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Soweto Derby Set for Port Elizabeth on 21 July 2011

The 2011 Vodacom Challenge will see English Premiership giants Tottenham Hotspur take on Orlando Pirates FC and Kaizer Chiefs from July 16-23 in a return for one of the most prestigious international club competitions on the global footballing calendar.

This will be the fourth time that Tottenham Hotspur has been to South African shores, having first visited the country in 1963 as holders of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and then again in 2003 to support South Africa’s bid for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. After that they made their 2007 appearance at the Vodacom Challenge.

The 2011 tournament will be a huge celebration of football and once more organisers have opted to take the matches around the country.

All four match venues for the 2011 Vodacom Challenge were used during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ and provide world-class facilities for the players and supporters alike.

The tournament will kick-off at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane when Kaizer Chiefs take on Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, July 16 (15h00 kick off).

It is a fitting place to start, given that in the last edition of the Vodacom Challenge in 2009, Orlando Pirates took on Manchester City at the old Peter Mokaba Stadium(Polokwane), in the shadow of the new venue as it was still being built.

The action then moves on to the Mbombela Stadium in Mbombela (Nelspruit) on Tuesday, July 19 (20h15 kick off) as Orlando Pirates meet Tottenham Hotspur in a repeat of the 2007 Final that was won 3-0 by the visiting English side.

The all-important Soweto Derby to determine the finalists to meet Tottenham Hotspur in the tournament will be played at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Thursday, July 21 (20h15 kick off).

Article courtesy of MyPE. For more information please visit the MyPE website by clicking the logo : -

Homeleigh Halt Guest House, bed and breakfast, situated in Main Road, Walmer, Port Elizabeth is ideally located within close proximity to all major attractions and a mere 8.5 km from Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium via the longest route.

We invite you to “be our guest…”

Nelson Mandela Bay will celebrate the IRB7s coming to town, creating a “Festival Of 7s”, similar to that seen in Dubai & in Hong Kong.

 Festival Of Sevens to run from the 3 December 2011, incorporating the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens (Africa’s largest sevens participation event.

Followed by the IRB7s : Friday, 9 December 2011 & Saturday, 10 December 2011

These ticket prices DO NOT apply to the IRB7s.

R30 Adults
R10 U18s

This years event consists of 2500 participants & officials. There will be  a very competitive “Schools” division with U11′s, U13′s, U15′s & U19′s. The main event is the “Men’s Section: which has sixteen teams participating – in previous years, Paul Treu’s Vipers & the Emerging Boks have won this section.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens now in its sixth year have hosted some of the top sevens teams in the world, SA Vipers, Samurai, British Army, Tigers(USA), Uganda, Blue Bulls, Lions, Kenya, URDD(Wales) to name just a few.

The tournament see’s teams from u11, u13, u15, u19, u21, Senior Men, Beer League and Touch Rugby teams taking part in one tournament. It is unique as it caters for all ages and fun for the whole family.

We are looking forward to hosting many rugby enthusiasts from around the world.

Accommodation: Port Elizabeth

Homeleigh Halt Guest House bed & breakfast is ideally located in Main Road Walmer,Port Elizabeth, close to all amenities and 8km from the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. We have a numerous shopping centres, entertainment activies, banks and restaurants within close proximity.

Book early to avoid disappointment.

CSA National Mountain Bike National – Nelson Mandela Bay 7-8 May 2011

South Africa’s top mountain bikers will descend on Nelson Mandela Bay as they compete in the second leg of the National Championships series on 7-8 May 2011.

The venue for the Cross Country race on Saturday May 7 is the Baakens Valley, with the Race Village (Start & Finish zone) located at the EP Badminton Hall in Walmer Downs. The Cross Country event sees riders racing head-to-head around the 6km course, completing a preset number of laps. This format makes for great spectator viewing as you will get to see the riders pass the same spot several times.

The Downhill race will be held on Sunday May 8 at the Loerie Ruskamp resort, which is just a 40-minute drive from Port Elizabeth. The Downhill discipline takes the form of a time-trial with riders starting at the top of the mountain at one-minute intervals. They race down a purpose-built course filled with features like jumps, berms and drop-offs, reaching speeds in excess of 60km/h. This event is an adrenaline-feast for riders and spectators alike.

This major event on the mountain biking calendar will provide plenty of action for spectators, casual riders and hard-core racers, and the  Race Village in Walmer Downs (signs from William Moffett Expressway) will come alive with activity and entertainment for all. There will be races for novices and experts, with great spectator viewing points on both the Cross Country and Downhill courses.

