Month: February 2014

van die Redaksie

Redaksie

To most South Africans food is a “big thing”.

Now combine that with friends, good company, wine, poetry, art, live entertainment and fun for the whole family and you have a winning combination.

Now, that is what is awaiting you, at the annual MOSSEL BAY PROE FESTIVAL this coming weekend.

‘n Magdom klein, maar tog sulke interessante plekkies lê weggesteek en onbekend in ons omgewing. Om maar een te noem – hoeveel van ons weet dat oesters om die draai van ons by Klein Brak gekweek word ?

Then there is Milkwood Primary School. They are having an International Evening, on Friday 28 February 2014. A Mini Festival and stalls with various dishes from around the world. Be sure not to miss that.

Events happen at 30 different venues all over the Mossel Bay District and some of the activities to experience include –
appearances by well-known food personalities, wine tasting, cooking demonstrations and competitions, as well as exhibitions and other activities at various galleries.
For more information visit: the Food, Art and Lifestyle Route-Mossel Bay website.

Kom en wees deel van die naweek se feestelikheid.
Besoek ten minste een nuwe plek en/of eet iets lekker op die PROE ROETE.

 

Sien julle daar,

Julie Retief (Red)

Gourmet Guide /NEW!!/

Gourmet Guide Header

 

 

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BUSINESS FOCUS – BLUE SHED COFFEE ROASTERY

The Blue Shed Coffee Roastery offers a wide variety of freshly roasted artisan coffees, delicious cakes and savouries. It’s the perfect place to kick start your day or unwind with a very unique view of the harbor and central Mossel Bay.

Its quaint atmosphere will surely captivate you with lots of activities form a challenging game of chess to lazing with a book on a lounger, listen to some classics LP’s or simply soak up the atmosphere. They host a variety of activities throughout the month from crochet classes to second hand sales. Join their Facebook page to be kept up to date.

Describe your business in a short paragraph:

The Blue Shed Coffee Roastery specializes in the art of a perfectly roaster cup of coffee. With ten single origin beans and three blends to choose from there is a perfect cup of coffee for everybody. Sit down and drink a cup or take home some beans to enjoy anytime.

When did you start your business?
We opened on 13 December 2013. Still brand new.

What prompted you to start / buy your business?
The Blue Shed was the vision of Albert Wiffen who offered me the opportunity to manage this exciting new venture. Four months ago I would never have guessed that I would dabble in the art of coffee making yet somehow I feel my life would have been emptier without it. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and am loving every second of it.

My business is aimed at?
Our business is aimed at anyone and everyone that loves coffee. Coffee is truly a passion that should be shared with the world.

What products / services are you offering?
We roast a wide variety of artisan coffee which you can enjoy brewed on site or take home to enjoy anytime of the day. We also have fresh cakes and savories available for the hungry as well homemade preserves and jams. You can enjoy board games, chess or join one of our events which includes crochet classes and second hand sales. We’ll soon be hosting more social clubs, book sales and live events which can be seen on our facebook page. We also offer wiffi because you should always be connected.

What is your competitive advantage?
We love what we do.

Personal achievements:
Every individual that walks in and enjoys our coffee is a personal achievement.

What makes your business stand out in the crowd?
We stand out in a crowd because we love what we do. Coffee is a meditative and creative drink. It’s a cup full of possibilities and we strive to carry that over to our customers.

Complete the following statements:
“ Through experience, I’ve learnt that…..”
“Through experience, I’ve learned that anything is possible when you put your heart into it”

“ In future my business will offer…..”
“In future my business will offer social clubs, lots of activities for kids, more live events and much more, the possibilities are endless.

What is the most important message you wish to send to the community?
Keep it local because local is “lekker” and green and great for your direct environment.

 

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SPECIALS 

 

SPECIALS

GOURMET GUIDE – Your Quick & Easy Guide to Scrumptious Dining in Mossel Bay

 

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GOURMET GUIDE FULL COLOUR B

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MAP

 

EXTRA ADS

 

 

Personality of the Week – Bianca Truter – GM Blue Shed Coffee Roastery (online exclusive)

Name and Surname
Bianca Truter

What is your current occupation?
Im the GM and Head Roaster at the Blue Shed Coffee Roastery.

How long have you lived in Mossel Bay?
Since I was 14 years old. I did however spend 7 years in London but moved back to my hometown in December 2012. There’s no place like home.

