S1 - Ep 330 - Alicedale - A Golf Course Designed by Gary Player!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2023
- Our visit to Alicedale was a captivating adventure filled with remarkable wildlife encounters along the scenic gravel road leading to the town. Despite its small size, Alicedale exudes a charming character that captivates visitors. The well-preserved old station building showcases exquisite craftsmanship, adding a touch of nostalgia to the town's ambiance. As we ventured further, we reached the operational station located on the outskirts of town. Our exploration then led us to the Bushman Sands Hotel, which, although no longer functioning as a hotel, has been transformed into a facility housing Beyond Adventure, a training college empowering young individuals with life and fitness skills. The old hotel boasts a golf course designed by Gary Player, which unfortunately has been severely impacted by water shortages. Alicedale proved to be a very interesting and beautiful place to experience. #DustBugs #adventuretravel #southafrica #southafricavlog #travelongravel #easterncape #alicedale #garyplayer #beyondadventure
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Hi DustBugs, you guys sure get around. I worked in Alicdale in the 80's. The face brick station was new then. I remember the dirt road and the cuttings through the hills where one could see the sea shells in the cutting walls. The mohair factory used to be in the main street. The Watsons (famous springbok rugby players) used the live there in my time. I don't recognize the place, it's changed a lot. I remember the lovely Railway stone houses close to the new station. I used to do karate classes in P. E. I would take the train to PE, attention my karate class and catch the train back to Alicedale the same day. One of my tasks was to read the meter of the New Year's dam. I would change the graph paper of the meter on a regular basis. The river always had water in those days. There was no game farms or golf course in those days. Thank you for the memories.
Loved to read about this in your comment above - thank you. I visited alicedale as a little chap in the 80s with my dad. He was mad about steam engines so no doubt that was why we were there! I guess the old train station would've had steam locos
@raycoco4938 We get around now, but you certainly got around too and know so many places we've visited! 🚙😁 Interesting to read that you don't recognise the town, so it must've really changed a lot since you've been there last. Although the ladies in town told us that the station was 'new', it was clear that it wasn't new as in brand new, so your timeline of the 80's makes complete sense. 👍🏻 Wowzer! How incredible that you would take the train to PE for karate and back home again, that's awesome! 🚆🥋 Thank you for sharing your memories and all the info about the Alicedale of yesteryear, it's all incredibly interesting.
We lived in Alicedale from 1958 to 1960, my husband was a telecommunications technician. We loved exploring that whole region. Grahamstown, Bathhurst, Port Alfred, etc. Our children were very young then, and it was a very happy time.
They sound like happy times, thank you for sharing those memories. 😊 I'm sure you were still able to recognise quite a few landmarks in town, although overall it must look completely different from how you remember. We're glad you came back to Alicedale with us, after many years. 🚙🤩
Hi guys another gem and very religious so many churches in one street and the hotel adventure college looks amazing what a great idea. These guys are definitely fit half race 60km full 100km shame about the golf course but your videos are a great advert. It reminds me of going to Gary players house and suddenly the rains came down in buckets 8 of us crammed into a mini with no window wipers pulled over and to attach some string to the wipers pulled the string from side to side and drove to his house lol .the old station high Victorian architecture and amazing joinery glad to see it's being repurpest for functions .I knew an old man who's father worked on the building of railway in SA he was a master carpenter from uk he had a Chinese labourer. He was quite confident in the quality of his work in stunted chat the Chinese guy said he was a carpenter the next day he brought in a box carved with amazing dragons. He then said he had worked in the forbidden city in Peking crazy. Another mini safari amazing amount of wildlife love it the Black and white horses are just like the one's just at the front of my house. Loved the way you drive up the platform on the new station love the engine for fixing the tracks. The cemeteries are always interesting especially the ones from Yorkshire as its where I was born so much to see in such a little relaxed place and the a ostriche chasing your car crashes in to a big Bush only in South Africa great video of rural SA thanks for taking me along cheerio till the next one.
The adventure facility for the youngsters is a fantastic way to repurpose that gorgeous hotel. They must be super fit. As we were driving out of town, we saw a group of them returning from a run. I was too late with my camera to catch them on film, but they looked very tired! 😨 🏃🏻🏃🏻♀️ The town clearly has enough churches and almost all in the one street. 🚙💒 String attached to wipers. Only in South Africa! 🤣 I loved your story of the Chinese carpenter, I can only imagine how intricate those dragons must've been! How interesting that I picked a grave of folks from Yorkshire, your town of birth! 🏛️ I'm glad you enjoyed Alicedale with us, it certainly had many interesting things on offer!
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing
My old man worked at the Alicedale Station in the 30s depression years. Later when we travelled down to relatives in Port Alfred we would wait for our connecting train here. The old boy would happily chat to mates while I would watch donkeys try to find something to eat. The journey from here to Grahamstown and Port Alfred was beautiful.