The CSA (Cycling South Africa) Mountain Bike Super Series consists of four XC (Cross country) and DH (Downhill) events throughout the year. These events are geographically spread throughout South Africa in order to give all the riders a fair opportunity to compete and earn points towards the title of CSA Super Series Champion as well as vying for selection for the South African team. This year CSA decided to award the second leg of the Series to Mountain Events in the Nelson Mandela Bay.

 “The course is brand new and has been built in spectacular surroundings with the Finish line alongside a waterfall. It is the first permanent downhill course in the region and we believe this venue will become a favourite for downhill riders in the Eastern Cape” says Event Co-ordinator, Julie Briggs.

Cross Country and Downhill racing in particular are spectator-friendly disciplines of mountain biking and will provide for some great entertainment. Spectator access is free and there are designated spectator viewing points at the most interesting and challenging sections of the courses. “We’d like to see the public coming out to support the riders” says Julie Briggs. “In order to cover these expenses we are inviting companies to come on board as sponsors. Our intention is to host a top class event and to ensure that we remain a host venue of choice for future years” says Brad Jackson.

 We wish all competitors well!

Homeleigh Halt Buest Houe bed and breakfast provides superb accommodation to meet all budgets and is around the corner from the Baakens Valley.

We invite you to “be our guest…”

7 May 2011

The inaugural Woody Cape Mountain Bike Challenge on 7 May 2011 promises to be a memorable experience for local Mountain Bike enthusiasts.

The event offers a challenging 63km ride which will take riders through pristine dairy farm land, up into the picturesque Woody Cape forest and through the Intsomi Forest Lodge which is situated in the untouched Alexandria Forest. Breathtaking views will be experienced over a land unique in natural diversity and unspoilt beauty before riders descend into the tranquilizing Kaba valley on their return journey to Alexandria.

The race forms part of the local NG Kerk fete and starts at 8.30am on Saturday 7th May. A shorter, more family friendly, 25km ride will take place at 9.30am as well as a 15km trail run. All events will start from the Alexandria High School which is located in Jubilee street.

For more information please visit the official site here:Woody Cape Mtn Bike Challenge.

Information by Zports who secured the inaugural event.

We wish all competitors well!

Accommodation provided by Homeleigh Halt Guest House bed & breakfast in Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

SA Masters in PE a Resounding Success

The city of Port Elizabeth hosted the 7th SA Masters games over the weekend, with some 20 sporting codes taking place. 

The Londt Park archery club, hosts of the 2011 SA Masters Archery Games in Port Elizabeth are commended for the excellent organization in arranging the games.  This is despite the fact that the Nelson Mandela metropole withdrew funding at the 11th hour.  The games took place under the umbrella of the SA Masters Association (Affiliated to the World Masters) between 29 April to 2 May 2011.  

Archery held its games in the basement of the Moffett on Main Lifestyle Centre

 Seen here is Rita Oosthuizen, President of the SA Masters with the Western Province Team who retained the inter-provincial plaque and chair of the londt park club, Johan Calitz.  The games were supported by archers as far afield as Northern Gauteng.
Shooting categories were as per FITA rules, but age groupings in blocks of 10 years starting at 30 years for the women and 35 for the men. 

Gold medal Winners of the various categories were :  SBW Linda Le Roux, SBM Marcel Davies, RW Guilia Aceto, RM Kevin Hobb and JJ van Rensburg, CM Selwyn Moskovitz, Clayton vd Meer and William Brown.  The full results will appear in the next edition of the SA Masters bulletin.

 SANAA congratulates all their winners and the Eastern Province Archery Association and the Londt Park Archery club for hosting a well planned and successful SA Masters.

Article courtesy of Dr Selwyn Moskovitz as published by The South African National Archery Association.

Homeleigh Halt Guest House- Bed & Breakfast- are honoured and priviledged to have had Dr Sewlwyn Moskovitz and Sigmund Saffer as our guests and congratulate them on their outstanding achievement as WP retained the provincial challenge cup.

Homeleigh Halt Guest House is just down the road from Moffett on Main and we invite you to “be our guest……” when next in town.

When: 9/10 December 2011

Where: Nelson Mandela Stadium – Port Elizabeth

 Port Elizabeth will host the South African leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series, after coming out as clear winners in a competitive tendering process.

The announcement was made by the South African Rugby Union in Cape Town after the recommendation of a tender committee was accepted by the SARU Executive Council.

