Ride of a lifetime

August 31,2007
A SOUTH COAST ESTATE AGENT recently competed in a grueling cycle race.
LEA JACOBS REPORTS.

GERT MEYER from The Property Circle recently took part in the TOUR DE KRUGER.
He was one of 200 cyclists who competed in the grueling 350 KM ride.
"It was an amazing experience," says Mr Meyer.
"I had seen the event advertised last year, and as I love both cycling and animals I decided to take part. The majority of the ride took place in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, which covers 35 000 square kilometers and links the Limpopo National Park in Mozambique, the Kruger National Park and Makuleke Contractual Park in South Africa.
"The four-day event was well organized and the backup was phenomenal. Each team of riders had vehicle support from Land Rover South Africa, and; this fantastic group of people kept us well-watered
and fed on the journey. It was a tremendous amount of fun and apart from seeing a fair amount of wildlife we were treated to spectacular scenery throughout the trip."
All money raised was donated to the Children in the Wilderness charity. Founded in 2001 by Hollywood actor Paul Newman, the charity offers children who have been affected by life threatening illnesses such as HIV / Aids, a six day wilderness experience.
The programme combines conservation, Envi­ronmental Education, arts and crafts and HIV / Aids and health education in a unique wilderness Environment. By the end of2006 the charity had hosted 10 298 children.
"As far as I know I was the only South Coaster to enter. Taking part in an event of this nature is a privilege, and I am extremely grateful to Dura Cycles in Margate, which not only serviced my bicycle before I left but also ensured that I had enough spare parts to complete the ride," said Mr Meyer.
Chain reaction:
Riders taking part in the TOUR DE KRUGER saw
some of Africa's finest fauna and flora in the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park.

Tourism Is booming in Margate

The local tourism(r1 sub-committee has enjoyed a most fruitful year to date. DIANE DUNCAN REPORTS.
At the beginning of July, The Idols auditions were recorded for television.
At the end of August, The Loeries flew onto Margate beach, and this week we learned that in terms of accommodation facilities, the South Coast has been authorized to receive satellite status for the 2010 World Cup.
Does anyone say what does tourism do for me? What it actually does, is expose the
area to the holiday and tourist market through the various media. This exposure is particularly price­less, considering what it would cost to advertise at nor­mal advertising rates to promote a holiday destination.
It also accounts for life-giving income to the area, and allows for global business, irrespective of its nature, to continue along a path of economic success, sus­taining thousands of jobs in the area.
Most importantly, tourism money filters down to the community and uplifts the lives off its people;

Report back on all events hosted was excellent. Amidst controversy around decisions to bring Pop Idols, to Margate, the competition boasted more participants in Margate than there were in Durban last year.
Some outstanding footage of Margate is anticipated.
The Loeries returned for the third, time. Pub­licity in national media and particularly on busi­ness sites on the internet, has been most positive in terms of the town and the organizing of this year's event.
A factor emanating from the media was that the town was aesthetically pleasing, and in one particular case was referred to as being pris­tine. In the same article, the writer indicated that the community and local municipality have certainly got it right.
This is a great tribute to the various role players, who worked endlessly to ensure that the town and its facilities were ready, and that all plans were carried out to precision.
As in previous years, local law enforcement agencies received accolades for their perform­ance in ensuring that no incidents of crime took place. Long hours were the order of the day, and the cameras never stopped rolling.
The accommodation establishments really, came to the party! It is not often that this fraternity receives public praise on a global ba­sis. They are thanked for being the front-end showcase to visitors, and particularly for their input into the marketing of the, area.
Last, but not least, thanks go to Margate residents for tolerating unusual volumes, dur­ing the event.

