It’s almost that time of the year again where we prepare for one of the largest events of the year in the Overberg region –  The Hermanus Whale Festival.  The Whale festival attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world each year to come and watch the magnificent Souther-Right Whales, who come visit Hermanus each year just off our coast.

Each year the whole community works together to make the Whale Festival bigger, better and more memorable than the last and this year is no different. One of the regions largest events deserves nothing less than a top quality website and this year we as a community have the opportunity to vote on the new website design for whale festival.

There are three options to choose from and voting will take less than 5 minutes! You can also comment on the designs on our facebook page and let us know what you think of them!

Click here to go to the voting page

The Hermanus Whale Festival will be held from the 30th of September until the 4th of October.

Top of Rothung pass

As most of my family, friends and clients know, I was in India for a month and I’d like to say thank you for the support and patience for that month. I’ve had many queries from people asking me what I did there and my purposes, etc, so I decided to summarize it in a blog post. There were three sections to my trip so I will detail each one of these below. Hope it’s interesting reading:

• The LIFT conference in Delhi
• The motorbike trip to the Himalayas
• The trip to help out at the orphanage in Rajasthan

L.I.F.T CONFERENCE IN DELHI

Snake charmer on the way to the Taj Mahal

The LIFT (Leadership Input and Friendship Time) is basically a time where a few of relating churches in India get together and therefore this was a great time for me to meet many interesting people. During this time I had the opportunity to make new friends, find my way around Delhi, enjoy Indian cuisine and sights and have my passport stolen. The last one on the list wasn’t fun at the time, but turned out being an adventure in itself. I got to experience a police station in Delhi and I met the South African consular, who else can say that! I have many memorable and interesting times during this week, like the Taj Mahal, Agra fort and my visit to a hospital, but it’s too much to write them all down here. In any case this first week was a crucial time for me to find my feet. I also met Olga in Delhi from whom I bought the bike. She has blog (183daysinindia.blogspot.com). I encourage you to read it, since she was in India for six month travelling on a bike, on her own! Impressive!

MOTORBIKE TRIP TO THE HIMALAYAS
This was a part of my trip I was most excited about. Imagine riding and camping in the middle of the Himalayas. Well, that’s what I did and the experience was phenomenal. But first I had to collect the bike in Mumbai (Bombay), requiring a total of 51 hours on the train there and back as well as the politics and stress involved in getting the bike on the train and not to mention off the train and out of the station. But with a bit of effort and not too many problems I was riding for my first time in Delhi at 11 o’clock at night and I had absolutely no idea where I was going and I had no map either. Not great planning from my part, but of course there are always people to ask, so after 2 hours of travelling around Delhi, having a lots of fun enjoying the fairly empty roads, and a quick bite to eat at McDonalds, I managed to find my accommodation by 1am in the morning.

Shimla

Two days later I was off to Shimla after prepping and Travelled for my first full day motorbike ride. The road up to Shimla is incredible! It winds along the hilltops of the Himalayas and not only is it beautiful, but also really enjoyable riding. But unfortunately due to my long ride I got sick the first night and so I got to spend 2 days in Shimla instead of 1 day only.

My ultimate goal was to get to Leh (far north), but due to it being winter I was told by some tour guides that the 2 passes to ride over were closed. In retrospect I should never have listened to the tour guides, because at the very least Rothung pass was definitely open. But I made my choice and I aimed to go through Spiti Valley by going through Recong Peo. So I left Shimla stopped over for the night at a fairly dodgy hotel in Rampur and then next day didn’t get very far before I was delayed by a landslide on the road. So I lost another day and then arrived at Recong Peo the following day. At Recong Peo I couldn’t get a permit to continue so I had to camp the night at a small place just above Recong Peo called Kalpa. So overlooking three 6000m high peaks, I setup my tent and made a fire. What an experience!! I’ve attached picture of my campsite.

Camping at Kalpa overlooking three peaks over 6000m high

So the next day I hoped to get a permit, but apparently I’m not allowed to go through alone and there was no group coming through which I could join, so I decided to scrap that idea and I started heading for Manali. Again I was delayed due to a collapsed bridge so only the following day I reacedh Manali, but at least I had time to spare. On my way to Manali I travelled over Jarori pass which was where I saw my first snow and then down through Shoja, which is a most enchanting village. In Manali I learnt that Rothung pass was open and was quite disappointed since if I had travelled that direction from the beginning, I may have gotten a lot further.