The inaugural Port Elizabeth event will be hosted at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in early December this year – and the winning bidders are already forecasting a sold-out event.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm that Port Elizabeth will host the Emirates Airlines SA Sevens for the next four years,” Jurie Roux, SARU CEO, told a media conference.

“We received some outstanding bids, but the panel came to the unanimous conclusion that the tender provided by the Eastern Province Kings and Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality was a clear winner.

“We measured them against four broad criteria – event hosting capacity; brand building potential for Sevens and SARU; commercial promise and budgetary viability – and their attention to detail in answering each one was outstanding.

“They not only satisfied the standards that we expected from all the bidders, they went the extra mile to research exactly what players, spectators and other stakeholders require and provided innovative solutions for each one.

“The Panel was convinced that Port Elizabeth will produce an absolutely outstanding tournament, based on this document. I’m looking forward to attending the first Port Elizabeth Sevens in December – I’m sure they’re going to take the event to another level.”

Mr Roux thanked the South Western Districts Rugby Union and the City of George for their work and success in hosting the tournament for the past nine seasons. He said that was reflected in the interest that had been generated among unions by the invitation to tender.

The other bidding unions were the Leopards, Pumas, South Western Districts and Western Province.

Cheeky Watson, the president of the Eastern Province Kings, said he was delighted by the outcome.

“We prepared an outstanding tender to deliver an outstanding tournament and that’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “Port Elizabeth and the whole of the Eastern Cape will be very excited about this decision and we can now begin to mobilise to deliver a memorable experience for the international rugby family.

“I’d like to thank the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality for their assistance in preparing the Bid and advise my team that the hard work starts today.”

The decision was welcomed by the International Rugby Board: “This is an exciting new chapter in South Africa’s long-standing relationship with Sevens Rugby and the HSBC Sevens World Series,” said IRB Chairman, Bernard Lapasset.

“On behalf of the international rugby family, and especially those who participated there, I would like to thank the city and the people of George for hosting South Africa’s event for nine years, and helping it to grow. We now look forward to the Sevens in a wonderful new stadium in Port Elizabeth and wish the organisers every success,” he added.

The IRB has confirmed the dates of the Port Elizabeth event is 9/10 December 2011.

Fact File: SA Sevens tournament
• South Africa hosted the first tournament of the inaugural Sevens World Series in 1999 at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch
• Durban was the venue for the following two SA Sevens events in 2000 & 2001
• Outeniqua Park in George played host to the popular event for the first time in 2002 and went on to stage the tournament for nine consecutive years
• Port Elizabeth will be the fourth SA venue to host the international tournament
• New Zealand has won the SA Sevens tournament seven times
• The Kiwi’s won both Durban-based tournaments in 2001 & 2002 and achieved their first of five George victories in 2004
• South Africa’s only home success came in 2008, the season they won their first Sevens World Series title

Past host venues and winners of the SA Sevens tournament
2010: George – New Zealand
2009: George – New Zealand
2008: George – South Africa
2007: George – New Zealand
2006: George – New Zealand
2005: George – Fiji
2004: George – New Zealand
2003: George – England
2002: George – Fiji
2001: Durban – New Zealand
2000: Durban – New Zealand
1999: Stellenbosch – Fiji

It is rumoured that the event will be scheduled to take place around the 9th/10th December.

Homeleigh Halt Guest House will be delighted to host supporters of the 7′s Rugby series.

Homeleigh Halt Guest House – stay on a room only basis or bed and breakfast – is ideally situated on Main Road Walmer, close to shops,restaurants,beach,movies and 8.5 km’s from the stadium via the longest route.

 We invite you to “be our guest….”

South Africa vs New Zealand
20 August 2011
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

2011 Tri Nations Rugby Series

SARU has arranged for tickets to be sold by computicket, however they only open sales up about a month or 2 prior to the game.

We suggest that you ring computicket early June and check, although often their sales people don’t know until they can see it on the system.

Hope this helps those of you who are trying to get hold of tickets!

Every year we are assaulted with images of the ‘petering out’ of the annual sardine run along the KZN coast when the sardines come close inshore and excited Kwazulians/Natalians/Last Outpostians rush into the water from their beaches with all manner of nets and buckets to scoop up sardines for breakfast, lunch and supper.

This annual event attracts thousands of international and local tourists who come to see and experience this phenomenon.

Most people are not aware though that the sardine run also takes place in Algoa Bay. The sardines gather here from late February in large numbers to feed ahead of the big winter storms that open up a ‘gap’ into the Aghullas Current which allows them to run northwards along the South African coast past the magnificent Transkei and along the Kwazulu Natal coastline.

