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Published: June 26th 2017
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Geo: -29.853, 31.0164
Our next port of call was Port Elizabeth. This is a large port, especially for exporting cars from the near-by assembly lines. Again we had not booked tours but relied on our own initiative and local taxis. We disembarked about9-30 and walked into the town. The first imposing sight is the Campanile, a very tall bell tower commemorating the first British settlement here in 1820. It was a short walk from there up some steps to the main centre of the city. Here there were some fine colonial buildings, still in good condition. We admired the large town hall standing on a wide square. Across the road was the Public Library with the seemingly necessary statue of Queen Victoria in front of it. We walked along what seemed to be the main shopping stree. Nothing very exciting and as we seemed to be the only white faces we opted to go back to the main square. We then saw the Feather Market, an impressive building which was built to house the very lucrative trade in Ostrich Feathers. Down a side street was another restored building, the local opera house. After a short time in this area we hailed a
taxi and proceeded to the beachfront and the Boardwalk complex.
The beach here is a beautiful, white sandy surf beach. Here is not far from where Mick Fanning was attacked by the shark, but we weren't going in the water. We were dropped off at the Boardwalk, a shopping centre/hotel/casino complex. This is a holiday resort with many apartments and hotels lining the beachfront. We wandered through the shopping area and found the important coffee shop with WiFi We had a coffee and stayed there while we caught up with news, posted blogs and searched for results. It was slow but accessible.
We then looked through the complex. This is well set out with a central lagoon around which there is the hotel and casino. A family of Egyptian Geese live in the lake and we saw Mum, Dad and the four kids going for a swim. We then went down to the waterfront and did the compulsory jetty walk. From there we watched the surfers riding in on small but consistent waves. At the base of the jetty was a rocky outcrop against which the waves were crashing. We chose Angelo's Afritalian restaurant for lunch and sat looking out over the
water. Here we had two enormous plates of chicken and prawn linguini and a bottle of local sauv blanc for the total cost of $A24. We are certainly getting value for money.
We then returned to the café and Fletcher managed to get on the WiFi but for some reason my computer would not connect. Hence a very grumpy me while he happily downloaded some results. After a frustrating hour we hailed a taxi and returned to the ship.After a pleasant dinner we went to the Wheelhouse bar where the Princess orchestra was having a Jazz Jam session. This was great, groovy music and Happy Hour price drinks.
Yesterday was a day at sea. We did the quizzes and managed to win the Pub Trivia one at 7pm which was based on ancient civilisations. Classics has all sorts of benefits. We won a bottle of champagne. I had a rehearsal for our Pop Choir upcoming concert and we both enjoyed Happy Hour at 9-30 listening to the 2 Cool Duo again. I even managed a dance or two with some of the other women passengers. Durban tomorrow.
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Kat
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I stayed at Jeffreys Bay, where Fanning had his run in with the shark. Although when I was there the waves were not living up to their usual brilliance. Two things are well known about Jeffreys Bay: the wave break is so long that 'a surfer
can start on a wave at breakfast and still be on it by morning tea' and I seem to remember reading that it is a shark breeding and feeding ground. It is a wonder that attacks are not more frequent! Then again, the coast of South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique apparently are plentiful of the wee beasties. Love hearing of your travels. Tsamaya hantle