Pretoria... close enough to Joburg

The other day, I went on a day trip to Pretoria. We caught the Gautrain to Pretoria CBD and then took a walk to various historical buildings and museums.
 
We started with Melrose House, built in 1886 and where the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed to end the Second Anglo Boer War. They have a lot of the original furnishings and the furniture and decor that was damaged in a bomb blast in the 1990's have been restored to replicate the originals. It's a gorgeous old house, just my style!
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
From there we went across to Burgers Park. It's beautiful and green, with winding pathways, a playground, bandstand, fish pond and florarium. There is a tropical garden and desert garden in the florarium.

A couple blocks away is the National Museum of Natural History. As with most of the South African museums, this can't compete with the international museums. It is in desperate need of a refurbishment and update (some of the exhibits still refer to the Transvaal!). Their bird exhibit is impressive, with a huge selection of birds. Some of the exhibits are a bit strange like a leopard eating a Taung man and a Taung child staring at an imaginary eagle.
 
The building itself is beautiful and the staff are very friendly. It's worth the visit but try not to compare it to other international museums.
 
From there we took a walk through the very busy CBD to Church Square. It was a bit weird for me to see so many people in Army camo just walking around - we don't get that in Joburg! There were also a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out The Watchtower and with stands set up to sell their religion.
 

Church Square is surrounded by beautiful historical buildings. There is the Old Netherlands Bank (now Nedbank), Palace of Justice (the High Court), the Old Reserve Bank and Old Mutual Building to name a few. We had lunch at Café Riche, built in 1902 and a National Monument. At the moment, Paul Kruger street has been dug up so it's a bit of a mess.  
We went into the Palace of Justice though there weren't any cases being heard. This is where the Rivonia Treason Trial was heard and where the Oscar trial is happening now.Security told us no pictures, so of course I had to take some! The architecture is amazing, with pressed dome ceilings, stained glass windows and marble everywhere. 
 
If you go around to the front of the Court, you'll recognise it from the Oscar trial.
 

 

 

And that was the trip... we caught the bus back to the station and came back home. It was an awesome day out and we got to play tourist for a day, half an hour from home!

 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 

The best burger in Joburg (in my humble opinion)

I am loving burgers at the moment! Not too much, but just enough so that I don’t get too chunky. This is just my (humble) opinion about the best places to get one in the northern suburbs of Joburg.

The Wolfpack – Parkhurst

I love Parkhurst. And I now love the Wolfpack. Besides their great burgers, they have a huge selection of Craft Beer (another new hobby of mine – it’s surprising I weigh 20 kgs more). You need to book and they have seating down and upstairs. You’ll find it on 4^th Ave, where Georges on 4^th used to be.

The last burger I had there was the Big Bad Wolf. It was AMAZING! So saucy and messy and delicious! Their fries are also great as are the wasabi onion rings.

 

RocoMamas – Randburg

Lucky for me this is about 2 kms from my house (Appletons Village, Malibongwe Drive), should a burger craving kick in. And guess what… they also have Craft Beer.

My favourite thing here is that you can build your own burger – as indecisive as I am, I still like to make my own choices.

Us 3 Musketeers went there the other night for a girls catch up dinner. We shared the ribs to start – YUM! – and then I had the Classic Cheese with extra blue cheese dressing and guacamole. It was super scrumptious!

The manager told us that all of the ingredients are sourced fresh and they make everything themselves like the burger patties, sauces etc. Always a plus for me!

 

Great Burger Company (GBC) – Fourways

GBC is about 1 km form work for me (The Buzz Centre, Witkoppen Drive). This is where is go once in while on a Friday (take out lunch day). It’s also a build your own burger place. The biggest difference with GBC is that they have a bigger selection of toppings and burgers – they beef, chicken and lamb. You can also choose from quite a few different rolls.

A lot of the toppings are also free (unlimited) so you can get away with a relatively cheap burger if you don’t go too fancy. There are 7 different cheeses to choose from and 15 different sauces.

