'A MASSIVE THANK YOU to all who supported and joined us! Thank you to all our Volunteers who helped at the Hospice Stalls, to Howick Lions for pancakes, the Callies and Dinky Choir for preforming. We raised over R20 000 which is a massive help to reach our needed fundraising target for the year. All monies raised ensure our Clinical Team can continue to offer home based care to our patients in our service area.' said Midlands Hospice of their Market held on 13 May 2023.
Jason is a photographic artist based in Howick and, whenever possible, reserves around South Africa. Jason’s favourite subject is nature, with a particular focus on birds, and he loves the interpretive quality that black and white brings to the subject.
www.jasonjohnstone.photography
Jason’s work is currently on display @ The Studio Gallery - the Rotunda Farm Stall Hilton and at Burczak’s Picture Framers in PMB.
Meet top level artists from around the country at the upcoming Harcourts Hilton ART in the Country, open from Thursday at Harrington House on Hilton College Road.
Last week Sunday, the 14th of May Sue Quinton celebrated her 78th birthday! She is our oldest residents at Sunfield Home.
Sue enjoyed celebrating her birthday with her friends and would like to send a big "Thank You" to Angela Johnstone who crocheted this beautiful blanket!
On Monday this stunning blanket was gifted to Sue by Angela's daughter Lisa who is an employee of Sunfield Home. Thank you for using your skills to bless our residents Angela!
Enjoy a youthful afternoon of musical entertainment hosted by Howick High School. We present scholar musicians from Howick High School, Howick Prep School andThe Drakondale School of the Arts in a programme that includes classical, choral and jazz items, and solos . Come and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee as part of your ticket along with delectable treats which will be on sale.
DATE: Friday, 26 May 2023
TIME: 15:00
VENUE: Howick High School Hall
TICKETS: R50 each at the door from 14:30, card or cash accepted
More about Howick High
Yesterday saw the inaugural Inland vs Coastal Cross Country event that saw some brilliant racing at the front end. It was great to have such a competitive event to showcase KZN’s best runners at one event.
Well done to the following Treverton students who achieved top 15 places in a highly competitive field.
Kai Broom – 2nd Senior Boys out of 72 runners
Karijn Kooy - 9th & Tejah Balie 13th Senior Girls out of 62 runners
Grace Slater – 9th & Willow Crawford 15th out of 80 runners
Well done to the rest of the team, who have improved throughout the season.
We look forward to the final few Inland events, followed by the Inland Relay to close out the season.
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'Get super snuggly this winter with our gorgeous range of colourful and stylish ponchos! We have a wide variety of winter clothing available, so please pop in to any of our branches to see what we have on offer.'
You'll have more fun in the cool Midlands weather when kitted out with a cosy poncho from The Ugly Duckling.
More about The Ugly Duckling
Please join us in welcoming Inspector Kevin Khumalo to the uMngeni SPCA team.
With his passion for all animals and special interest in livestock, he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our organisation. As an SPCA inspector, Kevin will play a vital role in investigating and preventing animal cruelty and neglect cases.
The uMngeni SPCA is thrilled to have Kevin on board, and we look forward to working with him to make a positive difference in the lives of animals in our community.
Together with our team of dedicated staff and volunteers, we will continue to work tirelessly to promote animal welfare and to create a more compassionate world for all creatures great and small.
The idiom (cliche) tells us that "we are only as strong as our weakest link". Fortunately, our links are all strong!
We are truly grateful for the amazing team that has grown around us, without whom we could not possibly have endured and grown as we have!
So, let's introduce the Hi-Q Howick Team to you!
Heading up the operation is founder and owner of Hi-Q Howick. Gary will mostly be found in the reception area manning the sales desk - although he spends much time in the workshop overseeing the work. Gary is passionate about his business and loves trouble shooting and problem-solving for customers.
Graydon Norris (I should probably introduce him as Chuck as I don't think even he knows himself as Graydon anymore!) Chuck is our multi-talented counter salesperson who always has a story to tell. (Just don't get him started on his band days....)
Aronel Beukes - our behind-the-scenes lady. You may come across her in reception making herself and her colleagues a cup of coffee, but normally Aronel is hidden up in her "office with a view" above the workshop making sure that all our admin is in order.
Shane Rykart (aka Ken) – Shane joined Hi-Q Howick a year ago as our alignment technician. We are truly fortunate to have him in our team as he is a genuine expert in his field.
Sibusiso Ndlovu – (aka Sbu) has been with us from the very outset and is an invaluable part of the Hi-Q Howick team. He is our legendary and dreadlocked star welder.
