Pretoria

Click HERE to see more pictures about Pretoria.


http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

Jacaranda City...Jakaranda Stad!

IT IS OCTOBER! and I can imagine....Pretoria...what you look like! Purple Jacarandas everywhere! You can't hide yourself! This is the time when students are busy preparing for end-of-year exams...and...when they fall in love! I can remember how the men would come and visit with a bit of a Jacaranda branch! And..how you would go for a walk, bare feet...just to step on those blossoms and get your feet purple! Dan sing ek saam met Laurika Rauch:
Jakaranda Strate....roep my vanaand...ek luister na die liedjie op die wind en ek volg my hart waar hy gaan....Jakaranda Strate...Jakaranda Strate...Jakaranda Strate...roep my vanaand...ek luister na die liedjie op die wind en ek volg my hart waar hy gaan....

See more images HERE on my Wordpress-blog. This link will open in a new window.

Holiday...Pretoria

I'm still busy sorting zillions of pictures, here are a few pictures from Pretoria...I liked this taxi..the yellow was striking and the number plate...just right!

This is where the road from Akasia split, turn off to Gezina and the Market and other routes....when you take this turn off and turn left again, you cross the Apies River, before entering Gezina ....I think from Van Heerden Street...is the one way ...from West to East..."Apies" is the Afrikaans for "ape"....the river is named after the many apes that were found in this area when Pretoria was founded in 1855...this Apies River can be a "mighty" river! With heavy rains, places alongside the river get flooded, but that doesn't happen very frequently though.
This is a very familiar "landmark" ....the cement factory as you leave Pretoria and you travel north to Pretoria North/Akasia....or on the Mabopane highway..traffic on the road can be quite heavy...if you look at the lanes on the right...you can see....rush hour is a nightmare on this road...! We were heading towards the city....and it was after rush hour....
Traffic in Pretoria, paper boy on his way to his post...just sold us a paper!

.Gezina if you turn left...Harties (Hartbeespoort) if you keep going.....more traffic, 10-ish in the morning...
I know this road like the palm of my hand! Travelled this road for a couple of years from school in the afternoon.....Zoo coming up on your left....Langenhoven High school as the sign board indicates...always a speed trap when you go down! I missed them most of the time, but got ONE once....it is a 60km/h zone and I drove 70....think my fine was something like R60! wasn't much anyway....
Now, if you live in Pretoria, you know Boom Street very well!! Buses...zillions of them, because, this is Zoo-area ....and....a main route for the buses to travel to other areas easy accessible for them. There is parking for coaches at the Zoo...and as you can see by looking at the trees: It was Winter!! July/August..."boom" is the Afrikaans word for "tree"....this is also a VERY busy and "dangerous" street...crime! Though the police claimed that crime isn't anymore that high in this area, they (the police) also claimed that they are very visible....because of all the tourists visiting the Zoo...we didn't see them...perhaps they were around....
This is the same road...the one I travelled a couple of years from my school, just a few meters back...all these pictures were taken from inside the car...perhaps yo can see the wipers of the car!.....there wasn't time to stop every now and then to take a shot....so, they are not as good as they should be! I was in a moving car!!...hahaha...
ZOO! entrance....Boom Street...this is really a MUST if you go to Pretoria. I've been to London's Zoo and it's not a patch against Pretoria's...I must truly say, I was a bit disappointed the day when visiting London's Zoo....visit the Pretoria Zoo WEBSITE here.

Spring!

The first day of Spring in South Africa!! And this is how I remember Pretoria!! The Jacaranda trees almost fully in bloom! When it's October, I will just admire these pictures and picture it in my mind!

On this picture you can see the City Hall of Pretoria.

Telcom Tower in Groenkloof
The city also called the Jacaranda City.
This picture shows the view from the city from the Union Buildings, you can see the gardens of the Union Buildings. The "black" building is the Reserve Bank and the tallest building to the right of it is Absa-bank.

These last two pictures are from the Union Buildings, it was made of sandstone and was designed by Sir Herbert Baker and in November 1910 the cornerstone was laid.

Click here to see what the weatheris like in Pretoria.

Pretoria

Cold and windy!

Stressed out!

