Durban Seaworld
Tuesday, 21st March 2006 by James Turnbull
A good couple of hundred metres inland of the South African coast, a ship appears to have crashed right into the middle of Durban Seaworld. Sadly, like the previously posted Whampoa in Hong Kong, this is just a fake ship built to house various bars and restaurants.
As a consolation, I'm pretty sure this is a real helicopter just to the East, flying over a real container ship.
Thanks: woowoowoo & Nijk
I enjoyed a very nice week in Durban when i was a younger man. Sorry i know thats not very interesting but just thought i would share that with you. They have this fantastic delicacy where they take a loaf of bread, cut it in half, hollow out the middle and fill it with various fillings (usually high protein and carbohydrate). reallly really cheap and keep you going all day – great for a skint traveller like myself.
It could be a smaller fixed-wing aircraft flying over the container ship, not a helicopter. Hard to be sure.
Almost surely the Agusta A109 K2 ‘HPS’ twin-engine 8-seat helicopter operated by the Durban Port Authourity for pilotage services. The rotor diameter (by my measurement) is 11meters, which fits the specs exactly according to this link.
Pilotage is compulsory for all vessels from a point three n.miles northeast of the port entrance, with a helicopter performing pilot transfers, which is replaced by pilot boat when the helicopter is unavailable. Navigation is subject to VTS (vessels tracking service system) operated from the Millennium Tower on the Bluff including all shipping movements inside port limits. Tug assistance is required. Draught within the port varies according to location.
This link shows the actual helicopter and pickup of pilot at the Millenium Tower directly south of the current post.
I think its a plane as well, possibly a learjet or something. There is a plane type tail and it those wings are actually the propellor, then its a good coincidence that they are in the right place.
Bunny chow is a South African fast food consisting of a loaf of bread, with the inside scooped out, and filled with curry. t was created in Durban, during the 1940s, where the largest population of Indians in South Africa live. Although it is clear that the food began under apartheid, the precise origins of the food are disputed. One story, which also provides an etymology for bunny chow, or bunnies as they are also known, has it that a restaurant run by people known as Bunias (an Indian religious group) first created the scooped-out bread and curry dish, in Grey Street, Durban, which is how Bunny chow got its name. The food was a means to serve take-aways to excluded people. They cut out the center portion of the bread and filled it with curry and capped the filling with the portion (the Virgin) that was cut out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_chow
Thanks Pieter – i knew it had a good name aswell but couldnt remember it. It was one of the few vegetarian ‘snacks’ i could find in my time in SA and like i said was perfect for a man of simple tastes with a tight budget like myself.
Here is a real beached ship, turned into a hotel and casino, on the mediterranean, in south of France, close to Spain. http://www.francevuesurmer.com/grand.php?id_photo=10588 http://www.maritimematters.com/lydia.html Unfortunately the google map does have enough resolution to show it View Placemark
Thought I’ll say my appreciations to the guys who give themselves time to discuss things that make sense and quite informative. I’m proudly South African and just love the idea of having come accross your comments. Thanks!
I loved reading the comments as a beloved ex Durbanite. But please leave politics and religion out of your comments. Walk in my shoes, then comment.
“But please leave politics and religion out of your comments.”
Eh?
Unless I am mistaken, I went to this mall about 8 or 9 years ago. It was quite novel!
Checked on the placemark Philippe posted in #7 and it now has excellent imagery 😀
This is the real thing at Port Barcares, France: View Placemark (3.04099,42.82744)