Sibonelo Sikhakhane (aka Mechanic) – has also been with us from Day One! He is our general all-round workshop and tyre guy, stepping in and stepping up wherever he is needed.
Ceboh Xulu (aka Shifting) – there’s a story behind all the nicknames, all in jest! Shifting is the tallest staff member in the workshop! Shifting is also our general all-rounder, helping wherever he can in the workshop.
Tristian Uys (aka Barbie) – our most recent addition to the team, this sailor boy has made his services available to The Greater Ambers on behalf of Hi-Q Howick and we are grateful for his initiative and positive input!
Zandile Mvubu – Zandile’s smiling face is ever-present around the shop, whether she’s keeping things clean and tidy or making sure that there is a constant supply of coffee, popcorn, and slushy.
The Hi-Q Howick Team
Back: Gary and Graydon/Chuck
Middle: Tristian, Ceboh/Shifting and Shane
Front: Sbu, Zandile and Sibonelo/Mechanic)
'We were contacted by a 'new to us' organisation from the north coast to come and sterilise 30 dogs. Sables Creatures is another amazing organisation with awesome volunteers who ran such an organised 3 day steri clinc.
We left Merrivale bright and early on Friday morning only to discover there was an accident on the freeway which had completely closed it. After a long diversion, roadworks on the N3 and more roadwords on the N2 we finally arrived in Kwadakuza at about 11.30!! We were working in a municipal building and the 8 dogs were waiting, not so patiently, so with the help of the Sables volunteers we set up quickly and got started. Of course we were also in the middle of loadshedding, thankfully they had taken this into consideration and were using a generator. At the end of the day the dogs that had been booked in for Saturday had all started coughing so they wanted to make sure they were healthy enough for surgery so we headed off to check them out. Dr Lee started them all on antibiotics and gave the go ahead for them to be sterilised.We woke up to an amazing sunrise from our very comfortable accomodation. As we were working in the same venue we had left our tables set up so were able to get started by 8.30. We did 7 dogs and then sent them all home before the 5 coughing dogs came in. We also treated a few bite wounds as well as tick and flea treatment.
We had to move venue for Sunday as there was a church service booked. The new venue also had a church service happening in the main hall, while we worked in a room next door listening to the church singing. One of the dogs also joined in the singing. We sterilsed another 10 dogs which completed the 30 dogs booked. What a succesful clinic! Huge thanks to all at #SablesCreatures as well as Dierk and Rose who arranged our accomodation. There is such a need in the Kwadakuza area and they are doing an amazing job.' said or Midmar Vet Clinic reporter.
Well done to Dr Lee Pachonick and the whole team!
More about Midmar Vet Clinic
Howick Artist, Yvonne Lariviere works in oils on gesso primed board with a palette knife and brush. Her inspiration is the late Carlo Sdoya who Yvonne studied with at the Da Vinci Studio in Johannesburg which Yvonne attended weekly for many years.
You can look forward to viewing Yvonne's work in real time at the Harcourts Hilton ART in the Country.
More about ART in the Country
Open daily for four days from 10am on Thursday, 25 May 2023 at Harrington House on Hilton College Road.
Winter has certainly showed up in the last week!
Thank goodness the weather didn’t quite settle in until after our monthly J Leslie Smith & Company sponsored competition. We played nominated pairs in the 2-4-2 format on Tuesday, the 16th of May, with 16 teams entered. The weather was actually rather warm and sunny and everyone enjoyed being out on the green in the sunshine. There were quite a few close games and only 1 point difference between the winners and runners up of the competition. JLS also had a surprise “Minute to Win It” quiz at the end of the day … did you know that they will draw up your will at no charge? How’s that for good value!
Thank you to J Leslie Smith & Company for their generous sponsorship, and well done to the following teams:-
1st Prize – Kevin Palmer & Wendy Smith
2nd Prize – Lisa Nagel & Ann Marnoch
Plate Prize – Patrick Carter-Brown & Edwin Hohls
Wednesday afternoon tabs in was a little different than usual as an executive decision was made to make all the ladies skips. This was regardless of their gradings or experience, so we had some players who normally play lead taking the role of skip and vice versa! What a challenge for players who have never played skip before; it really is a whole different game to build a head and make some more challenging shots when you normally only need to worry about being as close to the jack as possible. On the flip side of that coin, it was also a challenge for some of the players who normally play skip to suddenly play lead. As a lead your job (in its absolute simplest form) is to be quiet, stay out of the way and follow instruction. We definitely had a few cheeky leads on the day who needed an occasional tongue-in-cheek reminder that they’re playing lead! It was a fantastic afternoon of bowls though, and a great experience for all our bowlers.
