A New Day

It was an early walk on the beach this morning while it was quiet and I was able to take some sunrise shots. The morning was overcast but still hot. It was a lazy day and we lay at the pool and ate lunch at the poolside restaurant.

The big news of the day is that I have been appointed as the new Grade 1 teacher for this year. I am thrilled about this as I have been wanting to get back into the classroom. Teaching is a passon of mine and I feel like I have just come home!

I leave you with some history and facts about Umhlanga from Wikipedia if you are interested:

Umhlanga is a residential, commercial and resort town north of Durban on the coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, created in 2000, which includes the greater Durban area. Commonly and erroneously pronounced Umshlanga (the correct pronunciation, of "hl" in Umhlanga is similar to the Welsh "ll"), the name means "place of reeds" in isiZulu.

Umhlanga is named after the Ohlanga River, which reaches the Indian Ocean three kilometres north of the town.

The Oyster Box, a luxury hotel since the 1930s, was originally built as a beach cottage in 1869, before the town had even been founded.

In 1895, Sir Marshall Campbell founded Umhlanga. The town's first hotel was established in 1920, followed by a shop, a lighthouse, the Natal Anti Shark Measures Board (today called the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board) and further hotel developments.

Umhlanga Rocks has many luxury hotels and apartments right on the beach, including the Cabana Beach Hotel (where we are staying), the Beverly Hills Hotel (which was the Sun King Sol Kerzner's first hotel, the Oyster Box Hotel, the Umhlanga Sands Hotel and Pearls of Umhlanga apartments. Many of these have views of the landmark lighthouse.

* I think one of my photography goals for this week will be this landmark lighthouse. As soon as I am happy with an image I will Blip it.





"The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery." ~ Mark van Doren.




My Joy Today:
~ An early morning phone call from the principal announcing my appointment.
~ The thrill of knowing I have 18 little people to teach how to read and write.
~ Being on the beach in the early morning. (5:30am)
~ watching a troop of monkeys playing on the roof of the hotel, especially the babies.



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