Impressive Engineering making for great riding

In any case I stayed 2 days in Manali and on the second day I decided to go up Rothung pass. The only problem was the bike’s kickstart didn’t work on that morning, but I decided to continue in any case, push starting the bike, since in the mountains there’s always a downhill. The pass was very tough riding and I fell on the bike when I encountered some ice! I wasn’t hurt, but it was quite a fall and a shock to my system, warning me to be careful. So the ride up was quite challenging itself, but the site and the value of reaching the summit was enthralling and absolutely worth it! The next day I started back to Delhi and arrived there 2 days later.

I believe the bike trip really built my character and being on my own made me realize how comfortable and easy life is here in our beautiful city of Hermanus, so I learnt much and can’t wait to go back for another Himalayan adventure. Next trip I plan to meet many churches up there and make many new friends. And of course reach the town of Leh!

THE ORPHANAGE IN RAJASTHAN
After a couple days recovery in Delhi, I left on the bike south to Kota to join Global Challenge at an orphanage. I travelled 470kms that day from 6am to 8pm and boy was it a long ride. I took the wrong turn and ended up going on all the country roads, which have massive pothills/craters and seemingly someone didn’t think they were bad enough so they decided to put camouflaged speed bumps in the most arb areas. I’ll never complain about South African speed bumps again! But I did reach my destination, even though I had to use the headtorch at night since the bike’s headlight was out. Fortunately in India, road rules are the pirate code. They’re more like guidelines and even a cop laughed at me when he saw this foreigner with a tiny headlamp hoping to survive the ride.

The boys from the orphanage

In Kota I helped paint a church and got to preach in that same church which was an honour. The orphans and there stories were incredible too and that in itself was an unforgettable experience, with certainly a different flavour from the lonely bike trip north! But as the time at the orphanage came to a close so did my time in India for 2010 and after sorting out my passport and exit visa I arrived back in Hermanus on Christmas eve, with many golden memories.

Thanks for reading this post. As a Christian, there were many things which stirred my heart and I believe changed false perceptions in my life, calling me to more, and so I wish to say thank you to God for making this trip possible.

Regards – Steve.

P.S. For more pictures to go the facebook album

Front page of Mulligans Guest Lodge Hermanus

The Mulligans Guest Lodge website is an upgrade from their previous website. One of the main aims of this new website was to show that this establishment is on the Hermanus Golf Course and therefore target golfers on holiday as well as to usual holiday maker. So to convey the point we used large rotating images on the front which clearly give you an indication of it’s positioning, but also orientated the website largely around the theme of golf (since of course the Lodges major attraction is the Golf course right on it’s door step). By doing this we could use a vibrant green, which allows this website to stand out quite nicely.

View of the Hermanus golf course page

Gallery page on Mulligans Guest Lodge

Wine and Company, Hermanus, South Africa

Wine and Company is a specialized wine boutique that supplies some of the finest wines, gifts and accessories and provides worldwide wine delivery. It is manages by the owner and offers free wine tastings on select wines daily.

Studio137 was contracted to design a website and the result was www.wineandcompany.co.za. The website has many great and noticeable features:

• A quick links drop down list that lets you select the wine and jump to that selection
• A great selection of the wines on offer just one click away
• An ordering system to order your wines, with world wide delivery
• The latest special with a link that takes you directly to the wine

Wine and Company, Wine selection page

Wine and Company, Full wine details page

Live the Life Church

Live the Life is a church based in Hermanus, in the Western Cape, who live out their passionate love for God, their unconditional love for one another, and their unrelenting love for their community and the communities of the world. The church is vibrant and diverse, with many of its members busy in their community. So Live the Life church needed a website that would be able to provide information to those who had visited the church or were looking in, provide a platform where the church’s resources could be accessed and downloaded, as well as have hub where members can view news and events and stay up to do with what is happening in their Mercy Ministries, Nations Missions, as well as their Youth Groups.
After Studio 137 was contracted to do the website for Live the Life Church, www.livethelife.org.za came about, which includes a number of noticeable features:

• An administration panel that allows the staff at Live the Life to easily:
  • add and update news and events
  • add and update photo’s
  • add and update rosters and schedules
• A portal where audio and video resources can easily be accessed and downloaded
• A front page that allows a variety of important media and information to be displayed at once ie the latest sermon, calendar, regular happenings, weekly and upcoming events etc.
• A full calendar view for viewing all events within that month

Live the Life Church - Full calendar view

Live the Life Church - Media Downloads page

Usik Construction - Home Page

USIK Construction (Pty)Ltd. founded in 1995 are a company that is at the forefront of construction in the Hermanus area having worked on constructions such as the Marine Apartments. USIK Construction strives to make sure, that all the facets of business are implemented, to ensure that their clients are kept first, and a good quality product is delivered, at a fair price.