Name one thing that always peaks your interest.
I love listening to peoples stories. The world is full of the most crazy interesting people.

What’s one movie that always makes you laugh?
I can’t think of a single funny movie right now. My favorite movie at the moment though is Cloud Atlas.

What useless talent do you have that nobody knows about?
I can fold origami butterflies?

If you could take over one persons job for a week, who’s would it be and why?
Rich Keam, he is a tastemaster, he gets to travel and taste awesome food for a living. Who wouldn’t want to do that.

What book are you reading at the moment?
Dragon Haven – Robin Hobb

If you won a Million, how would you spend it?
I would buy a piece of land and become self sufficient. Have a cow and a couple of chickens and of course my own veggie patch. That is the plan even if I don’t win a million.

I never leave home without ……….
I never leave home without my panties.

What is your favourite restaurant and meal?
My kitchen, I don’t eat out much and nothing beats homemade food. My favorite dish has to be my amazing quinoa salad. Delicious and nutritious.

Your favourite holiday destination?
My favorite holiday destination is anywhere in the woods in a cabin with a huge fireplace and a good book.

Tell us some interesting facts about yourself.
I like body art. I have a few tattoos and am planning to get a few more. I love painting and creating. My hair used to be super straight until I turned 15 when it suddenly started curling like crazy.

What is your message to the community of Mossel Bay?
Always be true to yourself.

 

 

COFFEE BEAN

10 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT COFFEE

Discover the top 10 most interesting and amazing facts about coffee, and find why this fascinating drink is one of the most extended drinks around the world.

The world consumes 1.6 billion cups of coffee every day, with Americans spending $40 billion on coffee every year. 70% coffee consumed is Arabica coffee, which is mild and has a deep and full aroma, the remaining 30 percent is Robusta, which is bitterer.

Legend has it that coffee was first discovered by goatherds in Africa who noticed that their charges stayed awake and spent all night frisking and dancing after eating little red berries. The goatherds brought the little red berries to their local monks, who figured out how to remove, dry and grind the beans from their red berry shells.

Back in the first millennium, coffee was not a beverage but a food. The Oromo tribe of Ethiopia invented energy bars by mixing ground coffee beans with animal fats and eating them as a quick pick-me-up.

All commercially-produced coffee grows between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In the United States, it only grows in Hawaii.

Coffee grows on trees which can get as tall as 30 feet. This makes it difficult to harvest the coffee beans, so most coffee trees are kept to about 10 feet tall.
George Washington invented instant coffee. Not the George Washington you are thinking of, though. Instant coffee was invented in 1906 by a Belgian man of that name living in Guatemala.

Coffee is called ‘joe’ after the American servicemen who drank it by the gallon during World War II. They are also responsible for Americano coffee which is a shot of espresso diluted with hot water.

Decaffeinated coffee contains as many powerful antioxidants as regular coffee. Antioxidants combat the free radicals which are produced by your body in response to your natural metabolic processes, like breathing, as well as to environmental toxins and pollutants. Free radicals are responsible for many of the side effects of aging and for certain cancers.

Drinking one to two cups of coffee every day may help ease the symptoms of depression in women. In 2008, Swedish scientists also discovered a possible link between drinking coffee and a lowered risk of breast cancer in women who possess the gene CYP1A2, which helps the body metabolize both coffee and estrogen.

A 22-year study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that, of the 48,000 men studied, those who drank six or more cups of coffee every day reduced their chances of dying from prostate cancer by 60 percent.

• The Spanish Cuisine

ADS - COFFEE BEAN

Wellness Centre

Baie geluk en sterkte aan Karin Gerrits met die opening van hulle nuwe WELLNESS CENTRE by die Langeberg Mall.

Gaan kuier gerus vir hulle en verbeter so jou lewenskwaliteit (die groen deure net bokant Romans Pizza).

 

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Surfing brings voluntourists to Mossel Bay

A young Mossel Bay-based business that describes itself as “a social enterprise of travelling companions rather than just a tour company” is using its social non-profit arm and voluntour programme to bring real value to kids in the rural village of Friemersheim.

Unravel Surf Travel – which was established by husband and wife team Hermann Vivier and Jenya Zhivaleva in 2010 – has been teaching surfing to local primary school children through a separate trust, The Surfer Kids NON-Profit.

