Homeleigh Halt Guest House

Archive for the ‘Surrounding areas’ Category

CASTLE LAGER EAST CAPE BILTONG FESTIVAL / FEES 16 – 17 JULY 2010

The Blue Crane Route Municipality has hosted this incredible event, celebrating Karoo food, especially Biltong, and the Karoo way of life since it was initiated in 1991 by the Swaershoek Farmers’ Union, and the local Chamber of Commerce.

The Biltong Festival / Fees is presented by the Blue Crane Route Municipality, and made possible by the generous sponsorship provided by Castle Lager.
The event takes place at the Somerset East showgrounds.

As with the previous Biltong Festivals, this one promises to be a great success, luring festival goers from far and wide with the promise of great music, to suit all tastes; over 300 stalls, and the opportunity to party long into the night, in the Castle Lager Beer tent and the Bokjol!
The stalls will be selling a variety of products: but especially kudu in all its forms – Kudu burgers, Kudu wors and, of course, Kudu Biltong

View the 2010 Biltong Festival programme.

Port Elizabeth Bed & Breakfast: Homeleigh Halt: Walmer

For regular festival goers it is important that you take note of the fact that instead of the usual last week-end in June our favourite festival has moved to the beginning of June – ahead of the other major event of 2010 – to ensure that you miss none of the soccer action!

 Absa Kirkwood Wildlife Festival – the wildest ‘jol’ in South Africa! – Rated as one of the top festivals in the country is taking place from June 4th to 6th this year.
Kirkwood has something for everyone in the family.

The festival features 320 specialist stalls, free entertainment all weekend, the Eastern Cape’s biggest wine fair, kids entertainment (funfair rides and our favourite clown duo Popsi and Hobi), gourmet food and the most amazing car displays.

Top artists include Prime Circle, Juanita Du Plessis, Kurt Darren, Dozi and Nianell, as well as the Soweto String Quartet.

For cat lovers – a must see is the Cat show Champs.

Take in the “freeflight” owl show in the “Walk on the Wildside” tent and get up close some some of our country’s scariest creepy crawlies and snakes.

One of the country’s biggest game auctions takes place on Saturday 5th.

For the full programme, entrance fees etc. please visit the website http://www.wildsfees.co.za

Accommodation in Port Elizabeth – bed & breakfast at Homeleigh Halt Guest House.

Deep within the shadows of the dense valley bushveld of the Sundays River region of the Eastern Cape lies the Addo Elephant National Park. Here, the evenings are punctuated by the strident howl of the black-backed jackal, and the francolin’s call heralds each new dawn. Safe from relentless persecution in the past, the grey leviathans of the bush now roam in peace.

The original Elephant section of the park was proclaimed in 1931, when only eleven elephants remained in the area – today this finely tuned ecosystem is sanctuary to over 450 elephants, Cape buffalo, black rhino, a variety of antelope species, as well as the unique flightless dung beetle, found almost exclusively in Addo. And their Addo has only just begun. with plans to expand the  164 000 ha Addo National Elephant Park into a 360 000 ha mega-park. In addition, plans include the proposed proclamation of a 120 000 ha (296 500 acre) marine reserve that includes islands that are home to the world’s largest breeding populations of Cape gannets and second largest breeding population of African penguins.
FACTS:
•The park conserves no less than five of South Africa’s seven biomes?
•Is also home to one of the densest African elephant populations on earth?
•It is home to the unique flightless dung beetle?
•Addo incorporates the largest coastal dune field in the southern hemisphere?
•The park boasts the Big Seven, (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, southern right whale and great white shark)?
•It also protects the world’s largest Cape gannet breeding population on Bird Island.

Homeleigh Halt Guest House is a mere 50km from the park and if you do not feel like a self drive outing, we can arrange a tour with a highly qualified field guide for you.

Accommodation: South Africa: Port Elizabeth

 When:  27 & 28 February 2010          Venue:  Cuyler Hofstede Farm  
 
16 tonnes of bristling fruit makes this a prime prickly pageant! But this spiky little Mexican fruit hasn’t always had a smooth history in South Africa.

Initially introduced as fodder for stock and hedging, these fruity fellas thrived under the South African sun and went forth and multiplied. So much so, that in 1937 the Eastern Cape Agricultural Board declared the crop an ‘alien undesirable’ that had to be erradicated. Half a century later there was an about turn and now the prickly ‘cactus pear’ or ‘Indian fig’ enjoys a legitimate crop status.

 In 1987 the Cuyler Manor Museum held the first Prickly Pear Festival and attendance has grown to over 15 000 visitors. Today the Uitenhage Museum (comprising Drostdy Museum, Old Railway Station Museum and the Cuyler Manor Museum) is also the only institution with a licence to distill raw spirit from the prickly pear.

This fun family festival is usually held in late February or early March at Cuyler Hofstede farm near Uitenhage, just outside of Port Elizabeth (The Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay).

Kids will find plenty of cool things to do.

Grumbling tummies won’t go hungry and you will be spoilt for choice with an array of yummy traditional food such as ginger beer, pancakes, potjiekos, home-made jam, a spit braai and fish braai, bunnychow and home-made puddings on offer.

Of course the star of the show features as a prime ingredient and you can buy all manor of ‘pear products’ ranging from pickles and jams to prickly pear witblits, the local moonshine distilled in 19th Century copper stills.

