Today is.....
Workers' Day (Public Holiday)
This South African public holiday commemorates the working class – the cogs that keep the clock ticking!
SOME HISTORY
Following the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, 1 May was inaugurated as an official national public holiday. Known as International Workers’ Day (also as May Day), the holiday is widely celebrated, with as many as 80 countries honouring the date and what it stands for.
The history of Workers’ Day goes back to the 1886 Haymarket Affair in Chicago, where police tried to disperse a large crowd of striking workers (they were protesting for a shorter work day of eight hours). A bomb was thrown at the policemen by an unidentified assailant, and law officers then proceeded to fire live ammunition at a defenceless crowd of unarmed strikers (sound familiar?).
Though, it wasn’t until 1891, after successful annual demonstrations on 1 May around the globe, that Workers’ Day was formally inducted into the official calendars of many countries. Since then, Workers’ Day has been used by the working class across the world, South Africa included, to emphasise the need to establish fair labour practices and employment standards. In our nation, the Communist Party, trade and labour unions were heavily entrenched in the fight against Apartheid. Thus, it was of little surprise that our democratic government chose to commemorate this day and its ideology after the fall of the oppressive regime.
While this public holiday doesn’t quite receive all the fuss it rightly deserves, it serves as a stark reminder to governments of the power of the working class. (To commemorate the day, some of the museums in Cape Town are closed on Workers’ Day).
BUT celebrated tomorrow!!!
So time to move on this morning after a lovely two days with this great family ..on the road by 8.30am and it was another route planned for me by Delwin which took me most of the time on good gravel roads looking like this...
The first 15 km was like animal magic kingdom..enjoy these I know I did taking them!!!
I like this one above
BUT the shot of the week for me!!!!!
BUT celebrated tomorrow!!!
So time to move on this morning after a lovely two days with this great family ..on the road by 8.30am and it was another route planned for me by Delwin which took me most of the time on good gravel roads looking like this...
The first 15 km was like animal magic kingdom..enjoy these I know I did taking them!!!
BUT the shot of the week for me!!!!!
Crossing the Breede River on the pontoon at Malgas taken from the Internet!!
A pontoon is a simple floating barge designed to get vehicles across a river, and the word is often shortened to 'pont'.
The Malgas 'pont' is famous for being the last hand-drawn pont of its kind in the country. There are at least two other pontoons in the country, one at the Kei River and the other at Sendelingsdrift in the Richtersveld on the Orange River, but these are motorised
In the mid-19th century, the little hamlet of Malgas once played a much bigger role in the Overberg than it does today.
Because the Breede is navigable for around 50km inland to Malgas, this was once an important trading port that served the whole area.
From around 1860 onwards it was quicker to transport goods from Cape Town by ship than by ox wagon, and so this river route was a lifeline for the region.
It was here that trader Joseph Barry made his fortune with his 156-ton steamer, the Kadie, which plied its trade for six years, bringing essential goods from Cape Town and, in turn, ferrying local produce like wool, wheat and aloe sap back to the city.
Although the Kadie hit a rock and was shipwrecked in 1865, other steamers took its place until the advent of the railway line, which made the route redundant.
When Malgas fell into disuse as a port, the authorities decided there wasn't sufficient traffic to justify the building of a bridge and so the pont lived on.
Today it remains the only way of crossing the Breede by vehicle on the back roads between the N2 outside Swellendam and Cape Infanta, where the river runs into the sea.
The current pont dates back to 1914, but the stickers you can see on the back of the 10-T signpost on board are more recent.
For a fee of R48, three men use harnesses and a pulley system to draw the ferry across the water to the other side
To get to Malgas, look for the turn-off from the N2, just outside the town of Swellendam.
Some signposts also read Malagasy, the village's original name before it was shortened to Malgas.
The reason for this is because letters intended for Malgas are said to have been mistakenly sent to Malaga in Spain by the post office!
I was making good time and I could not check into my place until 3 pm so I drove a few extra km and enjoyed two hours here
Enjoyed my time then drove to my place which was a room in a small restaurant the building was over 150 years old....my young Hostess, Jacqui, was lovely and the room is small but it has everything I need, she had baked muffins and left fruit, yogurt and milk in the fridge...
My drive today to Bredasdorp and you can see from the map below I am close to Cape Town!!
Enjoyed my bath and now almost finished this post and it is 10.30pm...a nice first day of the month!!!
Most of you know that back in Nanaimo I have a "family" that are very close to me and we have been great friends for years, Heather and Kirby and their three now 20 something sons.....Zach the youngest has been a golf "NUT" since he was three years old and his reward is a full scholarship to Washington State University where he is in his second year...from the looks below he is doing so well...way to go Z!!!!
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Sophomore Zach Anderson tied the course record shooting 7-under par (64), as the Washington State men’s golf team moved three spots up the leaderboard and is now tied with Arizona for ninth after the third round of play at the Pac-12 Golf Championships, Saturday, at The Country Club.
WSU (+37, 1102) saw an eight-stroke improvement from the second round, shooting 2-over par (357) in the third round. The Cougars lead Utah by three strokes and Oregon State by six strokes. WSU trails No. 23 Oregon, in seventh, by 10 strokes.
The top three remains the same. No. 4 Stanford leads the field, which features six top-30 teams, shooting 29-under par (1036) through three rounds, 12 strokes in front of No. 13 California (-17, 1048), in second. No. 2 USC (+2, 1067) is in third.
Sophomore Zach Anderson moved 25 spots up the leaderboard and is now tied for 20th (E, 213) after shooting 7-under par (64) in the third round, which ties the course record. Anderson bogeyed on the ninth hole, his final hole of the day, missing the course record. Fellow sophomore Derek Bayley is tied for 25th at 2-over par (215).
Freshmen AJ Armstrong and Aaron Whalen are tied for 45th (+11, 224) and for 52nd (+13, 226), respectively. Junior Nick Mandell is tied for 66th (+17, 230), while senior Evan Omelia is in 71st (+22, 235).
The fourth and final round begins Sunday at 7:30 a.m. PT/8 a.m. MT. Check golfstat.com for live scoring. A full recap will be posted at wsucougars.com following the end of the round.
Now today is the Vancouver Marathon and Zach's Mum, heather is entering her very first marathon......She is was one of my hero's, reminds me of my Mum and not only has she trained hard for the race but alos holds down a full time job and taking care of the family
THIS JUST IN!!!!
Heather completed her first marathon 4.30 hours I am so very proud of her CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
Yashi Kochi!!!
Now today is the Vancouver Marathon and Zach's Mum, heather is entering her very first marathon......She is was one of my hero's, reminds me of my Mum and not only has she trained hard for the race but alos holds down a full time job and taking care of the family
THIS JUST IN!!!!
Heather completed her first marathon 4.30 hours I am so very proud of her CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
Yashi Kochi!!!
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