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| << June13, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 137 dated 13.6.2005 |
July18, 2005 - Turtle Essays Edition no 139 dated 18.7.2005 >> |
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Turtle Essays Edition no 138 dated 20th June 2005 ** Sometimes one gets lucky! I did when I came across this site by accident. Its offers stunned me so I decided to try it out to see if it was for real. It Was! This amazing members-only website run by a top internet marketer, is UNIQUELY available: at http://www.pr-pl.com/a.php?ELn Check it out today and get some of the free stuff offered as bonuses. ** In this edition: Editor's Blurb Stellenbosch Stellenbosch surrounds ** Editors Blurb Hi there folks. Welcome to all my new and regular readers. It's great to have you all back again this week. This week we celebrated youth day here in South Africa and as it fell on a Thursday it was decided by the education department to close schools on Friday turning the weekend into a long one. My wife and I took advantage of the beautiful weather we were having here in Cape Town and visited Stellenbosch to explore some of their historic streets and buildings. You can see some of the photos I took on the following webpage: http://www.turtlesa.com/ezine138.html I'm not sure if the whole world celebrates fathers day but here in South Africa we did so on Sunday. To all my readers who are fathers I hope you had a happy day with your families. School holidays begin on the 24 th of June as my wife is a teacher she will be home for about three weeks. We normally take our annual holiday at this time so I will not be sending you an ezine for a couple of weeks. I'll see you all when I get back. Geoff Fairman ** Stellenbosch. Stellenbosch is the second oldest town in South Africa. Van der Stel the Commander of the Cape was given the task of expanding the colony and providing supplies for ships rounding the Cape on their way to the east. Providing provisions was one thing but van der Stel thought that it would be nice to give the ships some variety and that wine would be a good choice. In 1679 Simon van der Stel and his entourage visited the Stellenbosch area and seeing that the climate and soil were suited for agriculture decided to establish a town in the area. The streets of Stellenbosch were laid out along the banks of the Eerste River and the settlers who were granted land were encouraged to plant oak trees along them to provide shade. The streets are still lined with them today. Stellenbosch got its name from the first visit of van der Stel to the area when he camped on a small island in the middle of the Eerste River and named it Stel en Bosch (Stel and Bush) after himself. The island later disappeared during a storm but the name Stellenbosch lived on in the valley. A pioneer church was built in Dorp Street in the late 1600's but was destroyed by fire in 1710. On its site a large house was built that today has been coverted into the Oude Werf Hotel. Part of the building is built on the foundation of the old church. A piece of the old foundation which was discovered recently when some renovations were being done has been left uncovered and can be viewed by visitors to the hotel. When the pioneer church burnt down a Dutch Reformed Church was established a short distance away at the top of Dorp Street. The church has had many changes to its structure over the years and today is a neo-gothic structure with a tall spire. It took many years to build and it was finally completed in 1866 when the spire was built. The gardens of the church are beautifully laid out and there are some old tombs dating back to the early 1800's which house the last remains of some of the ministers who served in the church. They are strange looking cement structures which are partially buried and have half moon shaped roofs on them. The town's streets are filled with historical buildings and in Dorp Street you can see the longest row of historic buildings in the country. All of them beautifully restored. Some of the streets still have the deep furrows which were built to provide water to the houses of the area in the early days. Cape Dutch houses abound in the streets of Stellenbosch. One of them, the Kerkhuis Utopia (Church House) was built in about 1800 and was beautifully retored in 1962 and still stands today. It has been declared a National Monument. In Reyneveld Street is the village museum which is a collection of houses which have been restored and furnished in period styles. They show the differences in the houses of the poor and rich lback in the 1800's. Even the gardens have been planted with the flowers, shrubs and trees that would have found in the original homes. Stellenbosch might seem to be an old town but in fact is not. It is the home of the University of Stellenbosch and in term time the streets are filled to capacity with students rushing to and fro to lectures. Because of the students there are plenty of restaurants, bars and coffee shops scattered all over town. They even have a night club or two as well. Stellenbosch being in the heart of the Cape Winelands boasts forty one wine estates within its boundaries and many more in the surrounding valleys of Franschhoek and Paarl. Spier is one of the estates a short distance out of town which has become extremely popular over the last couple of years. It has wine tasting facilities and a lovely big duck pond with lawns where one can enjoy picnics and watch the ducks and geese get up to their antics. Very good for a family outing. Stellenbosch has much to offer its visitors and to really enjoy the area one should stay a few days and explore the historic streets, shops and wine estates. I hope to see you there soon! Geoff Fairman ** Stellenbosch surrounds. A drive along the wine route near Stellenbosch can be very interesting. Not only will you see wine farms with thousands of hectares of grapes growing on them but many other interesting things as well. Driving along the Lynedoch road towards the Spier Wine estate there is a large farm dam with a number of hectares of open veld. I was surprised to see all the wild antelope that were roaming about there. There were Bontebok and Springbok grazing so close to the road that passersby could stop and get a photo or two of them. One antelope which I could not identify had very large horns and might have been a reindeer. Finding them in Cape Town would be a big surprise as I am sure that they are more suited to the cold winters of the northern hemisphere. A kilometre further on we came across another field that had a number of zebras and wildebeests grazing on it. Lynedoch road seems to be a road for wild animals! Spier one of the wine farms on the Lynedoch road is well known for all its activities. The most interesting and the one that attracts many tourists is the Cheetah Outreach Programme.. There are a number of cheetahs on the farm which are very tame and people are allowed to stroke and take photos of them in their enclosure. Near to the cheetahs enclosure is ??? Eagle Encounters??? a bird of prey rehabilitation, education, conservation and eco-tourism centre . They have a daily programme for tourists which is extremely interesting. Please visit my http://www.turtlesa.com/ezine138.html to see some of the photos. Leaving Spier and driving a few kilometres further south I came across the most hard worked windmill I have ever seen. How do I know it was hard worked? When you see the picture you will see why. Next time you visit Cape Town do take a trip along the wine routes of Stellenbosch and enjoy the wines, animals and scenery. You'll be glad you did. See you all soon Geoff Fairman. ** ** Turn your dog into the best behaved pooch on the park with Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer Guide Book http://www.dogproblems.com/clicksecrets.htm?hop=brerrabbit ** Turtle Travels new blog is online now. http://turtleessays.blogspot.com There are some interesting new articles being posted today. Be sure not to miss them. ** Start your own home nursery and earn yourself some pocket money! Find out how to do it from an expert. Here is his link: http://hop.clickbank.net/?brerrabbit/mcplants ** For my personal details, contact address, and warnings regarding products advertised in this ezine please read the disclaimers which can be found at: http://www.turtlesa.com/Disclaimer.html |
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| << June13, 2005 - Turtle Essays edition no 137 dated 13.6.2005 |
July18, 2005 - Turtle Essays Edition no 139 dated 18.7.2005 >> |
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