Weekly Events Round Up (13–19 Feb 2012)

Strawberries & Champagne

Love is in the air this week with Valentine’s Day on Tuesday. Valentine's Day tends to put a bit of pres­sure on people to come up with an idea for the per­fect date so we've decided to help you out with a couple of romantic, and fun things to do this week.

We also have a vari­ety of other events and activ­it­ies in South Africa that you can take part in and attend to keep you enter­tained — from sport­ing events to bridal shows.

Whatever you might be look­ing for we are here to help you with sug­ges­tions of what you can do to keep yourselves enter­tained so diar­ise the fol­low­ing events and enjoy one of the most romantic days of the year.

Continued

I ♥ Hurlingham Because ...

I ♥ Hurlingham

Hi, I’m Trish from Hurlingham House in Hurlingham.

Hurlingham IS BEST KNOWN FOR being a peace­ful and safe sub­urb, yet it's only 3km from the heart of Sandton.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the statue of Nelson Mandela in Mandela Square.

THE BEST archi­tec­tural PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Sandton CBD.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Zoo Lake.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO sit at our swim­ming pool or in a side­walk cafe.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO go to Sandton City Mall.

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS spring or sum­mer, BECAUSE the trees in Hurlingham are beau­ti­ful and the weather is good. Continued

10 Great Things To Do When Next in Knysna

The Town of Knysna

When was the last time you were in Knysna? This ever pop­u­lar Garden Route town has plenty to offer. The middle of the year is when thou­sands of people des­cend on this town for the Knsyna Oyster Festival and those who've been train­ing take part in either the Knysna Forest Marathon and Knysna Cycle Tour.

But when the buzz of the Oyster Festival calms down and the tour­ists leave this town doesn't go to sleep ... it does the oppos­ite of that. Reason being because there is so much to do in and around the town of Knysna. There are plenty of fest­ivals that hap­pen each year, the Pink Loerie Mardi Gras is another favourite.

Not only is the town filled with fest­ivals but your will find a host of Things to Do in Knysna. I've taken a slice out of all the excit­ing places to visit and things to see and have round up 10 great things to do when you're next in town ... Continued

I ♥ Haenertsburg Because ...

I ♥ Haenertsburg

Hi, I’m Jady Stanford from Standford Lake Lodge in Haenertsburg in the Capricorn region of Limpopo.

Haenertsburg IS BEST KNOWN FOR being the “Land of the Silver Mists” ... land of forests, lakes, water­falls and more.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the John Buchan War Memorial over­look­ing a beau­ti­ful view of Ebenezer Dam.

THE BEST scenic PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Haenertsburg Cemetry, over­look­ing the vil­lage.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT Cheerio Gardens, Debengeni Falls and so many more inter­est­ing places. Continued

La Vita Restaurant in Pietermaritzburg – A Review

La Vita Restaurant

La Vita res­taur­ant has had a repu­ta­tion as being one of the most upmar­ket and expens­ive eat­er­ies in Pietermaritzburg for a while now. Situated in the pop­u­lar and well-known Invesco Centre just a few kilo­metres from the CBD, La Vita spe­cial­ises in Italian cuisine and has an extens­ive selec­tion of pizza, pasta, sea­food and meat dishes to cater for almost any pal­ate. Curious sound­ing offer­ings such as Drunk Duck and Raunchy Rabbit are guar­an­teed to arouse interest and even Guineafowl is avail­able for those want­ing to try some­thing new.

Italian cuisine has a rich her­it­age, hav­ing trace­able roots as far back as the fourth cen­tury BC. La Vita strives to main­tain this her­it­age by using only impor­ted ingredi­ents, giv­ing the food an authen­tic and unmis­tak­able Italian fla­vour. My mom and I exper­i­enced this authen­ti­city first hand when we had sup­per at La Vita recently, an exper­i­ence we’ll cer­tainly remem­ber for some time. Continued

I ♥ Colesberg Because ...

