Newsletter Second Quarter 2013 - U3A South Africa

OUT
&
ABOUT
UPCOMING SOCIAL LUNCH
Our first Social Lunch for 2014 is booked for Wednesday,
12 February, at Olive 'n Twist, Stepping Stones Village,
283 Honeydew West Road, North Riding. It is a lovely
open-air restaurant offering continental cuisine and they also
offer 25% discount on all food and drinks. Reservations are
necessary so please contact Sheila on 0720998922 or e-mail
sheilavdb@mweb.co.za BEFORE Saturday, 8 February.
Look forward to seeing you there at noon.
Sterkfontein Caves
6 November 2013.
After a light lunch the group went
on a guided tour through the
museum and then into the cool
depths of the caves. The
photographers in the group had a
field day capturing the stalagmites
and stalagtites. Outside in the heat
again we walked around the Caves
on the beautiful pathways, to take
The End of the Year Gathering
5 November 2013.
Members gathered for a light
lunch which was served
accompanied by the music of
Terry van Zyl. The Art Group had
an exhibition of their work and Bill
Reynard, the U3A Joburg North
Chairman gave a lively and
entertaining talk in the auditorium.
From left to right:
Marleen Rood, Bill de Swardt,
Peter Mason, Morag Flaming,
Celia Human.
photos of the surroundings, and back to the Exhibition Centre
for a wonderful refreshing COLD drink and water. We all left
tired but with a promise to re-visit for more photos.
Lunch at Mike’s Kitchen
13 November 2013.
This lunch was well attended and a good time was had by all.
The food and venue were great as usual. When the dancing
began, the ‘electric slide’ was a hit, with some of the waiters
and waitresses joining in.
Visit to Maropeng
11 November 2013.
Maropeng which
means 'place where
we come from', is the
official Visitor Centre
of the Cradle of
Humankind.
It was a cloudy day,
but did not matter as
the whole exhibition is
underground. The tour
started with a trip down the river through the ice age and
volcanic eruptions.
Most of the exhibits in the main hall are participative with
emphasis on the evolution of man – from models of our
ancestors with gnashing dentures and snapping incisors.
The trip was crowned by an exhibition of actual fossils. We saw
the bones of therapsids and dicynodonts which, according to
the evolution theory, eventually evolved into mammals and us.
We finished the tour with a wonderful lunch in the restaurant
and left well-nourished and even better friends.
Photography Group
Outing to Gold Reef City
On Wednesday 9th October, four members of our U3A
photographic group paid a visit to the Gold Reef City Theme
Park, which provided, much to our pleasant surprise, an
unexpected selection of diverse photographic opportunities.
From left to right:
Marleen Rood,
Pierre de Klerk
and
Morag Flaming.
While the “Old” GRC exhibits are still there, the venue has
been extended to provide shady trees, water features,
examples of vintage machinery and a large selection of fun
rides – which were enjoyed by young and old alike.
These rides provided wonderful “human interest” subjects as
we photographed the participants' faces and body language,
which covered the whole gamut from enjoyment to sheer
terror. The antics of a very dexterous street performer also
added to our subject matter.
The park is spacious, well maintained and clean and although
there were busloads of school children present, it never felt
overcrowded. An interesting venue with good photographic
“buzz”.
Zoo Outing
On 18th September four of our photographic group stalwarts
spent an enjoyable morning at the Johannesburg Zoo for a
“pictorial” photo shoot.
The zoo is not usually associated with wildlife photography,
which indeed was not the aim of the participants. The venue
does however offer many interesting photo opportunities for
us to develop our compositional and artistic skills, especially
in the field of close-up and Macro photography.
The result of our outing was
highly rewarding, so much so,
that one member, Celia
Human, received an award at
the Randburg Photographic
Club monthly meeting for her
close-up crocodile image
taken at the zoo, called ‘Croc
Power’.
Pierre de Klerk also won
an award with his
‘Sylvan Stream’ in the Slow
Shutter category.
As photographers, we are
always looking to produce
that illusive “WOW” image,
irrespective of the venue
where the photo was taken
and the zoo offers a legitimate range of subjects where artistic
freedom can be exercised.
While small in number, all participants agreed that the
morning was both enjoyable and successful.
2