As for our braai, I know you’re all itching to know what’s happening… IT’S FINISHED! According to our resident braai engineers there’s “space for a lot people to braai”. This comment is a constant source of amusement as it’s said with equal amounts of surprise and pride by the designers of said braai. Of course we haven’t been able to try it out yet thanks to the sudden arrival of winter, but on that note, we’ve decided that come hell or high water, we WILL try it out on Friday afternoon after our Dormehl Phalane sponsored competition. That will certainly be an event to put in your diaries so pop in for a bring and share braai, or contact Wendy on 071 353 2866 for more information.
Speaking of our Dormehl Phalane monthly sponsored competition, we have a field of 20 teams entered for Friday so it’s going to be a really festive day. This competition takes place on the last Friday of every month and is in the form of 2 bowl trips, with R1500 worth of prizes up for grabs. For more information on this competition or to enter a team, please contact Pippa Griffin on 083 467 8140.
That’s all for this week… see you on the greens!
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Friday, 26 May: Dormehl Nominated 2 Bowl Trips. Tabs In 08h45
Saturday, 3 June: Greendale Spar Drawn Trips/Pairs. Tabs in 13h15
Regular tabs in times are:-
Tuesdays at 08h45
Wednesdays at 13h15
Saturdays at 13h15.
Visitors are always welcome. For more information contact Wendy on 071 353 2866
Coaching by registered coaches is available: Contact Colin or Bernice on 071 164 3162 for further information.
Pictured here: Winners of the J Leslie Smith competition, Kevin Palmer and Wendy Smith, with Crystal Dekkar from JLS
Treverton entered the Rhino Peak Challenge last year as the first school team to do so. Kai Broom, Travers Pellew and Jarred van Alphen, represented Treverton well, in raising money as well as coming in the Top 5 runners in the Challenge. This year they have entered again as a team and have challenged other schools to as well. So far Grace College and Maritzburg College have accepted and signed up. They will be running on 9 September 2023. Please donate towards this cause that is actively seeking to conserve our natural heritage.
https://rhinopeakchallenge.co.za/participants.aspx?participant=89bd0ee5-3cd8-43d3-a7d9-ad9c8faa4618
"In order to complete the RPC the Ambassadors must each complete the 21km course to the summit of the Rhino Peak (3056m) and back. There is no time limit and Ambassadors may walk or run the RPC. Over the years a number of South Africa’s finest Trail Runners have taken part in the RPC and the current Fastest Known Times (FKT) for the RPC is 2hr15min for the men and 2hr45min for the ladies set by Kane Reilly and Holly Page respectively. However, most Ambassadors adopt a far more leisurely pace with times ranging between 4 and 9 hours to complete the Challenge.
The real focus of the RPC is of course the fundraising, and each Ambassador spends most of their energy on this. A Profile with a payment link is set up on the website for each Ambassador and donors can then choose which Ambassador they would like to support. The Ambassadors reach out to their personal networks for donations and the Event itself also does all it can to raise funds on behalf of the Ambassadors. This formula has proved extremely successful since 2016 with almost R5.2m raised."
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Kayden Kalika, Unathi Mhlongo and Lesedi Ngake will be representing the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands Rugby teams this weekend in the Inter-Districts Tournament held at Maritzburg College.
Howick Prep is so proud of these boys and wish them all the best in their matches.
Our hockey fixtures took place over two days for our 56th Founders Celebrations with fixtures against Treverton on Friday, 12 May and against St John's on Saturday, 13 May.
On 12 May, our 1st Girls’ Hockey team beat Treverton 1 – 0, our U14 Boys’ Hockey team drew 2 – 2, the U16 Boys’ team won 2 – 0 and the 1st Boys’ team drew 2 – 2.
On Saturday, the 2nd Girls’ Hockey team beat St Johns 2 – 1, the 3rd team lost 2 – 0, the U16A team won 1 – 0, the U16B team won 1 – 0 and the U14A team won 1 – 0.
More about Howick High School
Skip winter by teaching abroad. South Africans, like our houses, are not built for winter. Between waking up in the dark, and constantly avoiding coworkers coughing in the office, many locals will be looking to escape to sunnier shores, without breaking the bank. As the world’s go-to option for working abroad, Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) presents an opportunity to follow summer around the world, while earning an income.
“Taking advantage of the global need for English teachers, South Africans can travel, experience different cultures, and even settle down somewhere with a guaranteed power supply. A TEFL qualification opens doors to a number of options, including full-time positions, summer camps, and online teaching. Whichever option you choose, swimming costumes and sunblock are a prerequisite,” says Rhyan O’Sullivan, Managing Director at The TEFL Academy, South Africa’s leading provider of TEFL courses and qualifications.
