Cape Town hotel represents Africa at global travel awards

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Awarded Africas Leading City Hotel for the second consecutive year by the 21st World Travel Awards,Pepperclub Hotel & Spa, a five star Cape Town city hotel, once again had the privilege of representing Africa alongside some of the worlds leading hotels at the World Travel Awards Grand Final Gala Ceremony, held at CuisinArt Golf Resort & Spa in Anguilla on the 7 December 2014.

Now in its 21st year, the annual World Travel Awards were established to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry and has become known as the Oscars of the Travel Industry globally.

Pepperclub Hotel & Spa was nominated for the global accolade alongside renowned hotels such as Belmond Miraflores Park in Peru, Grand Millennium Al Wahda in Abu Dhabi, The Ritz Paris in Paris, Swissotel Krasnye Holmy in Moscow and The Dorchester in England.

While the title was awarded to Intercontinental Bangkok in Thailand, Nick Seewer, CEO of Pepperclub Hotel & Spa says it is a great privilege for the hotel to be honoured alongside such established brands having only opened the hotels doors in 2010. We will continue to strive for excellence and look forward to once again competing next year for the global title.

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Cape Town hotel represents Africa at global travel awards

Unique VW camper van sells for 67,500

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By a stroke of fortune at least for all VW enthusiasts the SGP 62 appeares to have been kept in storage in the West country for 30 years, where it remained in good condition before being discovered in 1992. It has since being lovingly restored to the original specifications, with a new 'Devon interior modelled on its original 1950s period design.

Nick Whale, of Silverstone auctions, which sold the SGP 62, said: This is a beautiful and rare samba- Microbus, and it is historically important in terms of VWs legacy in the UK. These vehicles are hugely popular."

Peter Colborne-Barber, 71, who took over his fathers dealership until he sold it in 2001, remembers the enthusiasm with which his father greeted new models such as the SGP 62.

This particular model had front opening windows, which were traditionally made for warmer climes, so goodness knows how it ended up in Britain, he said. Its a lovely example of a VW camper van and looks even better following its restoration.

It was Mr Colborne-Barber Snr who set up the first dealership in Britain to specialising in VW cars when, in 1949, he bought one of the first VW Beetles to be manufactured in Germany under the reconstruction programme supervised by the Allied forces at the end of the war.

The 1947 Beetle had been brought across by former Army officer George LaHaye who part exchanged it with Mr Colborne-Barber Snr for a Wolseley 6/80.

Mr Colborne-Barber Snrs son bought the car back into family ownership in the 1980s when, by chance, its then owner drove it onto his garage forecourt for repairs.

It then remained at the family dealership even after it changed owners, as a historic memento of VWs origins in Britain.

My father loved that car, said Mr Colborne-Barber Jnr. They were robust and reliable and could take you to Scotland without any problems. He knew straight away they would be popular with the British motoring public. And they obviously still are."

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Unique VW camper van sells for 67,500

SPACE STATION SIM #6 [HD+] – Keine Supplies [ENDE] – Let’s Play Space Station Sim – Video

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SPACE STATION SIM #6 [HD+] - Keine Supplies [ENDE] - Let #39;s Play Space Station Sim
SURPRISES erlaubt dir http://enorion.de/?p=1186 Forum: http://forum.enorion.de Alle Folgen Space Station Sim: http://goo.gl/ZOeT1C Untersttze mich auf...

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SPACE STATION SIM #6 [HD+] - Keine Supplies [ENDE] - Let's Play Space Station Sim - Video

Space station "cable guys" venture out for spacewalk

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One of two spacewalking astronauts can be seen floating upside down at the center of this view showing the forward end of the International Space Station. The astronauts installed power and data cables to support new docking mechanisms that will be used by commercial crew capsules starting in 2017. NASA TV

Last Updated Feb 21, 2015 3:20 PM EST

Astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Terry Virts floated outside the International Space Station Saturday and installed wiring needed for two new docking mechanisms that will be attached later this year for use by new Boeing and SpaceX crew capsules.

The Boeing-built International Docking Adapters, or IDAs, will allow the commercially developed ferry craft to dock at the front and top of the forward Harmony module starting in 2017. Two other ports on the Earth-facing side of the station will be available for use by U.S. cargo ships.

Floating in the station's Quest airlock module, Wilmore and Virts switched their spacesuits to battery power at 7:45 a.m. EST (GMT-5) to officially begin EVA-29, the 185th spacewalk devoted to station assembly and maintenance since construction began in 1998.

This was the first of three spacewalks by Wilmore and Virts to install more than 760 feet of cabling and to attach new antennas to prepare the space station for eventual dockings by commercial crew capsules. The two additional spacewalks are planned for Wednesday and March 1.

During Saturday's excursion, the spacewalkers spent most of their time working at the front of the station at the forward end of the Harmony module where a docking port extension known as Pressurized Mating Adapter No. 2 is attached. PMA-2 is where visiting space shuttles once docked and where one of the new IDAs will be attached later this year.

After removing micrometeoroid shields from the forward end cone of Harmony, Wilmore and Virts unplugged no-longer-needed cables and installed new power and data lines to support IDA-1. All in all, Wilmore and Virts deployed about 340 feet of cable.

The astronauts also disconnected four cables from the end cone of the Destiny laboratory module that were once used to deliver power to docked space shuttles. New cables will be plugged in later to support the new docking adapters.

With all of their primary objectives completed, Wilmore and Virts returned to the airlock, ending the spacewalk at 2:26 p.m. for a duration of six hours and 41 minutes.

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Space station "cable guys" venture out for spacewalk

Spacewalkers Get Station Ready for New U.S. Spaceships

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Spacewalking astronauts routed more than 300 feet of cable outside the International Space Station on Saturday to prepare for the arrival of new American-made crew capsules. It was the first of three spacewalks planned for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Terry Virts over the coming week.

Altogether, Wilmore and Virts have 764 feet (233 meters) of cable to run outside the space station. They got off to a strong start Saturday, rigging eight power and data lines, or about 340 feet (105 meters). The longest single stretch was 43 feet (13 meters). "Broadening my resume," Virts observed.

NASA considers this the most complicated cable-routing job in the 16-year history of the space station. Equally difficult will be running cable on the inside of the complex.

The extensive rewiring is needed to prepare for NASA's next phase in spaceflight: the 2017 arrival of the first commercial spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to the orbiting lab. NASA is paying the Boeing Co. and SpaceX to build the capsules and fly them from Cape Canaveral, Florida, which hasn't seen a manned launch since the shuttles retired in 2011. Instead, Russia is doing all the taxi work for upwards of $70 million a seat.

The first of two docking ports for the Boeing and SpaceX vessels still under development is due to arrive in June. Even more spacewalks will be needed to set everything up.

Spacesuit concerns stalled the work by a day. NASA wanted to make certain that the suits worn by Wilmore and Virts had reliable fan and pump assemblies. Two other fan-pump units failed aboard the space station in recent months and were returned to Earth earlier this month for analysis. Corrosion was discovered, the result of water intrusion from testing. The spacewalkers' suits seemed to work fine Saturday.

First published February 21 2015, 8:23 AM

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Spacewalkers Get Station Ready for New U.S. Spaceships