Lifes a Beach mag

Did you know that you can find ANYTHING you want or need in the Kwazulu Natal South Coast at any time of the day or or night by calling up www.thebeachcomber.co.za  Need a holiday – All the resorts are there, want to go out for a delicious dinner, All the restaurants are there, if your dog is looking scruffy, we have a FULL list of dog parlours.

This service is FREE to all residents or visitors on the South Coast. Use it.  It will change your life!

Word of mouth is just that – “one word to one ear”. The Beachcomber is one one word to the WHOLE WORLD.  Don’t wait to meet a friend to find out whatever you need to know. Find it in the Beachcomber.

In early December the Beachcomber booklet is hitting the streets everywhere from Scottburgh to Port Edward.  It will be a brightly coloured A5 booklet. It will be available at every information centre, there will be a copy in every room in every hotel or guesthouse or B & B worthy of the name, it will be in a supermarket in your area.  It will contain Beautiful maps of every major area in the South Coast.  It will be available ALL YEAR ROUND and it’s FREE.   When did you last hear that word

By the way, It’s not too late to get an ad for your business in this invaluable directory.  Our marketers are extremely busy trying to see as many businesses in the area as we can to offer them this amazing opportunity but it’s difficult for us to get to all of you in the time that’s left before publication.  Don’t wait for us to phone you for an appointment.  Call us or E-mail us NOW.  Don’t miss the boat.  If you do miss the boat we can still put an ad on the website for you but you will have to wait a YEAR till December 2009 to get an ad in the next printed directory.

Contact Hugo or Salome on

039 681 3673  or 082 781 5103 or 076 535 0874, or E-mail hugo@thebeachcomber .co.za

Every day I hear the same comments: “Advertising doesn’t work” I spend a fortune on newspaper advertising, directories, pamphlets, magazine articles and I get minimal results”. “My advertising budget is all used up for the year” I’ve heard them all!

What’s the answer? – Simple – Place your advertising budget where it will give you constant exposure, to the right market with an affordable advertising cost.

The “machine gun approach” ( I call it) doesn’t work. Stop throwing money at the problem.

The Beachcomber Directory – go & look at it Now!! at www.the beachcomber.co.za

Cost R550.00 PER YEAR ONE-OFF COST

BENEFITS

Website advertisement for a year. Printed advertisement for a year in an attractively presented annual directory that will be distributed monthly, will be in every information centre, all rooms in major hotels and guest houses, supermarkets, sports shops, recreation venues. You name it! It will be everywhere! all year round. Plus! Plus! a link from your Beachcomber advert directly to your website.

If you don’t have a website join our Marketing Club & learn to create your own website in your own time, at your own pace and swop your experiences and get invaluable advice from fellow website builders in our online forum.

It’s fun!, its educational It will give you invaluable knowledge about how to make your website work for You and your business.

Just go to www.rapidwebsite.co.za and all will be revealed.

I pass the Mzimkulu river every day and have a passing look to see how many fishermen are on the river that day as I am a keen on fishing and like to know what’s cooking there.

What I didn’t know is that this river that we are all aware of and sometimes lake for granted is in serious danger. I was told that although the upper reaches of the river are beautifully clear and unpolluted that as you progress down the river towards the mouth that it becomes more and more polluted and that the water quality is deteriorating fast. A meeting was held yesterday to discuss the matter and various steps are being undertaken by interested parties to fix the problem

The river has a fascinating history. Mzimkulu (The native name means “Great Home of All Rivers”)

Marble was discovered near the river mouth in 1867. In 1879 Wiliam Bazley (one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts) blasted away rock to form the breakwater.

The region’s growth arose largely out of the activity of local sugar, tea and coffee farmers. The farmers needed to transport their produce to the sea and as a result a port was developed inside the river mouth and a railway line was built to transport the produce some two kilometres to the sea.

Ships were wrecked regularly at the harbour entrance before the railway line was built and sank right there, blocking the harbour entrance.

From 1882 onwards settlers from Norway, Britain and Germany could buy plots suitable for farming for the princely sum of 7shillings and 6 pence an acre. Can you believe it?

Construction on the harbour mouth began in the 1880’s. The sea wall and South Wharf were bigger than Durban’s harbour at that time. Durban’s harbour facilities consisted of wooden landing stages only. The Port Natal railway line reached Port Shepstone in 1901. After the construction of this railway link the harbour fell into disuse and became progressively silted up.

That’s the background. Now it starts to get interesting. Anyone with half a mind will realise and has realised long ago the fantastic potential this river and it’s surroundings has for the futureeoh thew region. There are many and varied tourism and adventure companies offering a fascinating variety of things to do in and around the river. For example there are some original Rock art paintings from the San people to look at.

If you think of what Knysna, for instance has done with its waterfront the mind just boggles at the opportunities offered. The key principle to keep in mind is that conservation of the river and it’s surrounds must go hand in hand with development. It’s no good building a marina, shops and entertainment complex around a river and harbour mouth that is being progressively polluted.

Never fear! Spiller’s Wharf, together with the South Coast herald and various other interested parties have conceived a fantastic plan to Save The River. It involves an intensive survey of the river starting in its upper reaches and working its way down over a series of trips where experts in their fields (one hopes) will investigate what can be done to improve the quality of the water, remove alien vegetation and engage with local communities and business and property owners to progressively improve the situation.

The approach is to attack the problem by undertaking trips down the river on a regular basis which will have a substantial element of adventure and fun, which in turn will provide fascinating anecdotal copy for the media and the public to read and hopefully , act on as well. Potential sponsors will be approached for support. Its a “win,win” all round.

Up The River!!

Regards to all

It’s all happening on the South Coast! Did you knowthat Margate is 100 years old this year? What’s happened to all the press coverage? Where is our famous local Council regarding this momentous anniversary? Where are the events organisers?. Why haven’t we the public and our valued visitors been told about celebration events for this milestone? We at Life’s A Beach will definitely be getting on the phone to ask these questions! Come on Guys! Spring is officially here and we need to get organised. The Bumper Holiday edition of Life’s A Beach is being put together right now and its going to be the best issue ever!

We need articles from sundry South Coasters which we will publish FREE of charge in the magazine. Just E-mail us your

contribution at ads@lifesabeachmag.co.za  The Beachcomber Directory will be hitting the streets on 1st December 2008. Grab your copy as soon as it comes out as this will be your complete guide on everything you need, where to go, and what to do in the South Coast! Maps like you’ve never seen before in this area, Clubs and Associations and ALL BUSINESSES WILL BE LISTED FREE! Make sure your business is listed! Check on this at www.thebeachcomber.co.za & phone us if it’s not there.

HOT PRESS ITEM!! The Rapid Website Online Marketing Club is now up and running and people just like yourself are building their own websites, learning all about website building, and taking part in forum discussion on all aspects of web design on our

online forum. If you go to www.rapidwebsite.co.za you can find out about all this.

That’s enough for now. Happy Spring and Holiday season; and remember LIFE’S A BEACH.