Those sound like very special memories and I'm so grateful you shared them with us! 😍🚂 The landscapes in this part of our country are gorgeous and you seem to remember the beauty along the journey quite vividly. Good to know the donkeys have been around town since then, we always love seeing them! 🚙🐴
Hi you two! Gravel road ahead ... my favourite sign too! Quite a variety of wildlife along that road. I loved the monkey laughing at you at the old station building. Alicedale looks like a very interesting mixture of things new and old. Peaceful but quietly alive.
It is a pity that Gary's golf course didn't make it, but it remains a very beautiful scenic place. The area around the town with its bridges, rivers, animal and green plant life with lovely stony hills is everything one could ask for. I enjoyed it very much -- as always! Thank you for taking me along. I am all ready for the next trip.
Keep safe!
We smiled very wide when we saw that gravel road sign, as we usually do! 🚙🔺 I think the monkey was laughing at this clueless humanoid because I had no idea when that station building was last utilised as a station building! 😁🐒 I also felt saddened by the state of the golf course, but then again not much that can be done without life-giving water. 😥⛳ I was happy to hear that you enjoyed all that Alicedale had to offer. We were told that there is nothing to see here, but we didn't listen (we never do when someone tells us that) and the town surprised us with so much!
Yes the wildlife was definitely out of this world. All grazing peacefully together.
I loved all the wildlife along the way👏👏👏👏
Nice seeing some wildlife on the way to Alicedale....a small little place with 2 stations...interesting old bridges and buildings....lovely..
A small little place, I love that! 🚙😍 Yup, two stations. Of course we enjoyed that very much too! A bridge into town, out of town and of course the magnificent railway bridge over the Bushmans. All were fantastic and I'm happy we shared it all with you.
Beautifully gravestone of the husband and wife from Yorkshire. Presumably in the uk? Must have emigrated to SA. What a life and story they would have been able to share with the generation of today❤
Thanks guys. Loved this one. Safe travels and regards from the uk
Tim
This being Settlers country, I definitely think Yorkshire in the UK. It was good to pay my respects at a few gravestones, particularly the older ones. 🏛️ And specifically for the reason you mentioned. Always happy to hear when you enjoyed an episode, thanks for hopping on board! 🚙😁
@DustBugsTravel hope you managed to dodge the flooding back there - my brother said its been pretty bad.
Always a massive fan of your work around the whole of south africa from North to South. Really helps me somehow, sat in the uk, but being able to see home still. Thank you guys 😊
Yay! Gravel! I can just hear my dad going "Oh No!!" And then he wondered why he never saw any game! You guys certainly saw a lot of beautiful animals. Love the itchy horse! And donkies too! So Special. The town is in such a beautiful area. So amazing to find a station that is still functional. Good that you managed to drive up there without getting told off. The Bushmans river bridge is so awesome. Enjoyed the browse in the graveyard. A very interesting tour, thank you for letting me sit on your back seat 🥰😗
Gravel is always a yay! from us! 🚙🤩 The wildlife was just wild to say the least, we loved every single one of the beautiful animals! 😍🦌🐗🦓🐴🐎 That itchy horse was quite funny and it just kept on scratching. It must've been some itch! The security guard at the station did glance over and I immediately put him at ease and assured him that we were just admiring and nothing else. His smile was very wide after that! 😁 Alicedale was a cool place to visit with a lot of interesting sights! We're super happy to have you on our backseat!
Amazing small town
Indeed! I'm so happy you enjoyed this small town with us! 🚙😁
How amazing would that golf course had been in its hey day. However the beauty is still there. Looks like a quiet peaceful little town . Don't need to visit the game parks when you drive on that road into Alicedale. I am loving this adventure around the Eastern Cape .
That golf course must've been a golfing paradise in the days there was still sufficient water around. ⛳ I'm glad you enjoyed the wildlife on the drive in to town, it was a very rewarding road and we loved all the animals! 🐗🦓🐎 The Eastern Cape certainly didn't disappoint! 🚙😁
What a nice small town and still ticking. It really stood the test of time. The game was stunning and such a variety! I love.the vegetation. It is really a town i would like to live in. Quiet and teanquill.thanks guys well done to sniff this town out and show it to us. Till the next one in my normal seat.
