Guests from Europe

David from France and Romijn from Netherlands who are in South Africa on a work contract - Romijn is with Barclays Bank and seconded to Absa - visited us in Durban for a break from the pressures of the corporate world.

Enjoy your stay in South Africa guys.

Weekend at the Guesthouse

Hey it's weekend at the Guesthouse and we're having loads of fun.

In the photos enjoying a drink around the Guesthouse Pub are co-owner Llewellyn, and Johannesburg guests Paul and Peter and Brett. Lance and David also from Johannesburg came down to celebrate David's birthday - 3 virgos in the house tonight and two of us share the same birthdate even!!

After many drinks the rooftop jacuzzi was the place to be and in the 3rd photo it's shooters all round as we sing Happy Birthday to David.

Birthday and Building

Dave's Birthday was largely spent this year supervising the builders making the alterations to the Guesthouse for the patio deck.

Llewellyn took the day off work too and raced around with Dave taking cake to the office, fetching artwork Dave put together for the office renovations as well as onsite meeetings with the builder, the steel guy, the electrician and engineer.

There was time to fit in a Long Island Iced Tea made famous in Durban by Billy the Bums and roast a Beef roll to take to Hillcrest to enjoy with mom, Lynn and the kids along with Llewellyn's fine cake he baked for Dave.

New deck for Pool and Rainbow room

Dust and disruption are the order of the day as we quickly break through walls and add a 1st floor sundeck over the pool area at the Guesthouse.

Thankfully we have timed the contractors to all finish by the end of next week by which time the Pool Room and the Rainbow room will have a sundowners and smoking deck off their rooms, and underneath we will have a new entertainment patio off the Pub in time for the Mr Gay South Africa KZN Regional Finals which will take place at the Guesthouse on Sat 12th September.

Bookings for the event as well as the Guesthouse can be made online at Book Now by clicking on the link here.

From Around the World

Welcoming Guests from around the world is Llewellyn, Guesthouse co-owner, (2nd from right), with from left to right Wayne (Johannesburg), Leonardo (Columbia), Lawrence (Belfast) and Deon (Cape Town).

Leonardo is our 3rd guest in as many months from South America and is joining 3000 international delegates for a Statistics Conference at the ICC.

Welcome from Brasilia

A vet from Brasilia, the administrative capital of Brazil, welcome Marcello, here at the Guesthouse and in Durban for a Conference at the International Convention Centre (ICC). This is our first guest from Brazil.

It is always great to hear about destinations we ourselves have not visited and Marcello has had some interesting tales about his city and travel around South America to share with us.

2010 World Cup Football: Durban's Stadium

Durban's 2010 World Cup Football Stadium, the Moses Mabhida Stadium, is well on its way to completion later this year.

In the last photo above, the stadium can be seen from our Guesthouse sundeck and we have watched its progress over the past number of months. The roof structure is presently being completed and the seating is in the process of being installed.

A funicular railway will take tourists up the one side of the impressive arch that towers 30 stories over the adjacent beachfront area, while others more energetic will be able to walk up the stairs on the other side of the arch.

Llewellyn and I took a jog around the Stadium the other day and could see the hive of activity which now goes through into the night to ensure completion well in advance of the World Cup Foorball event next year.

Durban is likely to be one of the venues for a semi-final as well as pre-event training and some of the matches.

Melanie sings at the Guesthouse

What a fabulous weekend we had at the Guesthouse. Idols famous Melanie Lowe (top, 3rd and 6th photo) had her official coming out show called "Living the Truth" which kicked off with 2 shows at the Guesthouse. From Durban she tours the country taking with her her message of hope to all gay people of South Africa.. as she chronicals her journey and decision to come out.

Melanie became engaged earlier this year to Angela and they will be married in Elgin (Cape) on the 21st March next year.

In the top photo are Melanie and her multi-talented musician Ilse, the third photo Guesthouse co-owner Llewellyn with Melanie and partner Dave, 4th photo guests at the Show, 5th photo our new Barman Jarrod (centre) with Llewellyn and Dave, and in the bottom photo Melanie, Ilse and on keyboard Mark.

Look out for more of Melanie's performances around South Africa.

Shannon Hope opens Show

Shannon Hope opened the Show at the Guesthouse this Friday. It was part of Melanie Lowe's "Living the Truth" Coming out Tour which kicked off in Durban this weekend.

In the photos at the Friday performance are: (top) Shannon Hope, (second photo) Bernie and Armand, (3rd photo) Ek and Greg, and bottom photo Guesthouse co-owners Dave (left) and Llewellyn (right) with Anthony (centre).