Lu-Gerda's Travels

I can’t believe how fast the time has flown by.   It has been ages since my last post.   And even if it is almost a month to late I want to tell you about our Remembrance Day. We decided to attend the annual service at the Cenotaph at the Point.   The MOTH Blaize Away Shellhole organizes the service.   The people of Mossel Bay erected the Cenotaph with private funds in remembrance of the residents who lost their lives in First World War.   It was unveiled on 28 September 1928 and since then the names residents who died in other wars were added. The service on Sunday 10 November 2013 was started by a short message by a reverend and then a speech by the Mayor of Mossel Bay.   The honor list with all the names on the cenotaph was read and then “The Last Post” was played and the wreaths were laid. It was a good service with more people attending then I expected.   It was very warm and next time I will go better prepa...

I want to start this week with another beautiful sunrise from June 2013. I love the longer days of summer but miss seeing the sunrise. Have a nice week.

I am ending my posts about Stellenbosch with a photo tour of our walk in town.  Read more my other posts about Stellenbosch here , here and here .  Most of the buildings in this post are Heritage Sites. St Mary Church at the Braak Theological Seminary Oak Trees 21 Herte Street Toy and Miniature Museum (Market Street) Mill Stream Huguenot Commemorative Relief Oude Leeskamer The Powder magazine Old Evangelical Lutheran Church Dutch Reformed Mother Church Linking up with a Compass Rose for Travel Tuesday

Just a short post to start the week.  A beautiful sunrise over the Outeniqua Mountains on a Sunday morning in May.

After walking around in Dorp Street we made our way to the Braak or “fallow land”.   This open piece of land had many different uses over the years from fair grounds, market place and military parade. At the one end we saw a small white building surrounded by a wall.   The date on the building was 1777 and immediately we were interested.   At first I thought it was a church due to the bell tower.   And I guess that was the reason the bell tower was added to the building. This was the V.O.C Kruithuis or Powder Magazine built in 1777 to store ammunition.   It is the only remaining powder magazine from the days of the VOC.   Today it is a museum.   The entrance fee was only R5 and we decided to take a look inside.   The museum displays a collection of firearms, cannons, military uniforms etc. It is very small with only two rooms.   It did not take long to look at all the displays.   Included in the entrance...

  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...

I love all the old buildings in Stellenbosch but the town is probably better known for its wine.   For a change from all the history posts I want to tell you more about a visit to Fairview Wine Farm in December 2011. We were spending the weekend at my sister in Brackenfell.   Sunday was a warm summer day and we decided to drive to Fairview for the morning. The history of this farm dated back to 1693 when the land was granted to Steven Verwey.   Originally it was known as Bloemkoolfontein or “Cauliflower Fountain” and the name was changed about 100 year ago.   The farm was part of 8 insolvent estates before the Back family bought it in 1937 and the fate of the farm changed. The farm is popular and it was very busy.   There is Wine and Cheese Tasting, a Shop and Deli and a Restaurant.   We did the standard tasting that includes 6 wines and a selection of cheese.   We started with the wine tasting and enjo...