Still ticking, albeit a little slower I think. 🚙😊 The wildlife absolutely made our drive into Alicedale, it was fantastic seeing all the gorgeous animals! We sniffed out a few more places on this trip and look forward to sharing them with you too. Of course I expect you in your normal seat, or else ... 😁
Hi Curtis and Sonia. I'm bank onboard. Although I much enjoyed the coastal towns and Gramamstown for their beauty and and history etc. I'm very happy to be heading back into the country side. All the peace and tranquility is what I love seeing. I'm sure Alicedale will not disappoint. Goodevening to you two.😊
And good evening to you! 🙋🏻♂️ I'm glad you're enjoying the inland towns too! We had a blast exploring them and they're as beautiful as the coastal towns, in their very own way. Oh, and we found an abundance of the peace and tranquility you love so much in Alicedale. 🚙🤩
Oooh Beautiful Alicedale. I get the feeling that the little town is desperately trying to hold on to it's dignity and so in need of some loving care. 😔🤨
How incredibly lucky you were to see so much glorious wildlife - as well as those magnificent equines - the little Pumbas surprised all of us at the dam.
I have enjoyed this EC adventure so much - it’s been absolutely marvellous! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🫶🏻
We always enjoy seeing pumbas and for an entire family to surprise us, was fantastic! 😍🐗 The other animals were also all great and they always lighten up any road! I must say we loved this trip through this part of the Eastern Cape, unknown to both us for the most part, very much, so I'm happy to hear you are too! 🚙😁
As far as I can remember, back in the day there use to be a wool (Yarn) factory.
Interesting. We didn't notice anything like that, so it may no longer be operational. 🤷🏻♂️🧶
Jan Paul Barnard had a mohair shop there.
We use to go by train from Grahamstown to Alicedale then to Cradock and then to Germiston.
Wat een vliegende start, direct op de gravelweg en tussen allerlei mooie wilde dieren! Mooi om te zien hoe ze elkaar de ruimte gunnen en de zebra dus rustig in zijn of haar eentje tussen ander ‘volk’ graast. Leuk dat je het gesprekje in het Afrikaans met de locals over de trein gebouwen in de episode liet horen! Over “gordijnen en zo” 😄, ik probeerde te luisteren zonder de ondertiteling te lezen en dat ging aardig goed. Een hoopvol teken dat er nieuw materiaal klaar ligt om het treinverkeer te continueren. Die prachtige spoorbrug over de oude golfbaan, inderdaad daar zal men destijds wel enige maanden zoet mee zijn geweest om te bouwen en het staat nog steeds ‘als een huis’. Daar kan nog gemakkelijk een trein overheen. Hopelijk gebeurt dat nog eens en krijgt de avontuurlijk gelegen golfbaan ook nog ooit een tweede leven want het is een unieke locatie. Aardige jongen die zoveel tekst & uitleg gaf, waarlijk een christen in praktijk. Geinig zoveel kleine kerkjes op een steenworp van elkaar, dit zou met recht de Kerkstraat kunnen zijn 🤩💒
The wildlife was actually quite incredible on this gravel road! If we took the fences away, it would've felt like we were driving in a National Park, with horses and donkeys thrown in for extra excitement! 🚙😍 You wouldn't even have needed any subtitles for the Afrikaans! We don't need them for Dutch either, for the most part, but then sometimes a word or two is used and we're completely lost! 🤣 Robin was very kind and gracious with his time and knowledge and it was great spending time with him. I hope with you that the area can get enough rain again to make the golf course a functional one again. It is certainly very beautiful there, even in its wild state! ⛳ We never saw a street sign indicating Church Street, but I wouldn't have been one bit surprised. They certainly have enough churches in Alicedale! 💒
Wow, what an interesting little dorpie Alicedale turned out to be. They can spog about a Gary Player designed golf course. That original railway station building was fantastic. Sounds like it is now the exclusive home of a vervet monkey. So good to see a railway station still operating and nogal with electric trains ! Does the train come from PE to Alicedale and then to who knows where ? Curtis you are brave driving onto the staion. I always think, nou gaan hulle n papwiel kry. Lekker om julle te hoor Afrikaans praat met die locals. So sad that the hotel is no more, but at least there is a Christian organisasie wat vir die jong mense daar sorg. What an interesting visit.😄👍🦓🐒🚂 Curtis why no drone footage ?
That golf course was clearly magnificent in its day and I hope that one day they will somehow be able to make it a functional one again. ⛳🤞🏻 I agree with you about the old station building, those wooden details were just spectacular. The resident monkey wasn't too happy that I was invading his home! 😝🐒 Our research online showed that the train line runs between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth with a branch line leading to Grahamstown. It was fantastic to see an operation station again, I agree. 🚉🛤️ Luckily there were no nails or sharp objects on the platform, we were all good to go! 🚙👌🏻 I don't fly the drone in each place we get to. Time and of course weather play a role and sometimes I forget too, if you can believe that! 🤷🏻♂️
Hi there, adventurers! Having fun? Just saying: a female kudu is called a Kudu cow; a two-colored horse is a Pinto! Love your videos! Stay safe!
