The Graaff-Reinet church - looking rather ghostly

The last two months have been an absolute blur. Don't ask me where it went, I just know it's gone and I am exhausted.  But things are getting back to normal and hopefully I will get my blogging mojo back as well.  The pictures from our Graaff-Reinet weekend is lined up and just waiting for the words to be added.  In the meantime here is one I took of the Groot Kerk at the top of the main drag into through town taken after dark.  Looks kinda haunting, doesn't it?

Christmas full moon

We spent 10 days over the December holidays camping at Vloedbos Holiday Resort in the Overberg and I have a couple of days left before heading back to work on Monday.  So between chilling in the pool, keeping the KidZ busy and doing a few chores around the house, plus sleeping a little late for a change, I haven't really done much blogging lately other than my daily posts on PE Daily Photo.  But  I think it's time to start sharing with all of you again.

A few days before Christmas the KidZ noticed that the moon was starting to fill out and I decided to check when it was going to be full moon.  Turned out that it was full moon on Christmas Day. Interestingly the last time full moon fell on Christmas Day was back in 1977 and it won't happen again until 2034.

Table Mountain and Waterfront at dusk

Iconic Table Mountain seen at dusk from the equally iconic V&A Waterfront

Cape Town big wheel

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.

V&A Waterfront after dark

I really don't get to go to Cape Town anywhere close to as much as I would like to.  When I do though I make sure I visit some attractions and touristy spots to soak in the Cape atmosphere.  A short two night visit for World Travel Market African meant that I only got to take a quick drive down to Hout Bay for a meeting, walk the streets around the International Convention Centre at lunch time and pop into the V&A Waterfront for dinner.  Just before dinner I strolled down to the Robben Island Ferry jetty to find a geocache and snapped this picture of the waterfront lights. 

Boardwalk Fountain Spectacular

In December 2012 when the Boardwalk Complex opened the new Boardwalk Hotel and Convention Centre, it also launched the Fountain Spectacular on the Boardwalk Lake.  People streamed to the Boardwalk to see the fountains with its lights and music.  On weekend evenings there were so many people that they stood about four or five deep around the lake to see the performance.  For that reason I decided to wait a little bit to go and a little bit became a long bit.  Needless to see most of Port Elizabeth probably got to see the Spectacular before I got there, but better late than never.  I popped by with a film crew from the SABC 1 travel show Vaya Mzansi and actually couldn't believe my eyes.  Its an amazing show which really can not be missed by anybody visiting (or living in) Port Elizabeth.  Sunday to Thursday there is one show every evening but on Fridays and Saturday they do three.  Each show is about 20 minutes long and, sorry to repeat myself, cannot be missed.

Boardwalk Hotel lights

The Boardwalk Complex in Port Elizabeth has always been a beautiful sight at night but since the completion of the new 5 star Boardwalk Hotel and Convention Centre it's become an absolute visual feast for the eyes.  The lights become even more obvious when seen from inside the Boardwalk Complex itself where it reflects off the Boardwalk lake.

Donkin Reservaat na donker

Die Donkin Reservaat in Port Elizabeth het 'n mengsel van beide oud en modern.  Die oud is die Donkin gedenkteken in die vorm van 'n piramide (1820) en die Donkin Vuurtoring (1861) terwyl die moderne aspek die nuwe kuns is wat deel vorm van Roete 67. 

"Moon light bulb"

Some of the regular visitors to the blog is probably starting to wonder why I haven't posted any pictures I took on our December holiday to beautiful Montagu and Cape Town yet.  Well, first my laptop didn't want to read my camera and after 4 days of struggle I took my old pc out of storage and got the pics downloaded.  I started going through them last night and as soon as I have done I will get them posted.

Late last year I was hosting a group of journalists to Port Elizabeth for the IRB Rugby 7's and we visited Anza's tavern in Motherwell for dinner one night.  I was sitting outside and the near full moon kept on peeking out from behind the clouds.  On top of this pipe it actually looked like a dim light bulb.

Kuzuko Lodge dinner

Today's post is a follow-up on yesterday's one featuring Kuzuko Lodge.  After returning from our evening game drive we just had enough time to put our things down and change before dinner time up in the restaurant.

The Damselfly contemplating what to have for dinner

Dinner was a la carte and my choice was a starter of Butternut Soup followed by Smoked Salmon and salad.  My main meal was steak and vegetables and dessert consisted of White Chocolate and Berry Mousse.

Lodge at night

Returning from the night drive to the Bucklands Boutique Guest House, the lodge staff had a fire burning outside and dinner was being prepared in the kitchen.  Although I wanted to go and have a quick bath before dinner I decided to rather chill by the fire a little while before the meal.  The bath could wait till later.  And I think I took the better option sitting there listening to the night sounds.

Table Mountain floodlights

Table Mountain is an every day sight for all who lives and visits Cape Town.  There is nothing like the sight of the mountain on a beautiful day or when the table cloth starts to spill over it from behind.  On special days and occasions the mountain is also visible at night when the flood lights are switched on.  The lights aren't left on though as they do impact on the natural rhythms of the plants, animals and insects that call Table Mountain home.

