WhaleTales Tourism, Food, and Wine news headlines: 12 June

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WhaleTalesTourism, Food, and Wine news headlines

*  Google does not only have a Google Doodle in honour of the 2014 World Cup, but it also has a YouTube video in honour of the kick-off date of the soccer tournament in Brazil today.

*   Load shedding appears to be rearing its ugly head again, with freezing conditions throughout the country this week, with snowfalls spread between the Helderberg in Somerset West to the Drakensberg in KwaZulu-Natal.  Last night a sms warned of load-shedding in Hermanus, Gansbaai, and Stanford, 15 minutes before it was due to commence at 20h00, but its commencement was delayed later into the evening.   The City of Cape Town has posted possible scheduled times for load-shedding, but seems confident that it will not happen any time soon.  Camps Bay is not marked as a load-shedding area, nor is the airport understandably, and the townships and residential areas to the east of the airport also appear load-shedding-free!

*   The Two Oceans Aquarium in the V&A Waterfront is adding a multi-million Rand development in the previous parking area between the Aquarium and the One&Only Cape Town, with 1,5 million litres of seawater and will be 6 meters deep.  There will be a 10 meter tunnel too.  The development will be ready to celebrate its 21 st anniversary in 2016.  It is also upgrading its predator exhibit into a shark display with different shark species.

*   A massive protest yesterday by taxi drivers in London (10000 taxis) as well as in other major cities in Europe caused traffic chaos, against the Uber taxi service, which is cheaper than conventional taxis.  The traffic authority in London is deciding whether to ban Uber in London, due to its threat to the conventional taxi industry.  Onemetered taxi driver interviewed said that his turnover has reduced by 20% already.  Uber is backed by Google and Goldman Sachs, and is a cashless payment system by charging a credit card linked to the Uber App.   As a result of the international protests, Uber has announced a lower cost service in Cape Town called UberX, from today.  In a media release received from Uber, they are offering a free Uber service in Cape Town over the long weekend, commencing today until the end of Monday 16 June.  Uber says that its rates are so affordable that it could replace one’s own private car.
*   Winemaker Ken Forrester will host a winetasting dinner on Father’s Day at Humboldt Restaurant in Denver, Colorado, the five course dinner served to be paired with his wines.
*   Reuben Robertsons Riffel will be the Brand Ambassador for Fairtrade Label South Africa, and will participate in its ‘Fairtrade Coffee and Chocolate Week’ from 14 – 20 July.  Fairtrade is running a dreadful radio campaign, implying that it is making a difference in having put an end to child labour on local farms!
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Porfolio:  www.whalecottage.com   Twitter: @WhaleCottage
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