I am also told that their Chilli Cheese fries are amazing… a bit pricey, but apparently worth it. And since I eat there during working hours, I don't know the Craft Beer situation :)

So my verdict is this… for selection, go to GBC, for freshness and yumminess, go to Rocomamas, for an overall great experience, go to the Wolfpack.

All great burgers though! For me, it depends which area I’m in and what I’m socially in the mood for.

Emmarentia Dam

If Northern Farms is too far to drive, there is always Emmarentia Dam. It is off Beyers Naude, near Meliville Koppies, in the suburb of… you guessed it… Emmarentia.

The original farm was established by Lourens Geldenhuys in 1886, the same year Johannesburg was officially ‘born’. Louw Geldenhuys, one of Lourens sons married a lady named Emmarentia (hence the name). During the Boer War, the lake was dug to provide work for landless farmers. The park was later given to the City Council for recreation purposes. The Johannesburg Botanical Gardens were established in 1964 and form part of the park.

There are 3 dams, a rose garden, herb garden, dog walking park and quite a few mountain biking trails. It forms part of the Braamfontein Spruit trail. You can leave the park, and access the Spruit near the fire station on either side of Beyers Naude.

There are some easy routes that you can spice up with a few single tracks through trees and down hills and through the streams connecting the dams.  

 

Since dogs are walked there, the one thing you do need to watch out for when cycling is fresh dog poop. It’s never pleasant to cycle through it by mistake (I’d rather go through cow poop if I had to choose!). You also need to watch out for the actual dogs. They’re all so happy to be out and sniffing each other that they don’t pay attention to anyone around them.

 

If you park in the parking lot off Olifants Road, the car guard is a super friendly guy who knows all about cars, how much the accessories (like mags) cost and how fast they go. It’s not often you meet a guy who’s friendly just because.

Great views in Joburg

I went to Randlords the other day for a site visit. It's a venue in Braamfontein near WITS, on the 22nd floor of the South Point Towers.

I can highly recommend going through an hour before and after sunset. The views are spectacular!! Here are a few of the photos I took while we were there.

Northern Farms

About 6 months ago, I started cycling. Nothing hectic, I’m more of a leisurely rider who likes to look at the scenery while I’m doing it. My father recently introduced me to Northern Farms. It’s a Nature Reserve out near Diepsloot and I think it may have at one time been a JHB Waterworks site. There is also a cow farm on the property. 

According to the website (http://www.northernfarm.co.za) , it offers over 2500ha of beautiful green grasslands and woodlands to explore. It is a great spot for bird watching, cycling and horse riding. It can get very busy, judging by the number of cars parked, but the area is so big you can go for ages without seeing anyone (although they do tend to sneak up behind you on the single tracks!)

There are 5 marked out routes – pink, green, red and blue. Pink being the easiest and shortest and black the longest. At the moment, I prefer to do the green route, not too many hills and lots of mud! There is a combination of jeep and single tracks and we go past dams, through forests and fields and past cow enclosures.  

I love taking a relaxed cycle around while looking at the awesome scenery. There are green fields and farms with housing complexes, informal settlements and power transmission lines in the distance. Every now and then a Kulula plane takes off overhead – it’s close to Lanseria.  

After your ride, you can drop your bike at the bike wash which is part of the Dipesloot Development Project. They also host the Diepsloot Mountain Bike Academy that provides MTB and life skills training for underprivileged youth sourced from schools in Diepsloot (https://www.facebook.com/DiepslootMTBAcademy).  

There is also a ‘coffee shop’ where you can buy a delicious bacon and egg or cheese and bacon roll with a coffee or Sterie Stumpie. You sit outside on benches under the trees and inhale your roll while cyclist watching.  

It really is a great and safe weekend morning out!

Off to market!

Markets seem to be quite the rage at the moment in Joburg. They are springing up all over the place and thankfully they seem to be quite decent!

The two markets I love at the moment are the Neighbourgoods Market in Braamfontein and the Fourways Farmers Market - there are still a lot more I need to visit!

Neighbourgoods Market

This is found in an old parking garage in the middle of the 'new' Braamfontein, in Juta Street. The market has all sorts of yummy things downstairs like fresh eggs benedict, waffles with bacon in them, giant pancakes (the lemon meringue is my favourite!) and champagne and oysters. There are also lots of vendors selling take home stuff like pesto and sauces (Paulie's is a firm favourite!). Upstairs you can sit outside taking in the sights and sounds of the city or you can visit the clothing and jewellery section that sells small design label clothes.

You should get there early because the market gets very busy and you'll find yourself trying to eat and drink while standing - not easy to do if you need utensils!

It's open every Saturday from 9:00 to 15:00. Come hungry!



Photos courtesy of Neighbourgoods Market

Fourways Farmers Market

This market is on the corner of William Nicol and Montecasino Boulevard, next to Longmeadow Venue. It's open on Sunday's from 09:00 to 15:00 and features fresh produce, freshly made food and the usual sauces and other delicious goodies.

Once you have your food, there are hay bales, picnic tables and tree stumps to sit on. There is also a separate bar type area where you can buy wine and beer (and there aren't many children!).

It's another great day out and you can stock up on all sorts of things. There are some great 'food trucks' like Baha Taco, Balkan Burgers and Flammkuchen - they also sell cronuts (yum!) and I can recommend a visit to the cheese stall - the brie is out of this world!

Rhino and Lion Park – a day just out of the city

This weekend, I treated myself and a little friend to a day out at the Rhino and Lion Park (www.rhinolion.co.za) in the Cradle. It's about 30 minutes out of Randburg, so in the 'bush' but not. It's a lovely area, big plots, cycle lanes, hills and grasslands. I've stopped opposite the entrance while out cycling with Daddles, where they have animals (lions and tigers) in enclosures as part of a breeding programme and to get animals healthy (I think) but never actually went inside.

The entrance fee was R130 for adults and R90 for kids (they take cards). After you've entered the park you drive along dirt roads (a 4x4 would've been a more comfortable choice in car!) past mixed herds of animals. They have set up feeding areas along the road for the grazing animals, complete with salt licks.

The first heard we saw was a mix of wildebeest, impala and a snoring buffalo next to the road. Along the way we also saw sable, gemsbok, waterbuck, ostriches (one relaxing in the middle of the road), zebras, eland, a rhino, squirrels and a mongoose.

We drove through to the Predator enclosure just in time for feeding time. The first stop is the wild dogs. Most of them were in a field to the left having a go at a big rack of ribs but three were sitting in the shade to the right. They got up and starting sniffing the cars, rubbing the exhaust of one and chewing the wheel cover of another. From there, it’s through to the Lion enclosure. After queuing like peak hour traffic we got in just in time to see a cow (or something similar) get dumped off a ranger vehicle. The pride jumped on it and got going. It was quite scary to hear the growls coming from a pile of lions. When we’d had enough, it was a drive through the very big cheetah area, but we didn’t see any.

The next stop was the animal crèche where they keep the exotic, baby and sick animals. We played with the baby lions – there were 3 month olds and 6 ½ month olds to choose from, we took the younger ones. Three of the four were asleep and the fourth was very playful. They were very sweet little things. We also saw baby giraffes, clouded leopards, a black leopard, jaguar, Siberian tigers, white tigers (one was trying to stalk the hyena in the enclosure next door), blue cranes, bat-eared foxes and so on. It is R30 to play with the Lions and you have to pay for each animal you want to interact with, like the grown cheetah. They only take cash in the crèche but do take cards at booking office a short walk away at reception. There is also a reptile section though we didn’t go in.

The crèche is also part of an area that has picnic areas, a restaurant and kids play area. And lots of squirrels.

At a few points along the drive you can see the Coca Cola Dome and Sandton in the distance, which reminds you that you're actually quite close to home but still surrounded by a game park. It was a very dusty experience as well, there is red dust everywhere! It looked like we'd been off-roading in the dessert. I assume it's better in summer?

They also have accommodation, game drives and Wondercaves.

So all in all, well worth the visit! It’s a great day out of Joburg without really going out of Joburg.

 

A tourist in our own town - City Sightseeing Tours

Daddles and I love doing tours of Joburg! We love the history, the vibe, the architecture, the people. So as a birthday present, I decided to book us on the newly unveiled City Sighting seeing tour of Johannesburg. I've done the tours in Cape Town and Rome and loved them! They're a quick, easy and interesting way to see a city and to get a feel for it before you launch yourself into being a tourist.  

The tickets are very reasonable, R120 online and R150 at the 'door'. We started the tour at Park Station on a half full bus. There were the usual selection of European tourists but it was also nice to see or rather hear locals on the tour.  

The audio part of the tour is very good. The guides have some good information and are entertaining. They objectively cover the important parts of Joburg history but without going too deep into the ugly parts surrounding apartheid. Luckily there weren’t any cringe –worthy parts which is quite an achievement!  

It goes past Ghandi Square, the Carlton Centre (see previous Top of Africa post) and onto Santarama.  

We got off at the Santarama stop. Just to give you some background… in primary school, Santarama was one of the field trips we used to do. It's also known as Miniland. It's full of teeny replicas of all sorts of (pre 1994) South African things like an airport, the Castel of Good Hope, a harbour, a city hall,  the Dromedaris, rural villages for different tribes and so on. There is a massive statue of Jan van Riebeeck outside and for some strange reason, a huge statue of Michael Jackson inside? I was looking forward to seeing the place because I only have fond memories of it… I was very disappointed! It looks like they haven’t done any maintenance in the last 15 years and would probably have to demolish it and start again. I'm not really sure why this is on the tour?  

 

We then walked down the road to the James Hall Transport Museum. What a treat! I'd never heard of it, but am so glad my Dad wanted to see it! They have old wagons, bikes, fire engines and cars in great condition. Being a fan of shiny sports cars and vintage cars, I was in my element! Then it was on to Gold Reef City, via Turfontein, past the Apartheid Museum and back into town.   

We got off the bus again at the Mining District Walk, outside the Anglo American building – which was the building my dad had his job in (but not at Anglo). We walked down Main Street which has been done up very nicely! My dad told me stories about when he worked in town in the 70's before the big companies moved into the Sandton CBD. There are little extra touches everywhere like pretty gardens, metal leaf cut outs in the pavements and mining machinery and presses. While waiting for the bus, we chatted to some guys (and their customers) at their spaza shop and my dad took some great photos… Joburg is truly a great cultural melting pot!

And then we were off to Newtown, where we stopped to grab some lunch at Gramadoelas. I wouldn’t recommend it. Bad service, terrible food and a waste of stomach space! I think you just need to look a bit harder in the area for a great place to eat. While waiting for the bus, we made a plan to come back to the Sci Bono Museum that is in the old Electric Workshop (my favourite rave venue back in the 90's).

The rest of the trip took us past the Origins Centre - a very interesting museum about the evolution of humankind, The Grove in Braamfoniten, home to the Neighbourgoods Market (excellent market!!) and a lot of urban renewal and the to Constitution Hill. This is my favourite museum and I've done the tour so many times I can probably give it myself. If there is one place you visit in Joburg, this is it!!

From there, it was back to Park Station and the end of a really good tour. We had a great day and I am looking forward to other routes they will hopefully add to the tour.

Visit http://www.citysightseeing.co.za/joburg.php

 

 

 

 

Greenside - a place to eat, drink and dance

The other night, I went to Greenside with some friends for a girls night out. This is one of many outings over the last couple year's to the vibey, villagey suburb.

Greenside was initially part of a farm founded by the Geldenhuys brothers, who owned a huge area that now includes Linden, Emmarentia, Saxonwold, Parkhurst and Victory Park.

The main drag of Gleneagles Drive is lined with restaurants and bars on one side and small businesses on the other. There are all sorts of cuisines to choose from, Indian (at Spiceburg and Karma), South African (Mama Tembo's), Asian (Tokyo Star), Italian (Topo Gigio), burgers at Dukes and the list goes on.

It's a great place for sundowners, with Topo Gigio offering jugs of cocktails at half price between 3 and 5. They also have great food and the vibe is great!

If you're there for a night out and aren't having dinner, this is what I recommend...

1.   Have a couple drinks at The Office. It's a vibey, busy bar. It does get super full after about 9, but that's ok because by then it's time to move on.

2.   Stop in at Gin, next door to The Office. This has a more chilled, less hoity toity feel. It's a great place for a couple more drinks and bit of a dance. The music ranges from old school rap, to hip hop to rock to pop. Try and avoid the bathroom though... it's not great.

3.   Wander along to Tokyo Star. There are 2 sections to Tokyo, the bar/restaurant that plays chilled acid jazz type music and the club side that plays everything. And I mean everything, from Dr Dre to Nirvana, it just depends on who the DJ is.

There is also Bob Rock's around the corner, but the night we went there, we were underwhelmed and the music wasn't that good.

Because it is all in a residential area, everything closes down at 2am, so you have a time limit. There are also sometimes cops on Barry Hertzog and Tana, so watch out! Parking is also a bit of a nightmare and you'll find you will end up parking in some side street but there are car guards everywhere so it's pretty safe.

During the day, it's great driving down the main streets of the suburbs, under the canopy of oak trees, looking at the old houses.

All in all, it's a great suburb day or night and there is always something to do and see.

Jacaranda season

The Jacaranda season is almost upon us! In October/November all of the Jacaranda trees in Joburg start flowering. Their beatuiful purple flowers add a special something to the landscape that is the urban forest of Joburg.

They're orginally from South and Central America and were planted all over the city.

I recommend going to almost any viewpoint to take a look out over the city at the gorgeous colours. Parktown is always good for viewing as is Northcliff Hill (though I hear you need to be alert up there).

And when they fall off the trees, the flowers cover the roads wiht a carpet of purple (and make a fantastic popping noise as you drive over them!)

Melville Koppies

A couple months back, Daddles and I eventually got around to going on a guided walk of the Melville Koppies.

We arrived early one summer morning, all ready to go. My in my trusty pair of walking Havaiana flip flops and everyone else in their hiking boots. And I’ll have you know I didn’t get a sock tan and had the last laugh when we walked through the river. Ha!

The Melville Koppies is a nature reserve and Heritage site just off Beyers Naude at the bottom of Melville and across the road from Mark’s Park (where the original Louw Geldenhuys farmhouse is). The walks are through Melville Koppies Central. They do dog walks through Melville Koppies West. Melville Koppies East is open to the public but people are advised not to walk alone (as with most of these areas in Joburg)

The area is on a granite ridge and as you walk around, you can see where the granite has been pushed to the surface. There are all sorts of different colour stones – ranging from clear, to white to brown to black - in different areas, I would assume as a result of different veins of granite and conditions.

The guided walk took us up the koppie, through a foresty area where we looked at all sorts of mushrooms, lichens and pretty flowering plants growing there and also sampling the edible fruits and berries that grow there. All the plants are indigenous. There is even a plant that looks like the seeds of the Tree of Souls in Avatar.

We walked up to the top of the koppie and to where the Iron Age furnace can be found. They have set up a roof and put up educational signage boards and information about the ages of man in the area. Our guide quickly ran through the 250 000 year history (Stone Age an onwards) and who moved through the area and what they left behind. There are arrow heads made of stone, cutting tools, pots, kraal walls and so on. They have also found San artefacts.   