I was delighted to see that they were on the evening that I was in Cape Town.  I headed up to the road by the Lower Cable Station for a couple of pics.  Unfortunately I didn't have my tripod to get a crisp detailed shot or to use a longer exposure and I wasn't going to wander around on the dark road all by myself.  Next time I mustn't forget to pack my tripod when I go down there.

Total lunar eclipse

Last night we had the opportunity to observe not just a total lunar eclipse, but also a relatively rare central lunar eclipse in which the center point of Earth's shadow passes over the Moon.  The last time a lunar eclipse was closer to the center of the earth's shadow was on 16 July 2000 and the next central total lunar eclipse will only be on 27 July 2018.

Full moon rising

 The eclipse started at about 20h22...

 ... with the moon disappearing more...

 ... and more...

... and more... 

... until there was just a sliver left. 

 I changed the setting on the camera slightly to take in more light and show the moon after the last moonlight disappeared.

The reason the moon looks red during an eclipse is because although the sunlight isn't hitting it directly anymore, some of it still get reflected (or bent) by our atmosphere to hit the moon.  My scientific knowledge is a bit limited, but the internet tells me that the more atmosphere that sunlight travels through, the more the blue and green parts of the spectrum are scattered.  The sunlight hits the atmosphere at a shallow angle and is carried through a lot of atmosphere until it’s redirected out onto the moon “hiding” from direct sunlight. The red end of the spectrum is all that can get through that much interference, so the moon in total eclipse appears reddish in colour.

This makes for the ideal Skywatch post this week.

Crescent moon

The other evening Chaos Boy asked me why the moon has a second moon on top of it. I couldn't figure out what he meant and went to check. It was a crescent moon, but the part of the moon in shadow was clearly visible.

For more pictures featuring the sky, visit Skywatch

Soccer ball light structures

Today is the start of the 2010 FIFA World Cup here in South Africa. I will be posting most of my World Cup photos on my Port Elizabeth Daily Photo blog, but some will make their way here as well. The posts on here will continue business as usual.

These photos are of the new soccer ball structures on the traffic circles outside the Port Elizabeth Airport. They are beautifully lit up at night and while I was there taking these I saw lots of cars slowing down or stopping to take photos.

100 days to World Cup

In 100 days time the world will descend on South Africa for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The opening game takes place at Soccer City on 11 June 2010 while the first game in Port Elizabeth is on 12 June between Korea Republic and Greece. Other first round games in PE will be Côte d'Ivore vs Portugal, Germany vs Serbia, Chile vs Switzerland and Slovenia vs England. All 5 of these games plus a round of 16 game, a quarter final and the 3rd/4th playoff will be played at the new Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium here in Port Elizabeth.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next to the North End Lake is a 45,000 seat multi purpose stadium (48,000 during the World Cup) purpose built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The five-tier, 1.1 billion Rand (approximately $150m) stadium is one of three coastal stadiums built in anticipation of the World Cup. This is the first world-class soccer stadium to be built in the Eastern Cape and the first one in the world to be completed in less than two years.

The stadium has already hosted a number of high profile matches with amongst others the British Lions playing in a rugby match against the Southern Kings, South Africa playing a soccer international friendly against Japan and Korea Republic playing a practise match against local club Bay United. After the World Cup the stadium may be used as the home ground for the Eastern Province rugby team, the Southern Kings if they are admitted to the Super 15 rugby tournament, as well as Bay United if they return to the Premier Soccer League.

The stadium is a magnificent sight, specially at night with its lights on and has truly become a new landmark on the Port Elizabeth skyline. For another night pic of the stadium, visit Port Elizabeth Daily Photo.

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GPS: 33°56'17.11"S, 25°35'57.85"E

Spooky full moon

A spooky full moon peeking past the branches of a spooky looking tree on a spooky fog cloudy evening. Not quite Halloween yet, but soon....

Taken about a week and a half ago on our camping trip to Sleepy Hollow. (Spooky name as well)

For more (probably not so spooky) pictures of the sky from all over the globe, visit Skywatch.

Haunting full moon

Evening lighthouse moods

We camped out at Cape St Francis over Easter weekend for three nights and one of the missions that I set for myself was to get a nice Seal Point Lighthouse picture at sunset.

I missed sunset on the first evening to say the least. We got busy and by the time I realised the sun was down... well, it was too late. So I ambled over the dunes with my camera and tripod and set up for an evening shot from a distance.

The second evening I headed down to the lighthouse and got there just before sunset. The sky wasn't as beautiful as the previous evening, but at least I got this pic.

The last evening the sky looked very much the same as the previous night, but I headed down to the point yet again. Not much sunset to play with (this will now have to wait for the next visit which will be who knows when), but I tried to get the lighthouse from a different side.

The Boardwalk day and night

The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment complex on the Port Elizabeth beachfront is a very popular spot for both locals as well as visitors to the city. The nice part about it is that you don't have to visit the casino to visit the Boardwalk. In actual fact the complex is a very family friendly environment. Most of the shops are open in the evenings until 20:00 while the restaurants are open till late.

Boardwalk by day

Boardwalk by night