A few kilometres out of Morgan Bay we passed the Morganville Farm which is a ‘retirement village’ for all transport related machinery. There were buses, motorbikes, aircraft, trains, cars and the like. This is when Roger spotted a specific aeroplane on the ground, right next to a primary school! He had seen the same aircraft many years ago standing derelict at Bisho Airport.
A Google search revealed the following information from Wikipedia:
“Convair 880 aircraft c/n 22-7-6-58 (ex. N88CH), in private ownership of South African councilor Billy Nel located in Shadow Park, Gonubie, Eastern Cape (between East London and Kei Mouth). Although not in airworthy condition it is one of the few surviving aircraft of this type.
It was first delivered to Japan Air Lines in July 1961, registered JA8022. Cathay Pacific Airways bought it in July 1970 and registered it as VR-HGF. Compania Iter-Americana Export Import bought it in September 1975 and registered it as N88CH. Jet Aviation in Basel, Switzerland bought it in February 1976 and transferred it to Hirschmann Corporation in the USA. At that time the airline interior was converted for executive transport use. D-Flag Leasing bought it in December 1977. Orchester Incorporated bought it in May 1978. Sentinel Jets Inc. bought it in March 1979. C C Petit bought it in October 1981. As of July 1983 it was being held at Islip, New York for unpaid fuel and parking fees. It had been abandoned by the rock group Jefferson Starship when they were not paid for performing a concert in Long Island. The Ciskei government (a South African Bantustan) bought it in August 1987 for the purpose of using it as the luxurious personal transport of president Lennox Sebe, but purchased with a worthless check and C.C. Petit contact Raimund Hohlfeuer of Las Vegas-Nevada to fly the aircraft to South Africa. The Aircraft never get reregistered because C.C. Petit never get paid for the Aircraft. In 1992 Raimund Hohlfeuer get to South Africa to get the Aircraft back to the US but in that time the Aircraft was sold for 1 USD to Billy Nel and after a large law suit in the court in East London, Raimund Hohlfeuer went back to Las Vegas-Nevada to call in a meeting with C.C. Petit. After a long conversation C.C. Petit decided not to bring the Airplane back to the US because of the high expenses. One engine was missing according to Raimund Hohlfeuer. Billy Nel never got a registration nor he has real ownership or documents.”
After all this excitement we continued to the Cefane Resort which is situated on the banks of the Chefana River, at the mouth, just a short walk away from the beach. The campsite is run by 4 bothers; it is old but well-maintained, clean and very affordable. It even had a Laundromat! We decided to stay for 3 nights.
The first day was spent in East London. Suzi’s wheel damage fortunately looked worse than it was and the cut in the side wall was only superficial. The actual puncture was caused by a sharp stone that penetrated the running surface and was professionally repaired by Tiger Wheel and Tyre. The rest of the day was spent replenishing stocks, buying odds and ends such as spare fuses, refilling gas cylinders, etc., etc.
The following day we did some bird-watching while sitting underneath our awning, read our books and just chilling. It felt as if we were both in need of a day ‘off’ (can you believe that?). We did manage to do our laundry though!
After our ‘rest’ day we were feeling energetic and took a long walk on the beach, all the way to the Kwenxura Mouth and beyond. We walked for 45 minutes in one direction and still did not see where the beach ended, i.e. where we would be obstructed and not be able to go any further. It is the most wonderful stretch of beach so far. But of course I could be biased; after all we are now in my part of the world… I grew up in the East London district and have very fond memories of the area.
We left the Cefane Resort after 3 nights and headed down the coast towards Port Alfred. Our route took us past the East London Harbour in the Buffalo River, past my high school and many other familiar places. Now it was my turn to go down memory lane.
The road between East London and Port Alfred is good and the topography, vegetation and views are great. It is so good to be in the Eastern Cape; we have been looking forward to it!