Callington Street

Sunrise over Algoa Bay from Callington Street

Kings Beach - Room with a view

Beach front flats looking over Kings Beach. They must have wonderful views of the area.

Kings Beach - Wetland

Sea gulls coming in to land. The wetland provides a quiet haven for the many birds that frequent the area. In the backgrond is the tank farm and the ore dump.

Kings Beach - the good, the bad and the ugly

Every now and again one comes across a gem that you did not know existed, like this wetland at Kings Beach, which is made brighter by these gazanias.

In the background you can see one of the fuel tanks at the tank farm and the manganese ore dumps, that will hopefully be relocated to Coega. These have always been a blight in the area and all efforts to have them moved, up to now, have proved fruitless.

Kings Beach - yacht from the harbour wall

Walking on the harbour wall is not allowed, but if you climb the dunes you can get a good view of what is happening in the area. The bay was very calm on Sunday with very little wind, but it did not deter this yacht from going out.

Kings Beach - harbour wall

It is a comfortable walk from the Kings Beach parking lot to the harbour wall. There is always something happening in the area. On some days you will see dolphins swimming past, or you can watch the water sport, or just enjoy the the variety of sea birds that frequent the area.

Kings Beach - a place of contrasts

In the thirty years that we have lived in Port Elizabeth, we could probably count the number of times we have been to Kings Beach on one hand. The reason being that we have always gone to other beaches. Today I felt the need to go for a walk and while Sue was busy preparing for an exhibition, I took a stroll on Kings Beach and had such a good time, it could become one of my favourite places.

Aviators

Time to take a break from climbing bell towers and checking out the view and have some dinner. Tonights choice is Aviators Pub and Grub, which is located in Allister Miller Drive alongside the Airport. It has a distinct aviation feel and atmosphere and serves a great steak.

The aircraft is an Impala MkI. It was used as a trainer in the SA Airforce but has long since pensioned off.

Campanile #6 the clocks

This is a multi-tasking tower. It is a bell tower, a monument, and a clock tower.

This latter function was not working too well until recently, as the clocks had stopped. Because watchmakers are becoming a very rare breed, and maintaining large clocks like this is an expensive business, the City Council battled to sort out the problem. Luckily the funds and expertise finally came together and the clocks are now running like.... well.... clockwork!

Here is the mechanism that drives the clocks, taken from way up inside the tower.

(By the way, if you look at the pillars around the top of the tower, in the top photo, that is where the bells you saw yesterday are installed. Between the pillars and the clocks, you can see arched windows, it is through these that we photographed the views to E W N and S)

Campanile #5

Back at the Campanile, no longer looking outwards, but upwards. We were very lucky to be allowed into the bell tower, so we can share with you views which few people have seen.

The Campanile boasts 23 bells, the most in any tower in South Africa (the next one in Gauteng has 10). It is an extremely tight fit up there, even trying to stitch pictures together is impossible, so we can't really show them all, but they are lovely. I love the soft green patina they have acquired over the years.The biggest ones are so thick and heavy that you can't feel the thickness with one hand.

They were donated by prominent citizens, and some of the well known names in our history are embossed on the sides of the bells. We spotted Frederick Korsten (after whom the suburb was named), Sir Rufane and Lady Elizabeth donkin, from the women of Port Elizabeth, the Jewish community, Captain Francis Evatt (this must have also been dedicated to him posthumously by the donor), but many of the smaller bells were attached to the roof and we could not see their sides.

This "bum" view of Max will give you and idea of the scale.