The contrasts of colonial Durban

Having spent a year in England, I was primed for the colonial side of Durban. The colonial street names are on their way out as we encounter double barreled street names like Solomon Maglangu rather than singular names such as Moore road. I have no idea who Edwin Swales is so I am happy to see him go.  I am quite happy to see more african changes. But there is still places like Victoria embankment and Queensborough. In fact the colonial side of Durban is very difficult to erase.
So I went to visit the colonial centre of Durban, and little England it is, from the sweet little hanging baskets (the pay and display parking also very reminiscent of olde England),

to the surprisingly undamaged royal statues and arches.

This is the city hall

Identified as South African from the cycads in front. (could be India from the palms).

In this precinct there are, as in all of Durban, the most amazing trees tat have just burst fort in flower. The alien police have not got here yet. This comes from Madagascar..looks like a normal tree for most of the year and then suddenly bursts into these amazing inflorescences. South African plants are beautiful, but some of these foreigners are utterly stunning.

No this was very british. Its the playhouse theatre

Teir shows are, however very African in style although they may have european origins. Inside it is quite stunning..with some very African artifacts. How about an African style corset?

The other import from Britain was the buying up of tickets and reselling them with an additional 50% price tag, I discovered when I wanted to see Handels Messiah over Easter. Someone called Zee had bought “too many tickets”. Strangely she hadnt even paid for them yet…sounds like some inside job too.

Open a space, and Africa will fill it. And so I wandered into a vibrant flea market

with some stunning shweshwe clothing (not shown here) and beadwork.

There were amazing fever trees..my favourite African tree..I love the colour of their trunks and the generous spread of their canopies.

There were also relics of the colonial and apartheid masters juxtaposed between the lightness of the market.

Open spaces also mean busking and this was a play with the audience. Difference to Blighty..less white skin thats all.

An odd and largely unnoticed sculpture was this Eduardo Villa’s mother and child. His sculptures appear in odd places in Sout Africa, and is a comment on te soft roundness of Africa compared to the hard sharpness of Western intellect. An unsung ant-Western commentator.

Ten I walked through the alleys to the Docks and unexpectedly in a dark narrow alley, I found this:

Rather taken over by a huge concrete monstrosity.

Durban has enormously diverse architecture..none of it all together but interspersed with hideous uncared for blocks. below is a beautiful art Deco building next to this pink thing.

This is on prime estate overlooking the harbour. Durban has these orphans needing paint and love but some may be too awful to do anything about. This is the view from these buildings.

And so I drove home, passing these iconic (art deco?) warehouses that sets the imagination off when you consider that they could be filled to the brim with sugar.

FINDING THE SNOW ON THE MOORS

So, I finally arrived in Totnes to visit Alexandra for the weekend, and it was good to see familiar faces. Jack is growing rapidly and Lily is very beautiful. I felt very welcomed and was spoilt with good food and good conversation. We had a good natter about Waldorf education and its nuances. When we got into mathematical principles, surprisingly everyone around Alexandra and I went to bed. I’m not sure why.

We woke up the next day not so early and Alastair’s telescopic eyes noticed that in the far distant hills of Dartmoor, there was a glistening of SNOW. Well spotted, Bruce! So we decided to head in that direction, optimistically with a sled, boots, jackets and hats. This was my new hat, a birthday present from my wonderful sister, who is so worried I wont be warm enough.
We went via Plymouth to pick up Alastairs computer, and there was an amazing modern building, at Drakes circus behind an old ruined church bombed in the war that offset each other in the most dramatic way. I didn’t have time to photograph it so this is from Wikipaedia.

Apparently much of Plymouth was destroyed in the war, and so there is much experimental architecture. It appears that many people hate this building, but I felt it was amazing!
We drove on to Dartmoor, which previously I had somehow circumnavigated last time I went to visit Alexandra. It is amazingly different to the rest of England. Quite stark.

This is where the famous Prison is..and it is an unfriendly place in mid winter with icy winds and endless moors. However there is much that is beautiful, with wild hairy Dartmoor ponies and sheep. However, a little village in the middle has the usual, not very far away pubs and inns. We drove to the highest point, and sure enough, there was snow. The whole world also arrived and there was an army of snowmen scattered around. We had a gentle snowball battle, my first attempt at sledding, which was not very successful .This is Lily getting ready to go.

and built a snowman and a snow dog.

When we were cold enough we went to a pub that served tea with huge scones and Devonshire clotted cream and a warm fire. jack had made a mini snowman and attached it to the bonnet of the car. It traveled all the way home much to his glee, as he had bet Alastair that it would get there, despite Alexandras crazy driving.

It was getting dark when we wended our way back to Totnes. And even though there was not that much snow by most people’s standards, I was happy. It may be all the snow I will see

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day was wonderful sunny day although freezing cold and  I headed on a round journey to another moor..Exmoor..a drive high along the coast with a view to Wales, moor ponies,

where I had hot chocolate heated in my boot and lunch but there were also steep dark valleys and eery lanes. Not a place to drive at night.

I hurried off home and lo and behold, picked up my first speeding fine for going 37mph in a 30mph zone! (you have to go this speed through every village, and there are many villages. Thats why you cant hurry anywhere and why distances seem much further than they are. Not bad for all my driving,though. Here they give you the option to attend a workshop rather than pay the fine (which is hectic at R2200 plus 3 points off your license! they dont joke around here)..okay you have to pay for the workshop, and you can only do it once every three years. I wont be rushing in a hurry!