Summer camps, which run from a few weeks to three-months in length, offer qualified teachers an opportunity to gain in-person teaching experience in exotic locales, without committing to a full-time role. Italy, Thailand, and France are just some of the countries that host these camps. Often, teachers are only expected to work part-time, which leaves plenty opportunity to go exploring.
Another option for TEFL qualified teachers is to teach online, making it possible to teach from anywhere in the world – provided there is a strong wi-fi connection; “Many countries offer Digital Nomad visas, which allow remote workers to live and work in the country for a set duration. These visas are offered by over 50 countries, including Portugal, Croatia, and Malaysia. An online teaching post also allows you to enjoy a summer abroad, and be back home, in South Africa, as the festive season kicks off,” says O’Sullivan.
It can take as little as four weeks to complete a TEFL course. This means by time the country reaches the peak of winter, teachers could be qualified, and on their way to sipping on an Aperol Spritz in Rome, or exploring the night life in Seoul, South Korea. “Qualified teachers can earn up to R560 per hour, depending on the country and teaching post, which is significantly higher than many entry-level jobs in South Africa. This gives teachers the freedom to enjoy their time overseas, and even save for their future adventures,” says O’Sullivan.
Offering accessible and cost-effective ways to get TEFL-qualified, The TEFL Academy provides internationally accredited and regulated online courses. The company hosts a jobs board on their website, with over 1 500 international teaching opportunities for potential teachers to pursue, across a number of countries. For more information, visit www.theteflacademy.com/za/.
You will find Lynda at Harcourts Hilton ART in the Country next week from 25 to 28 May, at Harrington House in Hilton.
Lynda Buchanan Clarke is a professional artist and art teacher from Howick. Her preference is to paint with oils on canvas, and as she says… “a continuous pursuit and ultimate goal to capture the fragile beauty of nature."
For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI) ended on a high note and was a resounding success for KwaZulu-Natal and Durban which can expect an economic boost of well over the expected R130 million. Initial figures indicate that the Indaba significantly beat expectations, 2022’s figures and marginally topped its 2019 pre-Covid high.
Statistics released by ATI Bid Partners show that as many as 8,629 delegates attended compared to 8000 in 2019, 22 African countries participated with 1023 exhibitors, 1000 international buyers attended and had 21,000 meaningful meetings with exhibitors and the Durban ICC prepared 6000 meals a day.
As the first Indaba without any restrictions since COVID-19, this year’s event had seen a stronger gathering of African countries, but there was work to be done to make Africa’s travel Indaba a truly Pan-African event.
“There are 54 countries in Africa and is important for Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN) to make Africa’s Travel Indaba a truly Pan-African event in collaboration with SA Tourism and other partners,” said Mr. Nhlanhla Khumalo Acting Chief Executive Officer TKZN.
Khumalo also pointed to the post ATI tours which took place this weekend. “A strong element of Indaba is the hosting of buyers and media on tours to various destinations so they can experience what our province offers for themselves and package KwaZulu-Natal for their clients.
As an example, he indicated that a group of some 50 buyers from SADC - Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Namibia - visited the Drakensberg and Midlands. Among their activities they went quad biking, did the Karkloof Canopy tour, visited the Nelson Mandela Capture Site and the Midlands Meander. Another group went to the South Coast and a third tour went to the North Coast.
“We say KZN has it all! Believe it! But people need to experience the culture, the adventure, the mountains, the tranquility, the history for themselves so they transfer their experience to their clients in their travel packages,” said Khumalo.
Similarly, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, which manages KZN’s parks and game reserves hosted a post Indaba tour for a group of UK travel buyers and the Richards Bay Destination Marketing Company to Isimangaliso Wetland Park where they visited the Crocodile Centre, went to the Game Capture Museum showing how game used to be caught, Centenary craft centre run by local women and then to the Hlulhluwe area where they enjoyed umleqwa chicken.
“We are very pleased that as many as 400 travel buyers participated in our seven wonders of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg World Heritage Park virtual reality experience,” said Mr. Sihle Mkhize Acting Chief Executive Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
“By making our travel experiences tangible we are able to sell our story to international markets, which has played a part in our exponential increase in visitors to our protected areas”, he said.
Year on year to April 2023 the number of visitors increased by 65% from 39 958 to 66 091, which also beats their pre-Covid 2019 figures of 56 385.
“While domestic visitors make up the lions-share of the visitors to the parks at 88,4%, international visitors made up 11,6% of the total. Translated into number this is 7499 visitors which is 150% higher than 2022, which is a wonderful recovery and our post Indaba tours are aimed at maintain these numbers while attracting more visitors,” he said.
