Despatch attractions

Even though the town of Despatch between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage is part of the Nelson Mandel Bay metropolitan area, its a fairly quiet place and most people from outside the area only knows it as the home of rugby legend Danie Gerber.  One wouldn't really call Despatch a bustling tourist destination, but there are one or two attractions one can visit if you have time on your way through.

On the outskirts of the town next to the railway line is the historic brickworks chimney which was built in 1882.  Despatch originally started as a siding on the main railway line between Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage which was used to transport bricks from the flourishing brickworks to PE for use in construction.  That is actually where the town got its name from as the bricks were "despatch"ed from here. 

Standing in the main road through town visitors will be able to fond the Despatch Museum.  The interior boasts a mini model of the Stegosaurus, which was discovered in Despatch in 1903. (The original dinosaur is currently on display at Bayworld). Alongside it, are examples of the original bricks produced in the town, as well as a further two models of beautiful, red brick chimneys built by a former town engineer.  Given the fact that many well-known sportsmen originated from Despatch, numerous sporting memorabilia festoon the walls of the museum.  These include six rugby Springbok blazers, along with the jackets of two South African cricket umpires and the running gear of a Comrades Marathon winner. Names such as Danie Gerber, Adri Geldenhuys, Rudi Koertzen and Charl Matthys, amongst others, are synonymous with Despatch.

Free State church flowers

Flowers in front of the Dutch Reformed Church in the small Free State Town of Wepener.

Jellyfish for lunch

I've posted about Plough Shells before (here and here) but I can never get enough of these very interesting creatures living in the sand below the high and low tide mark.  On a visit to Dana Bay near Mossel Bay in the Western Cape we found literally hundreds of them feeding on a dead jelly fish.

I always feel so sorry for these little guys when a wave pushes the water up the beach and wash them away from their meal.  But they persist and turn right around, heading straight back for more.

This picture is to show the size of the jelly fish and to give you an idea how big the plough shells are.

Random around the Knysna Heads

I still have a couple of odd pictures from our last visit to Knysna which I haven't posted, most of them taken around the Knysna Heads.  Thus I decided to do a "Random ..." post featuring pictures take around the Heads.

The view from the top of the Heads is amazing and this is where most tourists visiting Knysna would come for a couple of pictures.  In the picture is a catamaran as well as a helicopter both doing sightseeing trips through the Heads.

The afternoon sun glittering on the Knysna Lagoon as seen from Coney Glen Beach side of the Heads.

Another picture from Coney Glen Beach with the afternoon sun disappearing behind the cliff

The beacon on the rocks at the Eastern Head is one of two beacons (the other one is on Leisure Isle) that are used by boats to navigate through the dangerous entrance of the Heads into the Knysna Lagoon.

Sunset across the Knysna Lagoon from the top of the Heads

Along the jetty

On a recent visit to Knynsa I was looking for spots to photograph the sunset from and found this jetty pointing directly at the Knysna Heads in the distance.

The view towards the Knysna Heads from the end of the jetty

Plettenberg Bay sunrise

People (and that includes me) always refer to the magnificent African sunsets that we enjoy here in South Africa, but rarely do folk wax lyrical about the African sunrises.  Well, I hereby want to brag with the fact that we have as beautiful sunrises as we have sunsets.

These two photos were taken of a sunrise in Plettenberg Bay a couple of months ago

Coastline flowers

Walking along the Sacramento Trail outside Port Elizabeth this time of year you get to see a lot of different flowers along with fantastic views of the coastline.