Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial

The Prince Alfred's Guard Memorial stands in St Georges Park and was erected in 1907 in remembrance to men from the guard that died in four different wars. On each of the four corners of the base of the memorial is a tablet bearing the names of officers and men who fell in the Transkei War, 1877 ; Basutoland War, 1880-1881; Bechuanaland War, 1897; and the Anglo Boer War 1899 - 1902. At the foot of each tablet is a laurel wreath.

On the top of the central pedestal is a life-size figure of a sergeant-major of Prince Alfred's Guard, in full dress and standing at the "charge" and immediately below him are four lions, each holding a shield.

The Memorial is situated on top of Port Elizabeth's second oldest water reservoir.

Fun walk

On Saturday morning we went to participate in a fun walk at the Westering Pre-primary school. It was a fund raising event for the school and was very well supported. Young and old, big and small, all had fun tackling the 4km route before heading back to the school for breakfast which was a choice between bacon and eggs or Halaal.

Happy Valley

Who living in Port Elizabeth can say that they have never been to Happy Valley? Probably not many. Some people (like myself) went there as kids and now take their kids. I love going to Happy Valley. It is a wonderland of colourful lights and kids story and rhyme characters. Happy Valley is situated on the beachfront just off Humewood Beach. It truly is a Port Elizabeth institution. For more on Happy Valley, go here.

Donkin Reserve tree aloe

This picture was taken facing away from the Donkin Pyramid and lighthouse towards Donkin Street. The church in the background is The Hill Prespetarian Church with the Donkin Street Houses from the middle to the right of the picture. The tree in the foreground is a Tree Aloe (Aloe barberiae), which is normally found in thickets, kloofs and savanna in the east of South Africa.

Cricket at St Georges

I popped down to St Georges Park during lunch time both yesterday and today to see a bit of the 4 day game between the Warriors, our local boys, and the Dolphins from Natal.

St Georges Park is the site of the oldest cricket club in South Africa, established in 1843. This is also the place where the first cricket test (1891) and the first rugby test (1891) in the country were played.

Market Square

The view accross Market Square in the city centre towards the Main Library.

City Hall Clock Tower

Port Elizabeth's beautiful colonial city hall was built between 1858 and 1862. The clock tower was added to the building in 1883. Unfortunately the building was just about destroyed by fire in 1977 and many paintings of early Port Elizabeth as well as the only original portrait of Lady Elizabeth Donkin was lost. The building was restored and re-opened in 1981.

Kite surfer

I popped down to the beachfront during lunch time today to get some fresh air. There was a strong south-easterly breeze blowing and looking back over Kings Beach towards the harbour I saw a lone kite surfer making the most of the ideal conditions.

Cemetery road

My office is very close to the South End cemetery and when I have nothing to do I normally take a slow drive through the cemetery looking for interesting monuments and angles to photograph. The other day I realised that while I was looking for the little things, the big picture was passing me by.

Hobie Beach at low tide

At low tide the rocky shore line next to the main swimming beach at Hobie Beach (with Shark Rock Pier) gets exposed. In the summer you often find people with young children wading through the ponds in search of something interesting. The one day we found an octopus under one of the rocks which really intrigued Chaos Boy. There are normally also a couple of bird species hanging around, but for me the most interesting by far is the endangered Black Oyster Catcher.