I ♥ Colesberg

Hi, I’m Jurie from Toverberg Guest Houses and Carl Gronum from Traveller’s Joy Guest House  in Colesberg.

Colesberg IS BEST KNOWN FOR being a con­veni­ent stop­over between the interior and the coast. Here the N1 and the N9 meet.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the wrought iron lamp at the corner of Paul Kruger and Ventershoek Streets – erec­ted in com­mem­or­a­tion of Queen Vistoria’s 60^th Jubilee.
THE BEST sun­set PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN DOWN the road passing the golf course.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT a num­ber of 19^th cen­tury build­ings and the Colesberg Sloot. Continued

I ♥ Britannia Bay Because ...

I ♥ Britannia Bay

Hi, I’m Lucille Byrnes from Dolphin B&B+S/C in Britannia Bay a sub­urb of the town St Helena Bay up South Africa’s Cape West Coast.

Britannia Bay IS BEST KNOWN FOR long stretches of pristine beaches, “heaven” and “hell” surfer’s corners and the wreck after which the bay is named.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the deck of my house (where do you get sea and surf in the fore­ground and back­drop of the Winterberge in one pho­to­graph?). From Britannica Heights one can see north to Baboon Point at Elandsbaai, a nat­ural her­it­age site, and south to the first work­ing light­house after you cross the equator at Cape Columbine near Paternoster.

THE BEST wed­ding PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Sea Trader, the ideal spot to get mar­ried on the rocks. Continued

Weekly Events Round Up (6–12 Feb 2012)

Comrades Marathon

If you are a sport­ing enthu­si­ast or your New Year’s res­ol­u­tion is to take on the Comrades or Two Oceans this year, then we have a list of this weekend’s sport­ing events to help you with your training.

From mara­thons and half mara­thons to swim­ming, we have a num­ber of sports events hap­pen­ing around South Africa to excite both ser­i­ous ath­letes to recre­ational competitors.

We will keep you up to date with the latest events hap­pen­ing around the coun­try, where you can add any new or upcom­ing events to your calendar.

So check back with us reg­u­larly to find out what new chal­lenges can assist you in achiev­ing your sport­ing goals ...

Continued

I ♥ Kleinemonde Because ...

I ♥ Kleinemonde

Hi, I’m Marlene from House Purfikt in Kleinemonde.

Kleinemonde IS BEST KNOWN FOR its fant­astic white beach which stretches on forever. We also have two lagoons right next to one another … fant­astic for swim­ming, canoe rides, fish­ing etc.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN ON the beach on a bright sunny day, the dunes & blue sea looks incredible!

THE BEST PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT Three Sisters rocks.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT the biggest Pineapple in the world in Bathurst. Continued

Essence Café in Pietermaritzburg — A Review

Essence Cafe

Location plays a crit­ical role in the suc­cess of any res­taur­ant and Essence Café is most cer­tainly well situ­ated at Wetherlys Centre, prob­ably the most upmar­ket loc­a­tion in the Pietermaritzburg CBD. On the day of my visit there were a num­ber of lux­ury cars, includ­ing BMW’s, Mercedes Benz’s, Audi’s and even a Porsche gra­cing the centre’s park­ing bays – unmis­tak­able proof that this venue is quickly gain­ing a repu­ta­tion as one of the best meet­ing places for local busi­ness people.

Owner Martin Maltby named the res­taur­ant ‘Essence’ because he believes the word encom­passes the ‘soul’ of the busi­ness: “Good food, good friends and excel­lence,” and he cer­tainly has devised a com­pre­hens­ive menu that caters for just about every­one. From health break­fasts such as jungle oats to tasty offer­ings like crum­pet stacks, pan­cakes, French toast, freshly baked crois­sants, Welsh rarebit and omelettes to name but a few, the early morn­ing cuisine cer­tainly soun­ded won­der­ful but hav­ing arrived just after one in the after­noon, the lunch menu was what I was most inter­ested in. Continued

I ♥ Menlo Park Because ...

I ♥ Menlo Park

Hi, I’m Anna Marie Pienaar from Cottage Guest House in Menlo Park, Pretoria.