Equinox March 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nIkvydZyDQ

Nicola- comes home

A Harding dairy farmer became the second contestant from MNet's Survivor SA: Malaysia to be voted off the reality show. ANGELA KELLY REPORTS.
NICOLA Windt (37) was shocked when she was voted off Sur­vivor SA: Malaysia last Wednesday.
The mother of seven (four of her own) was picked from more than l2500hopefulsto battle it out to win Rl-million on the reality show
Q: What was your biggest chal­lenge on Survivor?
A: I had physically trained extremely hard, getting my fitness lev­els up, swimming lkm a day, working on my balance and even train­ing on an obstacle course - so my biggest challenge was trying to blend into the rest of the pack and not draw any attention to my fit­ness. I am also ex­tremely competitive so holding myself back was beyond painful. Having to bite my tongue when argu­ments arose took a lot of self-discipline.
Q: What did you miss most when you were on Semengat Island?
A: I come from a very close family so I knew beforehand miss­ing them would wreak emotional havoc when living under the harsh 'Survivor' conditions. When I got on the plane to leave, I mentally left them behind and fo­cused completely on psyching myself into survivor mode. How­ever, when I returned, I couldn't get back to them fast enough.
Q: How comforta­ble were you with ly­ing to stay in the game?
A: I decided to play an honest game because inevitably it is the lies that catch you out at the end. Being a mum, I have always pushed the 'honesty is the best pol­icy' routine with my chil­dren, so I had a certain standard to maintain. I'm also a terrible liar!
Q: Were you the type of person to initi­ate alliances or wait for others to approach you?
A: Alliances are probably the first thing to start happening. In my tribe, three of us
immediately gravitated towards each other, seeing very similar core characteristics in each other and having a very honest alliance without even planning it.
Q: What surprised you most about your fellow contestants?
A: I realized I have had quite a sheltered life because 99 percent of the people I know are really nice and gen­uine. We had a daunt­ing selection of char­acters on Survivor - all totaJ1y different. I thought Survivor was an awesome adventure and enjoyed every sec­ond of everything. I could not relate to the people who com­plained or were nega­tive. The blatant lies that some tribe mates told with a straight face were pretty hectic - but all part of the game.
Q: How did your diet affect your health and fitness?
A: Before I left, I did a detox diet to pre­pare my body. I had also psyched myself up
so much I was invincible. Just before I left for the island I ate a plate of prawns, honestly believing that I no longer had a shell-fish allergy. Big mistake! I was sick as a dog and the flights were hell on a ­queasy stomach which left me feeling a bit weak for a couple of days. I had a heap of Vitamin Bl2 injections before I left and my health did. not deteriorate during Survivor but my fitness as was hammered and I was physically weaker after wards.

Margate Beach

South Coast Ready For the Equinox

Local authorities have been monitoring and observing the tides and weather.
ANGELA KELLY REPORTS.
THE South Coast will be ready for the expected high tides during the equinox this month.

There will be an equinox on September 22 and, coupled with bad weather and spring high tides, giant waves could pound the coastline.
Brian Dube, of the Ugu District Municipality, said precautions have been taken to mitigate the possible damage that could be wrought by the spring tide.
"We know the ocean is unstable, previous damage to the coastline proves that. All neces­sary precautions will be taken," said Mr Dube.
Meanwhile, a project team led by the Ugu District Disaster Manager, Peter Tanner, made up of staff members from Hibiscus Coast Munic­ipality and Umdoni Municipality, is working with a team of experts led by Bohlweki Environ­mental on the restoration of areas affected by the March storms.
"To date, a costing exercise has been com­pleted, indicating that the final estimated cost will be approximately R113-million. These costs are only for damage to municipal infrastructure and exclude work done by Spoornet, the Natal Sharks Board or any private individuals or busi­nesses," said Mr Dube.
Mr Dube added that funds to repair the damage after March's storm, are not available in the current council budget and great reliance is being placed on receiving assistance from national government.
The claim of R113-million has been lodged through the provincial disaster office and support­ed by the provincial cabinet. It has been submitted to the national treasury for consideration.
"There are several areas which require de­tailed business plans and environmental studies (EIA) to be undertaken before any work can start. In these cases, all options require careful consideration prior to approval to ensure that every precaution is taken to mitigate against similar incidents occurring. No work can be undertaken until environmental approval is re­ceived," he said.
During the last few weeks, there has been additional damage to beaches, including those at Park Rynie and Margate. Mr Dube said the dam­age was currently being assessed by consultants.