Studio137 designed the website www.usikconstruction.com to fit the feel of an online portfolio. The angular and squared style of the images and buttons on the website as well as the squared sides with the writing done over a background layer of concrete helps to enforce a carefully designed and structured feel. The images on the home page are displayed using flash and show off some of the great construction works of the company.

The buttons are designed to look and work like folders/dividers which fit the portfolio feel of the USIK Construction website. The website is easy to use and contains drop down links  to provide more of the information you want to know about the company. The contact information is well placed and stands out easily for anyone who wants to know more.

Usik Construction - Services page

Usik Construction - Work History page

Hansie Oosthuizen Photography

Hansie Oosthuizen is a decorated photographer that lives with his wife in Onrusrivier, Hermanus. Having being introduced to photography at a young age, and continuing with his passion for photography throughout his school and student career, it was no wonder that Hansie became the talented photographer that he is today. Hansie’s love and passion for photography means he has opened up his services to capture beauty and special moments for clients, ranging from wedding photo’s to commerial photo’s and images.
Hansie contracted Studio 137 to develop a website for him that would be able to capture and showcase his portfolio of the work that he had already done for clients, but also showcase his personal work which had stemmed out of his passion for capturing beauty. The result, www.hansiephoto.co.za, has many notceable features:

• A dynamic interface that arranges his portfolio neatly and is easily navigated
• A platform where Hansie’s portfolio is displayed in a structured, yet aesthetic manner
• An Administration Panel which allows Hansie to upload his photographs with minimum hassle
• A platform where clients can view, order and purchase photo’s from the website
• Workshop news and updates

Hansie Oosthuizen Photography - Gallery view

Hansie Oosthuizen Photography - Your Wedding Gallery

Hansie Oosthuizen Photography - Enlarged image view

African Tribes Guest Lodge, home page

African Tribes is a luxurious guest lodge situated in the heart of Johannesburg, created by its owners to be an upmarket African experience, located centrally for main tourist attractions as well as the main business centres of the area. The owner of the lodge contacted Studio 137 to develop a website for them that would showcase and market their accommodation and facilities to potential clients. The outcome was www.africantribes.co.za. The website hosts some of the following noticeable features:

• An entirely unique design that captures the theme of the guest lodge
• Large visually stimulating flash images incorporated as the main design feature
• Each page is designed to incorporate both images and information in a visually stimulating manner
• Directions and Local Information

African Tribes Guest Lodge, accommodation page

Western Cape Birding, South Africa, home page

Western Cape Birding is an organisation that purposes to develop a network of birding routes for the Western Cape, in the areas of the West Coast, the Overberg, the Winelands, the Garden Route and Little Karoo (Eden), the Cape Peninsula, and the Great Karoo.

The critical aim of Western Cape Birding is to contribute towards the consolidation of the conservation status of Important Bird Areas (IBA’s) along each birding route, by increasing its visibility within the public and general tourist domain.

Western Cape Birding, Tour operator page

To help Western Cape Birding achieve its objectives, Studio 137 was contracted to develop the now finished website, www.westerncapebirding.co.za. The result was a website that has the following noticeable features:

• Easy to navigate and access each Birding Route and the information pertaining to it
• Many many resources and articles with information pertaining to each Birding Route
• Aesthetic feel; each Birding Route page has its own theme
• News and events that pertain to each individual Birding Route
• A dynamic hub, where visitors can either view information, resources and news regarding the Western Cape Birding Route as a whole, or choose to branch out to a specific Birding Route

Flamingo Birding route theme, Western Cape Birding

Overberg birding route theme, Western Cape Birding

Karoo birding route theme, Western Cape Birding

Gallery image view, Western Cape Birding

Named after John Piper’s best-known book, “Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist”, Desiring God is home to the ministry of John Piper.  The website offers guests a host of resources, from recent sermons preached by Dr. Piper to those preached as far back as 1980, conference messages, articles, online books, poems, biographies and more.  Including these, Desiring God has also seeks to sell Dr. Piper’s books at far below retail price, operate a church-based Christian bookstore, coordinate an annual pastors’ conference, as well as oversee John Piper’s administrative needs.  The greatest aspect of Desiring God is their conviction not to let money be a hindrance to the gospel going out, so the ministry offers most of its resources on a “whatever-you-can-afford-basis”.  All of Dr. Piper’s preaches etc are downloadable free of charge, but if you would like to obtain a resource like one of John’s books and you are limited by cash flow, you are allowed to contact them to let them know what you would like and they are happy to fill your request (although they do ask that orders are kept to under $25).  Choose a preach to download, see what John Piper is up to on Twitter, browse articles that he and his team have posted, or check out some of the awesome poetry Dr. Piper has written, all at www.desiringgod.org.