Menlo Park IS BEST KNOWN FOR being very cent­rally loc­ated to Shopping Centres and the University of Pretoria and the Pretoria Country Golf Club.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Pretoria Country club, because of the beau­ti­ful gar­dens.
THE BEST PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT dur­ing October when the Jakarandas are blooming.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO go swim­ming, play ten­nis or play golf.
WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO visit the nice shop­ping Centres like Menlyn and Brooklyn. Continued

I ♥ Beaufort West Because ...

I ♥ Beaufort West

Hi, I’m Elsolique from Old House Guesthouse in Beaufort West.

Beaufort West IS BEST KNOWN FOR its unique Karoo hospitality.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT the Chris Barnard Museum; Chris Barnard was the fam­ous heart sur­geon who per­formed the worlds first heart transplant.

THE BEST Karoo PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT the Karoo National Park.

OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT our beau­ti­ful pear trees on the Main Road.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S GOOD, I LIKE TO be out­side in the fresh Karoo air.

WHEN THE WEATHER'S BAD, I LIKE TO visit friends.

I THINK THE BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT IS in the winter, BECAUSE our sum­mers have extreme heat. Continued

Weekly Events Round Up (30 Jan to 5 Feb 2012)

Up The Creek

If you haven’t thought about what you’re going to do next week, we’ve come up with a list of some of the most excit­ing events that will be tak­ing place. We will now be giv­ing you a weekly round up of the upcom­ing events and fest­ivals through­out South Africa.

We will keep you up to date with the hip and hap­pen­ing events that you can attend. Think sports, enter­tain­ment, cul­ture and more. Break out your diar­ies and start phoning your friends to make sure you don't miss out.

There are a host of fun events that take place every week and we really don't want you to be the last per­son to hear about them at the cof­fee sta­tion on Monday morn­ing. So check back with us on Fridays to find out what's going on ...

Continued

Graaff Reinet's Obesa Nursery – Walk the Cacti Labyrinth

Obesa Cacti Nursery

You either get it, or you don't. With the Obesa Cactus Nursery. Although describ­ing it as a 'nurs­ery' hardly does the exper­i­ence justice. For a visit here, if you allow it, is far more of an exper­i­ence than it is a simple trip to the nurs­ery to pick up a cac­tus or two for your win­dow sill.

First of all the 'nurs­ery' takes up the bet­ter part of a block. For those of you who want to find it, hunt down the street dom­in­ated by a myriad psy­che­del­ic­ally painted houses. They're a series of guest houses that go by the same name as the nurs­ery (run by Johan's ex-wife, who remains a fan des­pite that). The nurs­ery is dir­ectly across the road, and all over the pave­ment, and, if you look around you, on just about every avail­able piece of ground.

That this is the work of a man with a pas­sion is obvi­ous. Having lived with a garden­ing nut who has trans­formed the bet­ter part of our city garden into a wild veget­able man­dala, I think I can handle it. Continued

I ♥ Chartwell Because ...

I ♥ Chartwell

Hi, I’m Alan from Hoopoe Haven Guest House in Chartwell, in Sandton.

Chartwell IS BEST KNOWN FOR its coun­try atmo­sphere and liv­ing. All plots are from 2.5 to 10 acres in size, so it is very peace­ful. The Lion Park is on the bor­der of Chartwell West 1 km away as the crow flies and just 5 km south is the busy met­ro­polis of four­ways with lots of malls and shops, MonteCasino and plenty of activ­ity like live theatre, ice rink, extra­vag­an­zas, bird park etc. Chartwell is a place where you can relax and just enjoy yourself.

GET YOUR PICTURE TAKEN AT Lion park where you are allowed to touch and play with the lion cubs.
THE BEST hol­i­day PICTURES CAN BE TAKEN AT bird­park in MonteCasino.
OTHER HAPPY SNAPS AT any of the rid­ing stables in Chartwell or even going for a horse ride at the Rhino and Lion park. Continued