Lu-Gerda's Travels

One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days t...

I was looking through some photos from last year December when I found these. I t was taken in the parking area of the Garden Route Mall in George. We were on our way to watch a movie and saw this beautiful sunset.

This was a great weekend for my brother and sister in law.  They are both professional mountain bike riders for Team RE:CM in South Africa. My brother won the men's solo category of the three-day RE:CM Knysna mountain bike race on Sunday.  My brother in the middel Photo by Team RE:CM on Twitter His Swiss wife was in Switzerland to compete in the Swiss Women's marathon mountain bike championships at the 60km Elsa Bike Trophy.  And she won!! Article and photo by www.cyclenation.co.za Photo from facebook by Andreas Walther I am very proud of both of them.  They are spending the next 2 months in Switzerland to train and compete in a few races. And I hope they enjoy it. Read more about them on their website www.kleinhansmuesli.com  

In October 2008 we went to Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape of South Africa for my cousins wedding.   We left George early on the Saturday morning and drove the 3 hours to Graaff-Reinet.  We first went to the Acacia Guesthouse where we had rooms for the night.   The guesthouse was very nice. There were 4 rooms.   The two rooms in front had twin beds, a small bathroom with a shower and coffee making facilities.   The two rooms in the back are bigger with a small kitchen, bathroom and a double bed.   After unpacking we went to explore.   The guesthouse is close to town and we walked to the main road. Graaff-Reinet was established in 1786 and is the fourth oldest town in South Africa.   It was named after the governor of the Cape Colony, Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff and his wife whose maiden name was “Reynet”. We walked pass the Dutch Reformed Church where the wedding was taking place later. There are 5...

Every Saturday the Outeniqua Farmers Market is held opposite the Garden Route Mall in George.   The market was opened in November 2011 but I visited it for the first time in December 2012.   The market is open from 08:00 to 14:00. It was easy to find and there are lots of parking.   We visited on  a rainy day and there still were a lot of people. (On a sunny day there may be more people and it would be good to go early) There are a wide variety of stalls. From plants, art, clothes, fresh fruit & vegetables, candles, hand made soaps and many other interesting things.   There are also a lot of food stalls and many places to sit and enjoy your food.   The atmosphere was festive with people singing on the small stage and people everywhere.  There is also a playground for kids and an interesting train driving kids around. We had a great time and I will go again on a nice sunny day t...

We were up early on our last day in London and started packing.   We checked out and then paid to leave our bags in the hotel cloakroom for the morning.   We then walked to the British Museum but (after making a wrong turn) had some trouble to find it.   We eventually reached the museum just before they open. The museum is big and we had no idea where to begin.   We walk through the Egyptian displays with lots of mummies and statues.   We then decided to go to the Africa section and then walked around a bit more.   In the end w e did not spend a lot of time in the museum.   W e were to tired to enjoy the history and archeology.   We left the museum and bought some food for lunch.   We walked to Russel Square and ate on a bench.   It was nice to relax for a while.   It was still early but we decided to get our bags and go to the airport.   And it was a good thing because there were many delays and it t...

Writing the last two posts about our trip to Europe and London in 2008 was difficult.   Part of me did not want to write the last bit because I don’t know when I will be able to take another trip. While I won’t be writing more posts about London or Europe soon I will read and plan for that next trip. Our time in London was quickly running out.   After spending most of the day in the Tower of London  we took the tube from Tower Hill to Victoria and walked to Buckingham Palace.   The palace was built as a house for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705.   It in 1761 became the residence of Queen Charlotte.   It was enlarged and became an official royal palace in 1837.   Read more about the palace here . We took some photos of the palace and the Victoria Memorial.   The memorial was dedicated to Queen Victoria in 1911. We ended the day by walking to Green Park and Hyde Park.   It was abou...