GEORGE NEWS - The University of the Third Age’s (U3A) May programme opens on Wednesday the 15th with Armchair Travel, in which Estelle Frohling presents ‘Panoramic Peru in South America’.
This second part of Frohling’s amazing hiking tour starts after a flight to Cusco in the Peruvian Andes. They travelled mostly by minibus or hiking on ancient paths at high altitudes and low temperatures.
They explored the astonishing Inca ruins and heard their ancient language and music, and saw their lively traditional dances in colourful, traditional attire.
In the Friday lecture on 22 May, Dave Howcroft will present ‘Vredefort’s Structures - The Unclothed Emperors’. At 284km in diameter, the Vredefort meteorite structure in South Africa, with its central rebound, the Vredefort Dome, is generally accepted to be the largest known impact site on Earth.
Over the past 100 years, its formation is still regarded as a mystery, with numerous hypotheses being advanced to explain what happened and how it relates to other geological sites of interest, such as the Great Dyke in Zimbabwe, the Witwatersrand Goldfields and the relatively adjacent kimberlite diamond pipes.
Howcroft has a 65-year interest in the Vredefort impact structure, and this presentation will review the background to this fascinating geological phenomenon and discuss his carefully researched theories on the correct age of the structure, which enables it to be linked to some of the Earth’s richest mineral deposits in this part of Africa.
Sailing in one of Hitler's secret weapons
In the general meeting on Wednesday 27 May, Dave Jones will talk about sailing in one of Hitler’s secret weapons. When WWII came to an end, the occupying British forces had much bomb damage to contend with, especially around the German Naval Base at Kiel.
But they were astonished to find hidden, in perfect working order, in forgotten creeks and even in barns under haystacks in Kriel, many of the superb racing yachts that Hitler had used to clandestinely train his navy before this was allowed.
The British generals were delighted by this discovery, which was taken as prizes of war and called the “Windfall Yachts”.
Jones will explore the Windfall history, introduce the audience to the Sea Scamp, and give them some idea of how interesting but uncomfortable cruising in Ireland and France can be in a sleek, slim classic yacht designed for racing.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
