Skywatch Friday - Richmond Hill Sunrise

Sunrise over Algoa Bay, with St Phillips Church silhouetted against the sky.

For many wonderful pictures from around the world visit the Skywatch Friday site.

Urban Prison #3 - Hemming us in

There as a time when I would stroll over to the cliff above Albany Road to enjoy the sunset or to just look at the Bay. Those days are over. This area became a dumping ground for building rubble and garden refuse, it was an escape route for criminals and became a favourite hangout for drunks and druggies......................
The result, rather than tackling the root cause of the problems, the authorities decided to fence off the area and so one of my favourite viewpoints is gone, unless you enjoy looking through the wire.

Skywatch Friday - Almost monochrome

The Bay was looking very moody earlier this week.

Go to the Skywatch for more great photos from around the world

Overlooking the Bay

Grass growing on an empty plot in Richmond Hill

Dolphins brightening up the day

What is it about seeing dolphins that always fills one with such a feeling of joy? Watching them swimming by, made braving this morning's icy winds well worth the effort.

These were photographed off Shark Rock Pier this morning.

Sky Watch Friday - Summer skies

A balmy morning, no wind, a flat sea, a few clouds and a golden sunrise - what a way to start the day.

For more pictures from around the world visit the Sky Watch site.

The Rock - St Croix Island

Today marks the start of a new era in my blogging, as I have reluctantlly had to leave Blogger, because of persistent upload problems, which they seem unable to resolve. I have imported all my old posts into Wordpress, but will have to do some tweaking, because Wordpress is not configured for my large format pictures

St Croix Island in Algoa Bay is just one big rock filled with penguins, oyster catchers and a large assoetment of other sea birds.



St Croix has the largest breeding colony of African Penguins in Southern Africa. These poor birds have been put under a lot of pressure to find food as the fish in the Bay has been depleted as a result of trawling. They apparently swim out for up to 155 kilometres to find food.




Stepping out. Or is it the quick step?



The Oyster Catchers were an added bonus, as they are endangered. There are apparently less than 5 000 of these birds left in the world and it is the only oystercatcher that breeds in Africa.
Oyster catchers mate for life and may live for 35 years. The name is a misnomer, as the birds eat limpets and mussels and not oysters. They do not breed until they are three years old

A whale of a time

On Saturday we went out on a whale watching trip with Lloyd, from Raggy Charters. It was a round trip, of just over three hours, from the harbour to Brenton Island and then around St Croix and Jahleel Islands, past the new deep water port at Coega and back along the coast to the harbour.


Lloyd warned us not to be disappointed if we did not see any whales, but to sit back and enjoy the trip, because there was so much to see. The first sighting was the spout of a Bryde's Whale, which was not very cooperative and disappeared very quickly. These whales live permanently in the Bay and are quite shy and seldom seen.

"There she blows!"


On the return trip just past Coega we came across a pair of Southern Right Whales, just beyond the breakers, which did not disappoint us. All our earlier sightings have been of little specs in the distance, photographed from the shore. I did post some pictures once, but never again.

We spent about twenty minutes (the maximum legal limit) watching this pair and left.


All I can say is, "Wow what a trip. It was corth every cent". If you live in Port Elizabeth and have never done it, take the plunge, you will not regret it.

For more pictures of these whales go to Port Elizabeth Daily Photo.

Tuesday's Trees #14 - Norfolk Pine with a view

This Norfolk Pine makes a nice silhouette, against the back drop of the sunrise and Algoa Bay. It is situated in the grounds of the old teachers training college grounds, in Richmond Hill.

Sunset Cruise

We we invited by a member of the Algoa Bay Yacht Club to join them on a sunset cruise on Wednesday evening, to take photos for the Port Elizabeth Daily Photo blog site.

Armed with our cameras Sue and I gleefully accepted the invitation.

Those of you who followed my last disasterous trip to the ocean, may be surprised at my decision to once again risk reinforcing my membership of the chummers club. No fear, this was a cruise, not a fishing trip where the boat is anchored and rocks in ten different directions at a time.

What a great bunch of guys we met. We were invited to join Doug on his yacht "Take Six", with three other passengers.

As a land lubbers we warned our new found nautical buddies that we were dead wood, as we knew absolutely nothing about the gentle art of yachting and were assigned positions where we would not get in the way.

I think they were more concerned about whether we were likely to redecorate the yacht. I am happy to say our assurances did not let us down.












There was a brisk south westerly wind and a flat sea and the trip took us from the harbour to Shark Rock Pier and back.

















Clarify leaving the harbour above.

Homeward bound on a gentle sea. I must say I did speculate on how I might have handled a stormy sea and decided I like being a fair weather sailor

All in all a great trip, with some nice photos . Sue and I will definitelly take them up on the invitation to come back again

Click here for other yachting posts: Suzi-k and PE Daily Photo

The other side of sunset

Looking East over Algoa Bay as the sun sets in the West

Algoa Bay

If you race down Callington Street in the historic Richmond Hill area of Port Elizabeth, the chances are you will miss the view. This is one of a series I have been taking of this particular scene, which captures the moods of Algoa Bay and the atmosphere of the suburb. Sue and I love strolling through the neighbourhood with our cameras. It's all so old, yet there is always something new to see - a bit like an old friend - we know each other so well but we always get something out of our visits.

Algoa Bay was in good form this evening with the spring tide. Stopped in at Brighton Pier and caught this shot. Two very disappointed fishermen arrived while I was enjoying the view - sorry guys no fishing from here fo a while. This happens from time to time - see the Moods of Algoa Bay.

View up the coast towards Bluewater Bay and the Swartkops River estuary.

As I was on a roll I decided to stop in at the break water, at North End. I was in time get a few shots before it got too dark. I took pictures of this view in an earlier post, when the sea was being much kinder and gave a good view of the harbour.

I ran across the railway lines to get this shot of Port Elizabeth before the next wave struck. Nice view of the city centre, with Richmond Hill in the background.
Our city fathers were not very forward thinking in the old days and built the railway line on what was once pristine beaches. Fortunately today's city fathers are more forward thinking and there is an ambitious plan to reclaim a two kilometre stretch of the water front. I am watching this development with keen interest

The Cold Front Cometh

A cold front moving in on Port Elizabeth. I just love this weather - the icy cold winds the magnificent bank of clouds and the beach all to myself.



Don't be fooled by the calm looking sea. The swells are expected to get between 5 and 6 metre. No one will be fishing from Brighton Pier tonight. See The Moods of Algoa Bay.
The waves are already lapping the pier.

The fishing area off the sea wall with Port Elizabeth harbour in the background. The warning sign testifies to the fact that more that one careless fisherman has probably zappped himself on the overhead lines, on his way to catch the "big one".

Just down the tracks a homeless family have made the their home under the buffer stop (bumper) at the end of the railway tracks. At times like this we can really count our blessings.

The Moods of Algoa Bay

View of Algoa Bay taken from Richmond Hill.

Brighton Pier, on 21 July 2007 showing the bay in one of her calmer moods. Two of the fishermen were friends of the guy I spoke to while taking the picture. See "So What Was That About"

Stormy seas taken in March 2007 showing the wrath of Algoa Bay.