Port Elizabeth The Windy City

Port Elizabeth is known as the "Friendly City" and the "Windy City" with an exquisite English character and is for me a place of rest. The town impressed me when i first stayed there in the late 1970's. I remember the city center in Main street which was spotlessly clean in those days and buzzed with life right through to North End. Now big buildings stand empty displaying myriads of "To Let" signs. And then there is the Campanile monument commemorating the arrival of the 1820 settlers who's clock, including that of the old City Hall, has stopped working and lays in disrepair for lack of funds. The Campanile's 23 bells have stopped chiming long ago. On the western edge of the Donkin are the original 1820 Settler homes which were decreed a national monument, but most stand derelict with the bronze heritage badge stolen, perhaps for scrap metal, just like the memorial brass plaque which once was to be found on the library wall in Main Street commemorating the city's founding fathers and the place the library had in society.

In the seventies there was the martial arts center just off Main Street near the fly over but it is now gone, the sand stone churches, the ancient settler graveyards, the old English pub behind the theater, the beaches with the beautiful bikini girls, the October fest, the motor shows, the Baakens Valley Fort (Fort Frederick), the docklands, Skoenmakerskop, GM, restaurants and the friendly people, all gave the city its unique character.

This was the place my forefathers came to aboard the "Tudor" in 1860 and the springboard from where they later resettled in other parts of the country. It is the place from where my lovely wife hailed, for which I am eternally thankful to JESUS, and the place to enjoy my father's house and our wonderful family.

Peace comes to mind.

Port Elizabeth has a life and pace of its own, something you would first struggle with if you lived there, especially if you came from any of the big cities in South Africa. Perhaps one day we will live there.

Christmas 2006 was a special family time in PE and it was lovely just having the presence of my son to share the holiday with, not forgetting my wife. Jeffery's Bay is about 45 minutes drive from PE and we spent probably the best four days ever just lazing around, swimming, eating, shopping for little ornaments to adorn our home, and buying the much desired "Billabong" brand name clothing for Matts.

Family is the most special invention.

My in-laws are perhaps my greatest gift and when I married my wife I did not realise so many wonderful blessings were to follow. South Africa is a country which has many orphans and many of these kids will never have parents of their own and those who do should be extremely thankful to their Creator. The Bible says that he who finds a wife finds a good thing and has found favour in the eyes of the Lord but this must apply equally to finding parents who are full of the presence of JESUS.



Aston Bay, Marina Martenique, Paradise Beach and the stunningly beautiful St. Francis Bay were the other places we visited after having a lovely breakfast at the Chameleon Restaurant in Humansdorp. St. Francis has the most beautiful canal system in the world even surpassing those of Britain and fortunately there are still many first world jewels dotted around PE and its nearby environs.



Picture Source
Photo G-Man
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/76/Oxford_Canal_at_Hillmorton.jpg
Oxford canal at Hillmorton at the edge of Rugby Warwickshire