“The Surfer Kids NON-Profit aims to address social issues through the development of a healthy lifestyle based around surfing, to spread the love of surfing and respect for nature, to broaden horizons through travelling, and to provide the possibility of self-created opportunity,” said Mr. Vivier.

The trust takes groups of up to 18 local children surfing on Saturdays – while the business brings overseas surfers into South Africa for two-week-long surf tours.

“The oldest kids have been surfing with us every weekend for over three years now,” said Mr. Vivier. “The most senior surfer kid, Marchall, has already progressed to surfing at The Point in Mossel Bay, which is no easy task – it requires real skill and years of practice.”

 

 

Mr. Vivier said that The Surfer Kids NON-Profit is incorporated into the programme on the weekend in the middle of every one of the company’s Garden Route itineraries.

“On the Saturday we take both the kids and the tourists to Buffalo Bay in Knysna, where they spend their time surfing and socialising. And then on the Sunday we bring everyone together again in Friemersheim, where we let the older kids show the visitors around, and we all go to our favourite swimming hole – which is also where The Surfer Kids NON-Profit teaches the children how to swim.”

Through its Voluntour Programme, the trust helps Friemersheim Primary School with instruction in subjects like English and computer literacy.
“The school has a beautiful computer room, with 24 computers and internet access, but it’s hardly ever used due to a lack of training and available personnel,” said Mr. Vivier.
“So this is where our Voluntour Programme comes in. Depending on their skills, volunteers help with tuition, or with yoga and physical exercises – and our last volunteer helped local gardeners with their vegetable production, because that was her passion.”

Volunteers stay in Friemersheim with hosts like Laurika Jacomina Appels, who also offers accommodation to people working on other programmes.

“Apart from helping with The Surfer Kids NON-Profit and teaching at the Primary School, volunteers can also join a surf tour with Unravel Surf Travel, and help with things like cooking and driving,” said Mr. Vivier.

The Surfer Kids NON-Profit is managed by four trustees – Mr. Vivier and Ms. Zhivaleva; archaeologist and leader of the Human Origin Tours at Pinnacle Point, Dr. Peter Nilssen; and community leader Benjamin Joubert.

“Benjamin is our community coordinator,” said Mr. Vivier. “His two kids joined the programme almost at the beginning, and because of his respected position in the local community, he’s the person who makes it possible for outsiders to get involved and make a difference.”

Mossel Bay Tourism’s Marcia Holm said that Unravel Surf Travel is leading the way in combining the business of tourism with social responsibility.
“It’s a shining example of responsible travel in action because it generates meaningful engagement between visitors and their host community,” she said.
“The concept of responsible travel – which grew out of the Cape Town Declaration of 2002 – is defined as ‘creating better places to live in, and better places to visit,’ and Mossel Bay Tourism is excited that Unravel Surf Travel, the people of Friemersheim, and the people who visit them are finding innovative ways of achieving this ideal.”

Mr. Vivier said that
The Surfer Kids NON-Profit does face certain challenges. “Particularly with transport: we take the kids to the beach in our own vehicles every weekend, and we don’t have a bus – so if any member of Mossel Bay’s business community wanted to help us out with this, we’d really appreciate it.”

The Trust will also accept sponsorships and donations of equipment.

Please contact thesurferkids@unravelsurftravel.com, or call 084 893 1543.

“As you can imagine, we go through a
lot of surf boards!”
• Mossel Bay Tourism

MUNICIPALITY HOLDS WELLNESS EVENT AGAIN

Mossel Bay Municipality plans a Wellness Event for its employees at the Old Power Station on 14 May 2014. Providers of health products and services are hereby invited to use this opportunity to exhibit or display their products or services at the event.

The purpose of this event is to demonstrate the Municipality’s commitment to employee wellness and to raise awareness amongst employees of the benefits of physical and emotional wellness.

The Municipality successfully held its first Wellness Day on 10 May 2010. More than 500 employees attend the event every year to undergo important medical screening tests.

The various accredited Medical Schemes of the Municipality, in collaboration with the Department of Health, will conduct free medical screening tests of employees on Wellness Day.
The Municipality’s main goal is to involve other public and private health-service and -product providers that can make a contribution of any kind to the health and emotional wellness of our employees. These include local gyms, eye care enterprises, dieticians, anti-tobacco-product-providers, to name but a few. Participants will be given the opportunity to exhibit their products and/or services by way of information brochures, pamphlets on special offers, product samples etc.