Whilst the sardines are fattening up and waiting for the gap along the East Cape Coast and in Algoa Bay the commercial fishing boats put to sea and hunt the sardines down, hauling tons of them into their holds to be used for bait, food supplements, animal food and human consumption.

On the doorstep of Port Elizabeth a daily drama takes place in Algoa Bay which is home to 7 different dolphin and whale species. Sardines are an essential food to dolphins, whales and seals as well as our Gannet colony on Bird Island and the Penguins. All these animals can only survive if significant numbers of sardines stay available to them in large enough numbers.

Article courtesy of MyPE – For more in depth information please visit MyPE

For accommodation in PE – Port Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela Bay, on the magnificent sunshine coast of South Africa, Homeleigh Halt Guest House, bed and breakfast style, invites you to…”be our guest….”

Port Elizabeth is referred to as the “friendly city” and is the watersport capital of South Africa.

When: 06 April 2011
Where: NMMU Indoor Sports Centre

The internationally successful British pop group Smokie is visiting Nelson Mandela Bay on Wednesday, 6 April with one performance in the NMMU Indoor Sports Centre. With chart-topping hits like Living Next Door to Alice, Lay Back in the Arms of Someone and If You Think You Know How to Love Me, and constant tours of the UK and Europe, Smokie is one of the most popular bands in the world today.

Look at the Guinness Book of Hit Singles and you could be forgiven for thinking Smokie’s success story was a 1970s phenomenon. After all, 11 of their 14 British hits came in that eventful musical decade. However, their massive success story has continued to flourish around the globe including Scandinavia, South Africa, Germany and even China.

Smokie are a band which has sold out tours and gained platinum records in four decades – the 70s, 80s, 90s and the present day.

Their new CD, TAKE A MINUTE has just been recorded and will be released worldwide in February. In SA it will also be released in February by Lefra Productions and Next Music.

SMOKIE fans can expect a complete new show with wonderful new material. But as in any SMOKIE show, the hits will definitely feature. Who can forget Alice?”

Terry Uttley, the founder member of SMOKIE, said they cannot wait to come to South Africa. “This is our favourite country and it has always been a wonderful experience to come to South Africa. The people of South Africa like our music and it is such a warm feeling to get such wonderful support. We have just recorded TAKE A MINUTE and people around the world like our new material and songs and we are very confident that South Africans will also like our new show.”

Simply click here to book through Computicket: Smokie Port Elizabeth

Back in the day: Wednesday afternoons were for movies,shopping, playing golf. The banks were close, the butcher was closed and the chemist!

We fondly referred to it as “klein Saterdag”.

Relive the old days and take yourself off to see Smokie on Wednesday the 6 April.

For accommodation in Walmer, Port Elizabeth, we invite you to “be our guest.” Bed & Breakfast anyone?

19 February 2011 – 26 February 2011

Tour of SA:Cycling; Tour of South Africa;South Africa cycling;Cycling Race;Road Race

The Tour of South Africa, an 8-day, 7-stage 2.2 Category cycling event, takes place from the 19th to the 26th February 2011.

The Tour starts in Gauteng and ends in Paarl and will be broadcast on Supersport on DSTV.

 It’s the African equivalent to The Tour de France and will promote national patriotism, tourism and the support of roadside racing by spectators in our country.

2010 gave us the FIFA World Cup to entertain us, 2011 brings 24 Nations to SA, competing in a Tour across idyllic South Africa by bike in the inaugural Tour of South Africa, a world-class cycling event.

Stage 3 (177km)
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium to Summerstrand

See Route

Tuesday 22 February: 173km – Nelson Mandela Bay to Summerstrand– Starting at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, stage 3 heads towards the Addo Elephant National Park where one is sure to catch a few glimpses of wildlife (it is home to the Big Seven). From there the race returns to Port Elizabeth, where the route takes an interesting turn, with a city circuit, before finishing in Summerstrand on the beach front.

About the Race

The Cell C Tour of South Africa will be a World Class Cycling event with a uniquely South African flavour and a sought after destination for cycling teams around the World.

The Tour of South Africa has been carefully timed to follow on from the tour Down Under in Australia and before the major events in Europe.  It is an 8-day, 7-stage 2.2 Category cycling event in year 1, with plans to eventually turn it into a 9-day, 2.HC event within 5 years. It will be the “Jewel in the Crown” of Pro Cycling in South Africa.

The prize money for the event will be R500 000, making this the richest road event in the country.

For in depth information please visit the official website: