Skywatch, it's good to be back!

Here's something you don't see every day!


The small helicopter landed in a swamp, and started sinking. In order not to lose it, the large one was called in for an emergency recovery, to pull it out before it disappeared under the raft of papyrus reeds! To see more Skywatch photos, go to the site and follow the links, you'll see wonderful photos and meet a great bunch of people from around the world!

I have been out of blogland for a while, but am looking forward to visiting around tomorrow, now that life is getting back to normal.

Bonus Skywatch... Happy 90th Birthday Madiba

I just could not let the special significance of this day go by without comment, so I am giving you a second Skywatch post. (The first was posted in the wee small hours, but then I saw this sky this morning and had to add it)

It is so apt, because today is the 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, my personal hero, and icon of inspired leadership to many around the world. The sky over Nelson Mandela Bay this morning seemed to beam down rays of light, which is utterly descriptive of his effect on our country, and the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADIBA, thank you for being you, and for saving our nation from tyranny. I hope your example resonates with all the leaders who are honoured enough to step in your footsteps. May your selfless humility, deep integrity, steadfast conviction and humanity and strength without bitterness in the face of adversity be an everlasting beacon to all who follow.

I was feeling so inspired in the middle of the night that I did a painting to commemorate this special day.

The words written faintly in gold are a quotation from Nelson Mandela...

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

All new super doopa Skywatch

You can visit the new Skywatch site for more.....

Skywatch Friday.... having a whale of a time

We had a wonderful time at Cape St Francis last Sunday, watching the unusual clouds on the horizon, the waves smashing on the rocks......

and humpback whales cruising past..... to see more, see previous post.

Have a great Skywatch, I must apologise in advance that I might not be able to visit as much as I would like to this week. Tom at Wiggers World has links to tons of great blogs who participate in the compulsive pleasure of skywatching!

Skywatch Conservatory

The lovely old Victorian Conservatory at St George's Park, the perfect place to see the sky whether inside or out! Visit Tom at Wiggers World for links to lots of great sky photos.

Skywatch .... super-dooper street light

A REALLY bright street light!

I am appealing for help with sourcing photos that I can use as reference for a painting of the Bosphorus Bridge, that I have been commissioned to do. If you can help, please drop me an e-mail ..... sueatelgeckodotcodotza

Tom at Wiggers world will link you to lots of really cool Skywatch pix. If you have time, go and meet some lovely people around the world.

Skywatch errr Thursday... or "Can't this woman ever get it right?"

I could literally fill my whole google upload allocation on sunrises and sunsets I have seen this week, it has been so beautiful, and so difficult to choose. Anyway eventually I settled on two, this one, of the sun rising through the little gap between the Church Manse and the Bed and Breakfast in St Phillips Street......


......and this one that I took this morning. Max spotted the body surfer in the clouds, whooshing down from the top right towards the church.

And as a tailpiece.... hehe..... I REST MY CASE!

2 posts ago I wrote about the perversity of cats for insisting on drinking from the oddest places in favour of their lovingly filled kitty bowls. I had no sooner hit the publish button, when I spotted Fergussen on our front steps....

I still want to tell you all about the trip to the spa, but it is SOOOOO tiring being pampered, so I will do it tomorrow, hehe! Cheers.

(To see more of Skywatch, go and visit our charming and dedicated host Tom.)

Skywatch - skylight

The skylight of one of our favourite restaurants, 34 degrees South, at the Boardswalk Complex on the beachfront. ......



And to see it in its context.....



Here it is ...... the blue roofed building on the right. On the left is the floating bandstand, where jazz is often played over weekends. Sitting on the deck, looking out over the lake and enjoying good music, while eating great seafood, what a treat! If you want to see what it looks like inside, we did a couple of posts on it in the last few days over on Port Elizabeth Daily Photo.


I am flying under the radar here, I love Skywatch Friday, but won't get a chance to visit, as I like to, if I participate. So I am posting some pix, but not linking to Mr Linky this time. However, if you do have time to visit some friendly people and enjoy their wonderful sky shots, check out the links at Tom's place!

Skywatch ...errrr....Saturday

Ok, so I missed the boat a bit, but you know how the old cliche goes, better late than...

and hopefully this sunrise will bring a smile to your dial like it did to mine when I saw it from the dining room window recently.

Links to more awesome skies over at Tom's Place

Skywatch Friday, still on the road!

Hope you are not already bored out of your skulls with our trip to Lesotho! On the way back, we took a different route back through the Eastern Cape. I never realised we lived in such a varied and picturesque province, it was a real eye opener.

It began raining as we stood in line at the Border Post to leave Lesotho, and continued most of the way to our next overnight stop. We travelled through quite a few mountain passes as we left the Mountain Kingdom and descended back to sea level, which gave great panoramic views of countryside and stormy skies.

Approaching Queenstown, all was serene, with a faint rainbow to mark the end of the rain.

Then only 10 minutes later, we rounded a bend to see these dramatic clouds, as the sun headed off over the horizon.

We got into town as it was getting dark, spotted a sign for a B&B, and followed it to a delightful place called Justine's, where a farmer's wife, well practiced in the art of gracious hospitality, has set up an award winning guesthouse. Our room had all the comforts we could want (at an extremely reasonable price) and breakfast the next morning was the kind of meal that leaves you feeling good all day!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! And to see lots of fascinating skies, hop across to Tom's friendly spot at Wiggers World.

PS I just looked outside and had to add one more pic, because it is not such a shabby view from here either!

Skywatch Friday ... Malealea, Lesotho

I guess, because we live on the coast, the air is relatively warm, and planes flying over us are usually at low altitude (mostly just landing or taking off.) So for us, seeing con-trails is a rarity. We were fascinated, while staying up in the high mountains of Lesotho, to see the sky constantly littered with con-trails , particularly around sunrise. From the directions of the lines, we could identify the Port Elizabeth to Joburg plane, Joburg to Capetown, as well as the Durban to PE plane. We particulary enjoyed the feeling of disjointed unreality it gave us, roughing it up in the isolated wilds with no phones or electricity, yet seeing all this hi-tech machinery scooting along above us, connecting hubs of industry and crowds. It made us even more grateful to be there, and heightened the feeling that we had somehow dropped off the planet!

Camping in Malealea, freezing our butts off in our ricketty tent, we woke up both mornings to wonderful skies, with a sunrise on one side, crescent moon overhead, and jets painting lines all over the place! Here is a selection of the variety we saw on those magical mornings.

Speaking of Malealea, if you want to read a really inspiring story, about a subsistance farmer who lived on a piece of land that was unusable because it was so badly eroded, and covered in huge bare gullies, and who turned it into a model of productivity, with no capital or farm equipment, just a vision and sheer hard manual labour, follow the Malealea link above.

In there, I mentioned that his fondest wish is to own a small old tractor, to help reduce the manual labour. I have had several responses, from people who are not in a position to buy one, but would like to contribute. I am in communication with Malealea Lodge, and awaiting a response so we can work out the logistics of how to go about it. I'll give you updates as we go along.

To see more wonderul Skywatch photos, visit our genial host Tom for a list of links.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Skywatch Friday: twice as nice

But before I get to the Skywatch, an urgent appeal..... on behalf of the suffering people of Zimbabwe....If, like me, you are devastated to see images of people being beaten, tortured, murdered, starved and left homeless by ZANU, in its efforts to hold onto power, and if you are also growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of action by the International Community to help these people, then PLEASE take a minute of your time, and add your voice to the many calling on the UN to intervene urgently. It is quick and painless, but if enough of us respond, perhaps we can help to bring about a better life for those in Zim who have no voice. Here is the link to a site called Help Save Zimbabwe.

I received the link in an e-mail from the originator of the appeal, so if you want me to forward it to you so that you can send it on to your mailing list and help spread the appeal to a wider worldwide group, please e-mail me on sue(at)elgecko(dot)co(dot)za . Thanks.

Thanks to all who hop across quickly to register their concern to the Secretary General of the UN..... we'll wait till you get back.... and then move onto something altogether more serene!

A double dose of puffy clouds, and a railway bridge thrown in for fun!

Skywatch Friday... racing the storm

On the way to Lesotho last week, and winter paid a visit!

Skywatch Friday.... Sudan

Pilots always get to see the sky from a very different perspective to us mere mortals. I thought you might be interested in seeing some pix from Sudan. These were taken by a couple of pilot friends, who must remain nameless, as the Sudanese powers that be do not permit photography. (But you know who you are, thanks for the fresh view of the planet)


Sudan is a land of such extremes... It is dry and dusty in the North, but vast areas of the South are swampy. It hardly rains in places, but when it does, there are monster storms, accompanied by lots of lightning.



And of course, there are the infamous dust storms, or haboob. You do NOT want to be caught outside in on of these!

Rain over the Nile in South Sudan.

Lightning over Khartoum

And this is the tail end of this skywatch post... sunrise over Khartoum

I will be away for a while, but there should be some very cool photos of mountains when we return...you know what they say about mad dogs and Englishmen? Well I don't know what animals they will equate with insane South Africans going to camp in a tent in the mountains in winter!
Cheers for now!

Skywatch Friday, Ironman weekend

Friday will be really hectic so i am cheating a bit and posting this evening.

As promised when I featured the Ironman contest the other day, I saved some of the sky shots from last weekend for Skywatch. We went to the Pier on Saturday at sunset, and were there again before sunrise on Sunday for the start of the race. Both times the skies were wonderful, so enjoy!

Sunset........

As we arrived, there was an interesting cloud hovering over Brookes Hill

The sunset started out soft and gentle..

but it soon brightened up...

and lit up the sea too...

until it became really spectacular

Sunrise:

.......was altogether gentler, almost monotone, but it turned the sea and wet sand into molten silver....

You can see lots of other Skywatch pictures, the links are over at Wiggers World.