Interested providers can contact Ms Caroline Pieterse at (044) 606-5161 or email on cpieterse@mosselbay.gov.za, before 4 April 2014 if they are interested in promoting their health products or services at the event. • Harry Hill

Mossel Bay Water Quality Remains Tops

The Mossel Bay Municipality continues to maintain excellent drinking water quality standards as evidenced by the results achieved in terms of the SANS 241-2013 standard for the Department of Water Affairs’ 2014 Blue Drop evaluation. Three of the Municipality’s biggest water purification plants received scores of 100%, while the other four achieved between 93% and 99%.

The tests measured microbiological, chemical and physical compliance. The Little Brak River, Sandhoogte and Ruiterbos plants received scores of 100% each, while Great Brak River and Friemersheim scored 99% each. Herbertsdale scored 97% and Lodewyks Tank scored 93%. The Little Brak River, Sandhoogte and Great Brak River plants together serve most of the Mossel Bay municipal area.

With the exception of the Herbertsdale plant, which scored 96%, all the plants achieved scores of 100% for microbiological compliance. The lower percentage scored by Herbertsdale was due to the higher pH content found in the water of one of the three boreholes that feed the pump station.

The scores were all also achieved despite the added complication of having to purify Cape Brown Mountain Water. The water derives its colour from organic material in mountain streams. Although there is nothing wrong with the water and it is drinkable, the colour is removed because of public scepticism about the quality of the water.

The plant at Great Brak River is the biggest plant by far and is able to purify up to 45 million litres of water a day. It helps the Municipality to cope with the increased demand during peak seasons.

The processes and plants receive ongoing attention in order to improve them further. Processes are monitored telemetrically and the latest technology in switchgear is installed. The volumes of water that are lost during the purification processes as well as silt reduction has also been reduced significantly.

The Municipality also requests the public to bring any water problems of a continuous or repetitive nature to the attention of the Technical Services Directorate of the Municipality.

Members of the public who are interested in joining short guided tours of the Municipality’s water purification or waste water treatment plants are welcome to contact Eric Louw at telephone (044) 606-5270 or Geoffrey Bredenkamp at (044) 606-5268. • Harry Hill

KOMMENTAAR INGEWAG OP VERHURING VAN DE BAKKE – SANTOSOORDE

Lede van die publiek wat kommentaar wil lewer op die Munisipaliteit se planne om die De Bakke en Santos-karavaanparke, insluitende die De Bakke-vakansiehutte, onder private bestuur te plaas deur middel van ‘n tenderproses, het tot 4 April 2014 om dit te doen, sê die Munisipaliteit in ‘n verklaring.

Die eiendomme sal in die besit van die Munisipaliteit bly, en die private bestuur van die eiendomme raak nie die toegang tot enige van die strande nie. Die restaurantgebou op die De Bakke-parkeerterrein, die De Bakke- en Santosparkeerterreine en die openbare parkeerterrein by die Pavilion Restaurant is ook uitgesluit van die beoogde transaksie.
Ingevolge die Raadsbesluit, wat op ‘n omvattende ondersoek deur onder meer stadsbeplanners gebaseer is, word dit beoog om die eiendomme, wat in totaal ongeveer 18,6 ha groot is, vir ‘n tydperk van dertig jaar te verhuur.

Die huurooreenkoms sal daaraan onderhewig wees dat die oorde tot driestergehalte opgegradeer word, dat die oorde dwarsdeur die jaar oop moet bly, en dat geen bome op die eiendom sonder die toestemming van die Munisipaliteit afgekap mag word nie. Belangstellende partye sal bewese ervaring van die bestuur van oorde moet hê, en ook bewys moet lewer van hul finansiële vermoë om die eiendomme op te gradeer.

Enige kommentaar, voorstelle of besware, met redes daarvoor, moet skriftelik aan die Munisipale Bestuurder, Posbus 25, Mosselbaai 6500, of per e-pos aan admin@mosselbay.gov.za gestuur word teen nie later as 4 April 2014 nie. Kommentaar wat na hierdie datum ontvang word, sal moontlik nie oorweeg word nie. Die Raad sal ‘n finale besluit neem na oorweging van die publieke insette.

Navrae in die verband kan gerig word aan mnr N Prins by telefoon (044) 606-5110 of me H Potgieter by telefoon (044) 606-5164 of per faks aan (044) 606-5062, • Harry Hill