church has no electricity so doesn't hold evening services except once a year Carols by candlelight and some services by gas lamps.  

There are some beautiful gardens and interesting houses.

We felt a little sad to leave this morning - almost as if we had left part of ourselves behind. We were also a bit apprehensive about how Cubby would manage the steep incline out of town.

Road Trip Day 11. Gariep

We can see the harbour from our site

There is nobody between us and the water

This morning we woke up in holiday mode. We got up late, had a late breakfast and later went for a swim and ice cream.

The swimming pool was not very busy

This afternoon we got back into tourist mode. I had phoned to find out about a cruise on the dam. The lady told me that we had to be at the restaurant outside the Forever Resort to pay by 10 to 4 and then the boat would leave at 4pm. We thought if we left at 3.30 we'd be able to get to the restaurant by 3.50. We miscalculated the distance ( and the map we were given is obviously not to scale.) At 3.45 a different lady phoned to find out if we were still coming and it seemed that we were not going to make it. When we got to the security control of the resort we decided to split up. Brian would go the the restaurant and  pay and I would go down to the yacht club and tell the captain my husband was still coming and please not to leave before he got there.  The yacht club was back in the direction we had come from and again further than I thought. I saw I wasn't going to make it so I started doing scouts pace (20 running steps and 20 walking steps that we used to do at Guides) until I caught up with a group of people heading in the same direction and then I could finally slow down (and breathe)
At about 4.15 a car came down the slope and Brian got out and the boat could depart. We apologised to the other passengers.

The trip was very interesting.
The dam is currently 57% full. Cnstruction began in 1966 and was completed in 1971. The purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use and power generation. It is the second largest man-made dam in the southern hemisphere after Kariba. The dam wall is 88m high and almost a kilometer long.
The electricity generated is fed into the grid and is annually 889 GWh.

After all the talk of drought it was lovely to see so much fresh water in one place. The perimeter is surrounded by nature reserves in an effort to help keep the dam unpolluted.

We turned around where 3 provinces intersect - Free State, Eastern Cape and Northern Cape.
Once again we drove through the harbour and admired the boats.

Brian and I could see Cubby from the jetty so we decided to cut across the low-water-area instead of going the long way around. 

We had a lovely braai and watched night fall over Gariep Dam. Tomorrow we hit the road again.

Road Trip Day 10. Philippolis and onward

Philippolis, the first town to be established in the province, was founded in 1823 as a mission station to reach the local Griqua people. It was named after Dr John Philip who was the superintendent of the London Missionary Society. Adam Kok II, the Griqua leader, settled here with his people in 1826. The kraal where he kept his cattle and horses can still be seen. In 1861 the Griquas left for Kokstad.

The Dutch Reformed Church was built on the spot where the original missionary church stood. During the Anglo-Boer War the church was converted into a fort and the windows of the spire were blocked with sandbags.

Other famous people who lived in Philippolis were Emily Hobhouse and Laurens van der Post, the author. Emily Hobhouse helped improve the lives of the Boers during the Anglo-Boer War and founded the first spinning and weaving school after the war  in 1905. 

Yesterday evening we climbed up a small hill to view the two naval cannons. They were presented by the Cape colonial government to Adam Kok III in 1840. They may have been used during the various wars between the Griqua, Basotho and Boers.

On the way back to the Kanon Guest House we saw The Shop - and it was open (6.45pm on a Saturday evening?). We looked around at some lovely antiques and art works. I was given a glass of port to sip while I browsed.

This morning we packed all our overnight things back into Cubby and spent some time looking around Philippolis.

We saw the Emily Hobhouse memorial garden......

......an interesting street sign......

....and the old jail.

Martha was our guide. Back in the main street we saw the Laurens van der Post memorial garden through a barred gate

and then we were on our way to Colesberg. (We decided to take the longer route to Gariep.)

We passed again the interesting old houses and old trucks on our way out.

The road to Colesberg was a main road between two country towns and this time we had to be careful of goats on the side of the road.

Colesberg is a slightly larger town with a choice of supermarkets and autobanks and petrol brands.

Like many other towns it is built around a church.

From Colesberg we got back onto the N1 and backtracked to Gariep.

 We decided to stay in the Forever resort even though it is slightly above our budget. It is a very well run resort, a cut above the average, and we are going to use the laundry facilities to do a load of washing tomorrow.