Further up, is a view to die for! You get a 360° view of Johannesburg… its breath taking! On a clear day you can see all the way out to Magaliesburg.

From there we walked down the back of the hill towards the Westdene Spruit, that runs along Beyers Naude and into the Emmarentia Dams. It’s a lovely, cool, quiet area and a nice way to end the walk. All in all, it’s about 3 hours (I think). The guides are passionate about the area and their particular specialisations, such as the plants, insects and history.

They do regular guided walks and also do speciality walks like Geology, birding, ecology and trees. Visit their website on www.mk.org.za for more info.

View from the Top of Africa

The Carlton Centre... it brings back so many memories from my childhood. My dad used to work there and it was always a treat to go visit! My mom also worked there at some stage, when it was the office block to be in. They used to go to the bar at the top for drinks after work. My dad was there when the building was bombed by the ANC. We were also once treated by my dad to the fanciest dinner ever at the Three Ships before it closed down.

The other day I took a friend out for a different day. On the to-do list was the Top of Africa - the 50th floor of the Carlton Centre. So, off we went into the centre of Joburg one Saturday afternoon. Driving into the underground parkade, memories came flooding back... it has a steep driveway down into (what feels like) the centre of the Earth - this was always my favourite part of visiting my dad!

After quite a bit of walking around the shopping centre on the ground floor trying to find the lift to the top, we paid our small entrance fee and caught the lift to the top. We were also hit up for money by the security guard, but that's just par for the course...

We stepped out of the lift and walked towards the light... the view was breathtaking! We could see for miles, all sides of my city. There was Sandton, the stadiums, the mine dumps, the Nelson Mandela Birdge, the old IBM building, Ghandi Sqaure, the airport.... pretty much everything! They have photos and architects renderings on the walls and also some information about the Indian community (though how that fits in, I'm not sure)

It wasn't very busy either, so we had plenty of space and could take our time. I suppose the CBD issue puts people off - though it really shouldn't! I can imagine the sunsets must be awesome from up there!

So do yourself a favour, visit the Top of Africa and while you're in the CBD, enjoy a drive around looking at all the old buildings.

Cedar Farm

I’m not a parent but I do have friends who are. So I get to go to kids parties, as a spectator, once in a while.

It suits me just fine! I get to watch their kids eat loads of sugar, run around like headless chickens and just go mad. And then I get to say goodbye and go home to my quiet house, and sit with my very calm cat.

On Sunday, I went to my bff’s son’s party at Cedar Farm, on Cedar Ave. what a fun place!! They have a big property and lots of cute farmyard animals. There is a thatched area where they have a bar (that you stock) and tables and chairs. There’s a sand pit, jungle gym and they can put up a jumping castle. So perfect for kids and (very tired) parents! The staff were great and friendly and seemed to have everything well organised.

The animals were the highlight for me! They had three baby bunnies (SOOOOO cute!) and a batch of baby piggys (stinky, but also SOOOO cute!!). There were also two ducks, a very loud cock, a pony, a sheep and some grown up bunnies and piggys.

So if you’re looking for a kids venue – though I reckon it would work for grown-ups too – this is a great place to go!

http://www.cedarfarm.co.za/

Great views...

I have also decided to add photos of great views in Joburg when I am inspired.

So here is the first one... it's a view of Sandton at sunrise from my office building balcony.

A little piece of doggy heaven

The other day I ventured out to Walkhaven Dog Park with the Muppet (and his 3 gorgeous girls) and Princess S (and his little dog). It’s outside Joburg, over the N14 in Muldersdrift. According to their site, it’s a 22 hectare property – having no sense of size and distance, I am going to assume that’s HUGE! Because it looked like it.

