Random

I've been thinking about my blogs quite a lot lately and is considering changing this blog to look the same as my Port Elizabeth Daily Photo blog and show big pictures rather than little ones.  But I have a bunch of already edited pictures waiting to be posted, so I am working to get through them all before switching to big pics.  So I'm starting to work through all the "pics in waiting" with a rather random "Random ..." post showing a couple of random steam railway related pictures. 

So what does the last picture have to do with steam railway? Its the railway line between Knysna and George that was used by the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe.

Urban game

Quite a number of the features in the Biodiversity Garden in Cape Town have animals in them.  This little metal antelope was standing in the long grass keeping an "eye" on me.  If you had to look quickly you would very easily mistake it for a real animal.

Dolphin Point at Wilderness

One of the most popular lookout points on the Garden Route is Dolphin Point just outside Wilderness on the way to George.  Most tour buses as well as holiday makers tend to pull over here to both stretch their legs and enjoy the magnificent views.  Looking east you can see Wilderness itself with its long stretch of sandy beach leading off into the distance.

Turning the other way you see the Kaaimans River railway bridge down below.  The railway linking George and Knysna was completed in 1928 and it used to carry the very well known Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train until 2006 when the line was badly damaged in floods.  Unfortunately the train has since ceased to operate.  When I was still a tourist guide we always timed our departure from Knysna in the morning so that we could be at the lookout on time to see the train puff across the bridge.  The good old days...

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