I think we are all a bit stressed out at school! hahaha...it is a typical sign of end-of-year...so much going on...actually ...too much...i think i'm getting fed-up, because i can't do in my class what i really want to do...and that is to have a bit of FUN!
Our PPA for the afternoon was cancelled...and i couldn't have the fun in the afternoon which i planned, because the leavers' practise took place later...so we were kind of waiting to be called....and nobody called at the time they were supposed to call us....only much later...what a waste...but...we didn't mind really, because we finished off our memory booklets.
Tomorrow another busy day, we have to practise our presentation for Wednesday in the Tower! And i plan an ICT project, to use PAINT.NET and to create our own pictures in the style of Hockney.... today's Seurat was a total lost with the "waiting.." What a shame, so much good time going lost... but anyway...there is always something else that needs to be done...and i think i'm still in a red mood!






This is a view in the Drakensberg Mountains in South Africa! Beautiful!!




And...I'm in a purple mood too! That is close enough to red...lol!
This is a street in Pretoria! In Spring,,,,,,October, the city is covered in Jacaranda blossoms.....that is the time when students write exams...and fall in love!
Pretoria is also called the "Jacaranda city"... because of all the Jacaranda trees in the streets...really a beautiful scene during October/November.
And I have now a new mouse, it seems to me that the other one was the cause of all my problems on the chess site!


Hmmm...i like these purple colours...my favourite colour!


And Red,...another favourite colour...

Just Me playing around

This statue by the State Theatre, in Pretoria, is slowly spinning around and at night, there's a spotlight and you can clearly see the two ballerinas turning...amazing...just a pity that theatre lovers can't enjoy art by night like before...due to obvious reasons...

Parachuting....sky diving

I was a student, when some of my friends... decided it was time to do something .....challenging ....again. We all went parachuting! Only once! It was SO exciting! Early that Saturday, at 7am, we all reported at Wonderboom Airport for "training". Yes, I don't think it was proper training, but the instructor was really harsh, I think he didn't like the idea of girl-students wanting to do it....because he wasn't very friendly towards us. Called us cockroaches! and we didn't like it! Anyway...after about 2 hours (or 3...can't remember exactly)....we were "ready" for our first jump! We all lined up with students from Pretoria Tech, they were a big group, about 30-40. So, very nervous! we sat kind of in silence and made some silly jokes to calm the nerves! All the jumps went quite well, everybody survived it! It was REALLY good! When you're up there...it is SO quiet! Just you....the sky....everything "down under"....it was so amazing to use your toggles and to view the area from "up there"... you can't describe the feeling to anyone else. I would like to do it again one day...but, I will have to get more guts to do it this time...it's a bit scary if you know what really can go wrong!

http://www.wonderboomairport.co.za/default.htm

Union Buildings, Pretoria

Pretoria is South Africa's executive and administrative capital. Pretoria is named after the Voortrekker Leader, General Andries Pretorius. Pretoria - today also called Tshwane - was founded in 1855 and declared the capital of the South African Republic, which was the Boer republic in Transvaal. The president of the republic, Marthinus Pretorius, named it after his father, Andries Pretorius, who had become the national hero of the Voortrekkers after his victory over the Zulu kingdom in the famous battle at Blood River. The founding of Pretoria as the capital of the South African Republic marked the end of the Boers' settlement movements of the Great Trek.


The Union Buildings, the Office of the ---earlier Prime Minister--- but now the State President, was designed by Sir Herbert Baker....

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Follow this link to read more about him....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Baker

For the first 6 months of the year, the State President spends his office-time in the Union Buildings and the 2nd half of the year...they all "move" to Cape Town for Parliament. There is even a school only for Parliamentary Staff, Ministers and Officials. The area where they all live is called Acacia Park.

Union Buildings, Pretoria

Pretoria

My Great Grandad

Read on THIS LINK more about him.

Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria

The Voortrekker Monument was built in 1938 to commemorate the Great Trek of 1838.




http://www.voortrekkermon.org.za/Structure/S01.00_frameeng.htm

Read about the Tapestry....Link from "Monument" on the menu left on the site mentioned above

Holiday in South Africa

http://www.key2south-africa-holidays.co.uk/

DURBAN!