You arrive and are greeted by all sorts of dogs… big, small, gay, straight, you name it, they have it! As long as you have 4 legs (even that’s optional) and are of the canine variety, this is the place for you! (and they are obviously welcome to bring their ‘owners’ aka the people – who have the money and the food.)

Once you’ve paid, you’re free to make use of the area, including a dam, a wetland (mud pit) and an area of really long grass, where once in a while a dog pops up, doing a rabbit impression. Most of the dogs are well behaved and well socialised, though there’s always one who just doesn’t fit in. It’s mostly a leash-free environment, so the dogs get to run around and just go crazy.  They swim, chase balls, sniff each other, you know, the usual dog stuff.

There is also a picnic area and a restaurant where you can order food and drinks and just relax. There is even a doggie spa, where they can get washed and pampered after a tough day of being a dog.

On the “puppy hugging” side of things, Walkhaven also do their bit by doing fundraising and creating awareness about animal welfare organisations.

So, if you have dogs and want to treat them to a day out, this is a great place!

Old Joburg Architecture

One of my ultimate favourite things about Joburg is the architecture. Not just any architecture, the Arts & Crafts style of the Rand Lords and early pioneers and inhabitants of Joburg.

Most of them built their mansions in Parktown, along the ridge, overlooking the Sachsenwald and in the distance, the mines and the Magaliesberg. As with development in any growing city, some were torn down so that hospitals and highways could be built. However, quite a few remain.

The architect who I think is the founder of this style was Sir Herbert Baker (also the architect of the Union Buildings and train station in Pretoria). I adore his style! I don’t know why or exactly what it is, but his style just speaks to me. He used rock mined from the sites where he built the houses, had archways, sloping shingled roofs, great craftsmanship and tiered hillside gardens. I can imagine what it would be like living in one of his grand houses, sitting on the patio with a glass of bubbly and my golden retrievers, between the arches, looking down over Johannesburg towards Magaliesberg (though I’d have much better sanitation and a more comfortable corset). Sigh…

This brings me to the Parktown Westcliff Heritage Trust. It’s a non-profit organisation that makes sure all the historical buildings in Joburg are looked after and kept safe from government and developers. They organise weekly walking and bus tours around various houses and suburbs in Joburg. The first one my dad and I did was of the Brixton Cemetery (I love cemeteries, but not in a creepy way!). It was fascinating to hear the stories about the people who had been such a huge part of the Joburg history and growth, both good and bad.

We then discovered homes like Northwards, Villa Arcadia (owned by Hollard), Emoyeni (now a conference venue), Stone House (Herbert Baker’s own house), and historic streets like The Valley Road, Rock Ridge Road and Pallinghurst Road and the list goes on. I saw where gold was discovered - and contrary to what I had been taught, George Harrison did not stumble over a lump of gold, he blew a hole in the ground. We’ve done a tour of the Freemasons Lodge in Parklane, we’ve been walking through Hillbrow and the battlefields in the south.

I even owe my existence to one of these historical houses – Eikenlaan. It’s now the Mike’s Kitchen on St Andrew’s in Parktown. This is where my grandparents met after the war. My grandfather was in the RAF, my grandmother had moved to Joburg to work and they were staying in the same boarding house. My granny spotted my grampa (who was rather good looking and dashing) and offered him a cup of warm Milo…. and here I am!

So, do yourself a favour and check out their website www.parktownheritage.co.za and take a tour or two. The houses they have deemed historical and protected all have blue circular plaques outside.

Stone House

 Northwards

I HEART Joburg... I really, really do!

This is blog post #1... I made the decision, while walking through the Melville Koppies, that it was time to blog about my home city, Joburg.

I love Joburg. I have always lived here and am constantly surprised and inspired by my city. I have seen lots of other cities but none of them have the same vibe and feel. They don't inspire me nearly as much!

So, what I plan on doing is writing about great places I have been to in Joburg, fun and interetsing things to do and places to get good stuff... I welcome comments, input and suggestions, so feel free to share!

Well... here goes! Next post to follow soon!