Empty highway

Some abandoned highway somewhere after the outbreak of the zombie apocalypse?  Nope, the N2 just past Coega, taken from the overpass at just the right time to show an empty road.

Coega wind turbine

Before all these wind farm that have been going up at Jbay, the Tsitsikamma, Blue Horizon Bay and on the Addo Road there was only one.  The very first wind turbine to be erected in the area was the one close to the N2 in the Coega Industrial Development zone.  One that's still standing all by it's lonesome self.  I took a drive through the IDZ today and decided to snap a pic of it.

Colourful Elegant Grasshopper at Coega

So how high does one jump when you're walking around in the grass looking at the horizon and see movement from the corner of your eye to find about 10 of these colourful Elegant Grasshoppers all around your legs.  In my case pretty high as I did taking some photos with my phone in the Coega area.  Sorry I didn't have my camera to get a better picture though.

Coega from the sky

Fly to Durban the other day I leaned over the Damselfly who was sitting by the window to snap a pic of the Coega Harbour down below.  Not the best picture but a different angle from what you see passing on the N2  

Dune coastline aerial

Driving along the N2 from Port Elizabeth to Colchester you pass the Coega harbor and then it's a straight stretch to the Sundays River with not much to see on either side.  Have you ever driven that road and wondered what the coastline between the harbor and Sundays look like? I didn't get to see it up close but I did fly over it (and man was my arms tired - yes, old joke, I know) just after takeoff on our way to Jhb.  It would be nice to walk this piece of coastline, just to see it up close, don't you think?

Coega in the distance

Coega Harbour seen from Bluewater Bay Beach. Notice the two oil rigs currently being worked on in the harbour.

Coega in the distance

I'm often amazed how many people have stood on the beachfront without spotting the Coega Harbour gantry cranes in the distance.  If you are one of those, I bet you will have a look next time you get down to the beach and won't miss them again.  I took the photo from Pollok Beach just in case you were wondering.

Coega gantries in the mist

This week's posts are turning into a mini Wells Estate series.  Wells Estate is situated close to the Coega Harbour and standing on the end of the pier you can see the harbour with all its gantries and cranes.  On my visit it was foggy out Coega way and the cranes looked like specters in the mist. 

Coega wind turbine

Port Elizabeth gets it's fair share of wind and that is where the Windy City tag line comes from.  Not many are big fans of wind but the wind does have its good points as well.  The first being the fact that it keeps our air clean and blows the air pollutions away.  Recently wind turbines have started to go up around the city and I'm surprised that it has taken this long for it to happen.  The first one was put up at Coega and since construction has started on wind farms at Blue Horizon Bay, Jeffrey's Bay, Cookhouse and now also Motherwell.  The one at Coega is still standing there by his lonesome self and I decided to go and have a closer look.  It is HUUUUGGGGGEEEEE, standing 95m tall with a rotor blade radius of 49m.  That's my car standing to the left of it and Damselfly and Chaos Boy is newt to invisible by the door at the base.

Coega IDZ aerial

The last of the pictures I snapped returning to Port Elizabeth recently was of the Coega Industrial Development Zone.  The Coega Harbour is visible on the right and Motherwell on the left.

Coega Harbour aerial

Last weekend I posted aerial pictures of the Colchester dune fields and the Swartkops River area taken on my flight home from Indaba in Durban recently.  I've got two more pictures I took approaching Port Elizabeth which I would like to show.  Today's one is the Coega deep water port.  With the completion of the Coega Harbour Port Elizabeth became the first city in South Africa to have to commercial posts.

Coega Harbour aerial at sunset

I flew back from Johannesburg last week (and boy were my arms tired) and for a change I was sitting by a window on the right side of the plane with an approach over the bay.  My camera was at the ready to get a couple of aerial shots but I just about lost all light after sunset.  I did manage to snap a shot of the Coega Deepwater Harbour (above) as well as the Port Elizabeth Harbour which I will post tomorrow.