The most visited game park was Hluhluwe-iMfolozi with 26% of the total visitors, followed by Midmar 20% and Royal Natal National Park 9%. Each of the remaining parks received less than 5% each of the total visitors.
The 15 KwaZulu-Natal Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) hosted on the TKZN exhibition went all out to sell their products and services to international travel buyers. And early indications are that they all achieved good results..
These SMMEs were all first timers to Indaba, and it is really encouraging that they made the most of the opportunity. From what I saw most of them were busy on all three days with pre-arranged meetings in addition to walk-ins, and taking part in the speed marketing opportunities,” said Khumalo.
Msizeni Mngadi founder and director of Indlondlo Cultural Village in the Valley of 1000 Hills said: ”Africa’s Travel Indaba is a game changer for us. This is a very exciting platform and I want to thank to the Mkambathini Municipality for their support enabling us to attend this event.”
Mngadi was certain that their meetings with US, UK, German and African travel buyers would result in at least six sales with more to come. “It has put us in a space where the world can recognise us under the flag of South African Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and government.”
Tour operators Amabanda Tourism, which arranges tours for locals and international visitors across KwaZulu-Natal said they had secured a large tour from Kenya that would take place later this month.
Pictured here: The UK destination marketing company was given a truly authentic African experience in the Hluhluwe area a chicken feast or umleqwa. Left to right: Karin Mawani (UK-DMC) Sphelele Luthuli and Eric Hadebe from Ezemvelo Marketing leave with take-aways from their feast.
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This week was a bittersweet week at UWBC. We’ve had the usual hustle and bustle of activities and fun but have also had to say goodbye to Londiwe Mvelase in her capacity as Greenkeeper’s Assistant. Londiwe has worked tirelessly for UWBC for almost ten years now, however health issues have made it very difficult for her to continue in her role. We have been so grateful to her for the many hours she’s spent looking after our greens and as a member of the club we know we’ll still get to see her playing bowls when she’s able to. As part of our UWBC family, we wish her all the best!
As for all the activities… Wednesday afternoon was our Halfway Toyota Drawn Trips competition and congratulations to the winning team of Alan Willey, Pat Norris and David Mainprize. The runners up were Barry Fairbrother, Mike Cain and Bob Chetty. Thank you to the sponsor and well done to all who played.
Tuesday morning and Saturday afternoon tabs in were lovely sessions; amazingly the weather held and everybody enjoyed themselves. Please note that Tuesday morning tabs has changed from 08h15 to 08h45 as we move into the winter months.
On Saturday evening we hosted our quiz Night and what a great evening it was. Lots of giggling and laughter, some blank looks, a bit of competitiveness and a fair amount of whispering and general schenanigans as the teams decided on answers whilst trying to make sure no opposing teams heard them. There were some interesting questions involved too; did you know that Scotland’s national animal is none other than the unicorn? Absolute fact… the Unicorn! Thank you to all who joined us, and well done to the “Happy Foursome” of Colin & Bernice Burden and David & Clare Langstone who won 1st Prize!
Work is continuing with our new braai area, and it should be ready to inaugurate at Friday Night Lights. Of course, the weather forecast is not looking too great at the moment, so we’ll make a call by tomorrow afternoon as to whether we’ll be bowling and braaing or not. Hold thumbs for some good weather for us!
Another item to keep a lookout for is our Youth Day plans on the 16th of June. We’re inviting any youngsters between the ages of 10 and 18 to join us for a morning of bowls; each child will be paired with an adult for 2 sessions of 8 ends of 2 bowl pairs. We’re hoping to full our greens to capacity as it would be so amazing to see some young faces on the greens and to introduce children and teens to our sport. Anybody who would like to be involved on the day can contact Wendy on 071 353 2866 for more information.
That’s all for this week… see you on the greens!
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday, 16 May: J Leslie Smith & Co Nominated Pairs 2-4-2. Tabs In 08h45
Friday, 19 May : Friday Night Lights. Tabs In 17h15 (Book with Wendy on 071 353 2866)
Friday, 26 May : Dormehl Nominated 2 Bowl Trips. Tabs In 08h45
Saturday, 3 June : Greendale Spar Drawn Trips/Pairs. Tabs in 13h15
Regular tabs in times are:-
Tuesdays at 08h45
Wednesdays at 13h15
Saturdays at 13h15.
Visitors are always welcome. For more information contact Wendy on 071 353 2866
Coaching by registered coaches is available: Contact Colin or Bernice on 071 164 3162 for further information.
Pictured here: Club President Kevin Palmer and Londiwe Mvelase
More about Umgeni Waterfall Bowling Club