Always having fun, even when we're not on the road, like right now as we're working in our office. 🤓 We've always known a female kudu is a cow, but we're not big on using proper names and such all the time, we're way too chilled for that. So you may hear us referring to a female kudu in future videos again. 😁🦌 Pinto is a new one for us, thank you! Now that one we may just throw around in a future video, I quite like the sound of it! 😍🐎
im a huge fan of youre doing, i wish to travel SA like this, im learning a lot
Thank you, I'm so happy to hear you enjoy our videos! 🚙😁 Hopefully you can hit the long road yourself one day not too long from now. When you do, safe travels! 🛣️
@@DustBugsTravel its always been my dream to travel.. especially the EC...PLEASE also do a video about the Wild coast.
Nice to see the wildlife thanks. That car sounds like it needs to be greased😂. Something is grinding on something. Small but interesting little town?
The wildlife was indeed fantastic, we love how gravel roads always produce! 🐴🐎🦓🐗🦌 Alicedale turned out to be a very interesting town and just the size we like them! You should know by now that we rent the most economical cars available and the creakiness is almost always audible in our videos when we travel on uneven surfaces. That's par for the course now. We don't mind it in the slightest though, in fact we don't even hear it anymore! 🚙😁
Hi Curtis and Sonja, yet another wonderful programme. Just off subject but how come Curtis never "Chats" to the donkeys anymore :) just loved the responses he got :)
I'm glad you enjoyed Alicedale! 🚙👍 😁 We haven't seen many donkeys on our recent trips. I almost always chat to them, but it's only the odd one that humours me and chats back! 😍🐴
Hi you two, happy travels. Alicdale and Alice is not the same place, am I correct?????🙃🙏
You are indeed correct. 👍🏻 They are two separate towns in the Eastern Cape. 🚙😁
My Pa Pienaar Anker was skoolhoof van 1964 tot 1984 op Alicedale.Die hotel is die ou skoolgebou.
Ons het wonderlike kinderjare op Alicedale gehad.
Baie sleg om die dorpie so vervalle te sien.
You certainly filled in some of the blanks for us, thank you for that! Very interesting to read that the hotel was formerly the school buildings. I'm glad our video reminded you of great times in your old hometown. 🚙😊 The double whammy of water shortages and a poor economy have sadly left a mark on the little town, but we met some pretty great folks there who are trying to keep Alicedale alive. Hats off to them! 👌🏻
Mr Anker was my headmaster sub a to standard 2 then off to boarding school in PE. Folks farmed 7 miles from Alicedale.. 6 gates along the way. Was an awesome dorpie.
Hi Dustbugs, I am enjoying your travels through the E Cape as I was born and brought up in Grahamstown and from whence my mother's family from 1820 originates. You could easily have done another video on Grahamstown (Makhanda) as your hardly touched the surface of it. Anyway, back to Alicedale, it is on the main railway line from Port Elizabeth to the north and Alicedale was where the branch line to Port Alfred via Grahamstown began, unfortunately no longer in operation but I am sure is etched into the memories of generations of schoolchildren on their way to and from the numerous schools there. I don't want to nit-pick or lecture but, were you to do a bit more research into the areas you explore, I believe it would add considerable value to your vlogs.
I'm glad to hear you enjoy our videos, but you may be missing the point of them. I'm happy to explain. My wife and I travel for our own enjoyment and choose to share our experiences with whoever else may enjoy them too. We waited a long time to be tourists in our own country and that's exactly what we plan on doing every few weeks until we venture further afield. There are just too many places to see for us to linger in one place for longer than we currently do. So we arrive, explore and move on to the next place. We don't and won't burden ourselves with extensive research before we travel and our videos on any place or town aren't meant to be exhaustive in any way. We do research on the fly, explore on our own and are just too grateful for anything we happen upon. Anyone who wishes for more information or more coverage of places of interest, should do their own research or visit the places themselves. We will continue on our merry way just as we have been doing. We're having a ball of a time! 🚙😁
Lol you know what fascinates me, is that on almost most of your travels it's like somehow these animals know you are coming. They put on such a display for you by posing, running, making their own notices, and that warthog that was trotting with its babies as if he is showing you his family and how proud he is. I love God's creation how each animal has their own personality and character, their own unique patrons or markings on them. Absolutely wonderful that the organisation is Christian based, the younger generation needs Jesus, as so does the rest of the world. Love the train never seen a train like that and the old building
We love every kind of wildlife. Perhaps they all know it! 😍🐗
Absolutely tragic to see the decline of this village. The Gary Player golf course- kaput, finish klaar. How many jobs lost? Thank you ANC😢
Maybe consider a program depicting the most rotten villages/municipalities in the country?
Ours is a travel channel and not a political channel. We will continue documenting our travels to and through all the towns and places we visit exactly as we have been doing up to now. 🚙