August 6, 2016
Weekend Witness
EXPLORE
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Six different reasons to visit PMB It’s true, our Sleepy Hollow has no equal in the world
ALWYN VILJOEN I WAS quite taken aback when the inter national website Unchartered101 re cently approached me to tell the world what makes Pietermaritzburg such a special spot. I mean, what more reason do you need than our giant, purple earthworms? Or being able to buy Africa’s oldest newspa per? Not to mention the fragile beauty of butterflies emerging at Butterflies for Africa, the moving Madiba Capture Site, or our top craft brewers. So I checked with a few fellow couch surfers for their best memories of “Mar itz Burra”. A good thing I did too, for the tourists’ answers created a list of unique delights that shows our Sleepy Hollow has no equal in the world. Free fireworks! On any of the big festival nights celebrat ed by our Hindu, Muslim and Christian religions, park off at World’s View — or on any stoep with a view over the city in Northdale, Clarendon, Edendale or Bisley — and enjoy spectacular fireworks for several hours. “Where we come from we have to queue for such a show and it is always over too soon,” sighed a German visitor. Mellifluous organ Our City Hall is famous for being the biggest redbrick building in South Afri ca, but it’s what is inside that brought emotional catharsis to a Japanese ac counting student who had lost her en tire family in Japan’s 2011 tsunami disas ter. Bottling up her grief for years, she also stopped practising the organ, but the very soothing notes of the city’s massive old Brindley & Foster organ convinced her to play again, finally getting peace as tears streamed down her face. Few organists can pull out all the stops, but when a recital happens, be sure to attend to understand why, deep down, we are all made of good vibra tions. (Check with www.musicreviv al.co.za for next recitals.) A foodies’ paradise On my travels, I have observed that any timid tourist can become an intrepid ex plorer simply by sitting down to break bread with the locals. Hence my belief that if your journey does not have you eating weird foods with strange people in a place with a view, you are not really travelling, but just being herded between airports. Which is why I make sure my guests taste all the best Maritzburg has to offer, from ngwenya shisa nyama at Dan’s Crocodile Butchery in Boom Street; to Kara Nichas’ vegan bunny chow at any of their outlets; to Bollywood Curries’ tasty rotis on Boshoff; the high teas at
From timid tourist to intrepid explorer — German visitor Franziska Macho agrees croc is lekker. PHOTOS: ALWYN VILJOEN
The smiles of Noxi Mchunu (left) and Portia Zondi are part of the secret ingredients that ensure the city’s office workers rate Bollywood Curries’ rotis number one.
Maritzburg is surrounded by fields and forests full of hidden delights, like this two kilometrelong tunnel under Hilton, explored here by the city’s intrepid Ronny Drew.
Feel the good vibrations from the massive old Brindley & Foster organ in the City Hall. PHOTO: MUSICREVIVAL.CO.ZA
Rosehurst on Boom; the sheep tripe spe cial at Bombay Curries on Victoria; and, finally, some Hindi sweetmeats from Murchison’s Spice Emporium on Chota Motala. Our very own miracle Of the three Christian crosses made from splintered trees and send to South Africa after the Battle of Delville Wood in France in 1916, only one each year weeps resin during July, when the world remembers the fallen of that war. Their number includes 2 683 dead from the South Africa Infantry Brigade’s original 3 433 soldiers who were ordered to hold their section of the forest at Del
city for the Comrades, swimmers for the Midmar Mile and paddlers for the Dusi canoe marathon, but the craziest bunch of extreme adrenaline junkies you can hope to meet rate PeeMbee for the worldclass downhill mountain biking runs above the Cascades Shopping Cen tre. The giant jumps and tight forest trails were designed to scare world champion ship contenders and the pros I hosted confirmed “the rush was epic”. But what they liked even more about world champion Wayne Minnaar’s stomping ground are the after parties. “The dudes are like, legend, but the girls
ville during the Battle of Delville Wood. They did so for six days and five nights of hellish bombardment that saw 400 shells a minute, followed by bayonet charges. Only 750 South Africans came out of the smoke alive on July 18, 1916. The planks have now “weeped” around Remembrance Day for 100 years and, to date, neither experts nor mystics can explain how or why. The cross can be seen by appointment in the Garden of Remembrance on Lein ster Road. People assure us the little park is not haunted! Taunt gravity Runners across South Africa know the
… phew!” is as good a summary as any I got from a New Zealander. Cheapest used books While waiting for the Shosoloza Meyl to arrive in its own time at the stately old station, go rub the toe of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue for a bit of wisdom on fighting unfair laws and then settle down to read the books bought at the Msun duzi Hospice’s large bookstore on Zwartkops Road. “Is this price right — only 50 South African cents!?” asked a Spanish/Ger man couple who had cycled down most of the west coast of Africa. • alwyn.viljoen@witness.co.za
‘Harry Potter’ play: new batch of tickets sells out within hours LONDON — Tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the second half of 2017 began vanishing quickly after going on sale on Thursday, powered by stellar re views and the unabated appetite for any thing pertaining to author J.K. Rowling’s famous creation. The new batch of 250 000 tickets went on sale online and by phone at 11 am Lon don time — meaning that Americans hop ing to score tickets to the West End play had to get up before 6 am on the East Coast and in the wee hours on the West. Within minutes, more than 100 000 cus tomers were in the electronic queue; many waited for hours for their chance
to see what’s being billed as “the eighth” Harry Potter story, following the seven volume series of books. After a few hours, all the tickets being sold by ATG, one of two authorised sales agencies, had been snapped up. Hopeful buyers from the other agency, Nimax,
joined electronic queues in the midafter noon, London time, with more than 200 000 customers ahead of them. Critics were nearunanimous in their praise of the twopart play at the Palace Theatre in the West End, lauding its compelling storyline and thrilling stage craft. Audiences have so far mostly obeyed the production’s “Keep the Secrets” cam paign to avoid giving away details of the plot, which revolves around the exploits of Harry’s son Albus and the son of Harry’s former archrival, Draco Malfoy, at the magical school Hogwarts. Rowling insists that the play represents
the final chapter in thePotter saga. “This is the next generation, you know, so I’m thrilled to see it realised so beautifully. But … Harry is done now,” Rowling said at the official premiere July 31. The latest crop of tickets, the sale of which was announced only last week, cov ers performances from May to December of next year. Prices range from $20 to $93 for each of the two parts. A Broadway production seems inevita ble. But because of Harry Potter’s global fan base, “we really hope to take this play to as many places as it’s feasible to take it,” Rowling said. Although Harry Potter and the Cursed
Child closes the book on the Boy Who Lived, Rowling’s unique world of witches and wizards continues to extend its reach. In November, the spinoff movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them debuts, the first in a trilogy. Warner Brothers an nounced on Wednesday that the second film will be released in November 2018 and that Rowling will write the script. Fantastic Beasts tells the story of Newt Scamander, a character mentioned only in passing in the Potter books. The lead role is played by Oscarwinner Eddie Redmayne and the action takes place decades before Harry Potter is born. — Variety.com.