The annual Blue Crane Route Invites all to the 2009 Biltong Festival:

17-th – 18th July 2009 in Somerset East.

It is a mere 2 hour drive from us.

You will be entertained non stop for two days by some of S.A’s top artists such as:

MANGO GROOVE
JASON (IDOLS)
JUANITA DU PLESSIS
THEUNS JORDAAN
CHRISTO & COBUS
MALAIKA
LIANIE MAY
NIC STEVENS
MARIUS DE BRUYN
ZANDRE
EMO ADAMS
ANDRIES VERMEULEN
STU DAVIDSON
KAAPSE KLOPSE
DR VICTOR & THE RASTA REBELS
DOZI.

There are a wide variety of stalls, an aerobatics display, helicopter flips….and much much more.

Of course the most important attraction is the biltong. Now for those of you who did not know this, good ”biltong” must surely rate as the most sought after snack, meal, rugby accompaniment, gift…………..well the list goes on and on.

So I have sent my son off to Somerset East to source the most divine biltong and wors ( For my international friends…biltong is meat which is spiced and allowed to dry, made from beef or venison (local buck like kudu, springbok, nyala etc.), then of course there is ostrich, chicken and meat  from other big game animals.

Droe wors (Dry Sausage) is divinely spiced minced meat – piped into a sausage skin- allowed to dry. mmmmm an absolute must have!

If you are not near enough to us this time round, be sure to diarise the not to be missed festivals that take place in June and July annually: Billabong Pro Surfing (Jeffreys Bay), Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Kirkwood Wildlife Festival, Biltong Festival (Somerset East).

Stay at Homeleigh Halt and take a drive along for the day to any one of these not to be missed festivals.

 Entrance Fees to the showgrounds for the day cost ZAR 45.00 for and adult and ZAR 20.00 for a child of school going age.

Use our convenient currency convertor to see what this would cost you if you a visitor from outside of South Africa.

The annual surfing highlight of the year in our area takes place from the 9 – 19 July 2009 when the Billabong Pro 2009 Jeffreys Bay is on.  This year the world’s top 45 ranked surfers can be seen in action at the iconic South African pointbreak.

It is needless to say that it attracts visitors from far and near. My son and his friends will be camped out there to enjoy this “festival.”

If you cannot be there in person you can catch all the action with the live webcast!

Billabong Pro Live webcast:
via www.billabongpro.com each day of the event utilizing live coverage in English and Portuguese, with the event websites in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Various camera angles, highlights and replays, weather and scoring information, direct viewer interaction, celebrity guests, interviews and more are apart of the daily webcast program.

Legendary South African surfer and 1977 world champion Shaun Tomson will join the commentary team that includes Contest Director Mike Parsons and the affable G.T.

The annual Grahamstown National Arts Festival is a must for every lover of the performing arts.

The annual event is a 10 day explosion of theatre, music, dance, art exhibitions, street performances and much more.

The huge flea market with unique crafts from all over the country provides the opportunity to purchase interesting items.

For more information, visit the National Arts Festival Website.

A mere 2 hours drive from Port Elizabeth makes it an ideal outing whilst spending some time in the friendly city.

We at Homeleigh Halt Guest House can strongly recommend an outing to the annual Bedford Garden and Flower Festival, and can recommend a good 5 day tour at a reasonable price.

Join Deon Spies from Aloe-Drift Safaris on a magnificent well organised and well informed tour, guaranteed to scintillate the senses.

This magnificent tour is being offered at a very special price…..per person sharing. Please contact us for more details.

Combine this with a Homeleigh Halt special and you have yourself a dream holiday at an affordable price.

Spend a few days in Port Elizabeth with us at Homeleigh Halt, taking in the sights, and sounds of surf and turf. Go on an ocean safari or a Wednesday evening sail with the ABYC. We know someone who can arrange a social Wednesday sail for you! Weather permitting.

Take a day trip to the Addo Elephant  National Park .

BEDFORD – Eastern Cape Province

The charming, picturesque Settler village of Bedford, cradled at the foot of the Kagaberg and regarded as the “jewel” of the Eastern Cape will again be opening its beautiful gardens to the public during its annual Garden Festival.
The Country Fair with the various stall of Deli items, biltong, gardenalia, bath & body and culinary products, hand-crafted gifts, jewellery, fresh produce, potted lavenders and other herbs as well as loads of interesting and delicious goodies are just some of the items that will be on sale.
Mix with the locals over a traditional braai and a cold beer or glass of wine. Teas & Coffees with a range of cakes will also be available.

View fine art of wild-life artist Frans Mulder in the stables at De Kleine Maastrom and local artist David Khoury at the Art & Craft Gallery in town.

Bedford is renowned for its beautiful heritage roses. For the avid gardener, there will a wide variety of Heritage Rose cultivars available for purchas such as Mutabalis – with its multi-coloured pink to apricot flowers and the dark pink Zepherine Drouhin.

For historical buffs, there’s a wealth of history to explore in the area. The churches and many of the buildings and houses are wonderful examples of early architecture.

Spring comes early to this area of the Eastern Cape and October is the prime month for viewing the unique landscaping and the wonderfully-picturesque settings of the extensive farm and town gardens. Visitors can stroll through masses of roses, daylilies, hydrangeas and hellebores and other plant varieties or wander across emerald green lawns to discover some hidden garden treasure – a water feature or a fascinating plant. There are more than 24 splendid town and farm gardens to choose from.