27 April 2007    to      1 May 2007

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Thank god for long weekends! This one gave us the opportunity to explore an area we had not been to previously, namely the East London area. On the way down there we decided to make a small detour and visit Hogs Back, the end of the Amatola trail and the supposed inspiration of J.R.R.Tolkiens "The Lord of the Rings".

The area between Seymour and Fort Beaufort.

By the time we got to Hogs Back it was getting dark and unfortunately we found no accommodation in the area either so we were left with no choice but to carry on to King Williams Town where we booked into a guest house.

Next morning we arrived quite early in East London and headed down towards Gonubie just South of East London hoping to find some accommodation there. The place is a typical holiday resort town that is quite built up and was not quite to our taste.

Just a bit south of Gonubie we found the place we were looking for. The road ends at a place called Sunrise on Sea.

Its a sleepy little village with not much of a beach, but has some nice accommodation in the area.

The place we found was called Bayview Cabin, which still had a nice view of the sea and plenty of green bush around us. The area around East London amazed us as the vegetation is very similar to that found along the coast in Natal.

We moved into a rustic old chalet.

Some of the buildings on the land were quite old for South African standards.

Next day we were off to East London to explore the area a bit more. A view of the harbor dry dock although they don’t want anyone going in there.

East London has a miniature Water Front....very miniature.

We then traveled a bit more south. Some of the coast is very rocky.

We decided to go back to East London and see what there is of interest. We ended up at the local zoo. Its quite an interesting zoo where you can feed the Giraffes peanuts which was a great attraction!

An unusual view of a Giraffe.

Some Porcupine tucking in with gusto!

They have quite a variety of animals. The only thing that put me off was the extremely small enclosures they had for the lion. They were not large enough for a large dog, never mind a pride of lion!

At the end of the zoo is Gately House which once belonged to the second mayor of East London.

Gately House was built in 1878 by John Gately, an immigrant from Ireland who played a leading role in establishing the East London municipality and developing the city.

One can do a small tour through the place.

Gately house is unique in South Africa in that most of what is displayed was aquired by the owners over the years. It remained in the family until the death of Margaret, Gately's last surviving child in 1966. The house and contents were donated to the East London Museum.

An ivory chess set.

Some interesting buildings in East London.

After a long day exploring a braai was in order outside our chalet.

Next morning we decided to explore the area south of East London further stopping over at some of the little places next to the coast. Here is a view from Kidds beach.

The area is not much built up and one still finds long stretches of empty beaches.

The road towards the village of Hamburg.

Many of the villages in the area were founded by Germans in the 19th century, that’s why one comes across these German names.

Some of the thick bush in the area. We ended up in Port Alfred eventually. Besides all the mansions there was very little else and the place was a bit of a disappointment. Trying to find a decent restaurant proved impossible and eventually we ended up back at Kidds beach were there is an excellent restaurant right on the beach front.

Next day it was back again to Johannesburg with the inevitable road works. I must say they are really trying to do something about the roads in the Eastern Cape. Most of the N6 in the Eastern Cape is in very good condition.