Latest photos on Picasa ....

A few of the latest photos are now on the web album
http://picasaweb.google.com/mattsgoode/PoloWayConstruction#

Nearly the final countdown

If I said that we were chomping at the bit to get into our house, that would
be a slight understatement. Things are progressing but time seems to be
dragging in epic proportions.

This will be our final visit to our soon to be home before we get the keys
at the end of February, hopefully. Leaving Jo'burg early and heading south
to Underberg is as always a breath of fresh air. Yes it is a long 8 hour
trek, at Mufasa's flank speed, but with the prospect of disappearance into
the empty spaces of the Berg the journey ticks by nicely. We seem to have
done the journey so many times now that we have a plan of where to stop,
where to feed Mufasa, and what time we will arrive in the village. With 4
nights camping at Cobham up in the mountains and then a week at Castleburn
resort, at least we had a roof over our heads and a base to work from.
Camping was great, place to ourselves, leaking tent cover. Yep our tent
cover is ready for the tip, hope to pick up a new one tomorrow. The tent was
a wee bit soggy inside on opening but thankfully at that point the sun was
shining and all was well again soon enough. It has been a bit soggy
recently. Thankfully this week we weren't camping, been chucking it down for
3 days!

Our aim to blend into village society took a step further this trip. Mufasa
is now officially a local and not a damned tourist. After several visits to
the extremely busy vehicle registration office, total in queue 2 including
us, we had the paperwork done and a new registration for Mufasa. It took
several trips not because of any real problems, but either 'the system is
down' or 'we have no electricity and the system is down' was the only order
of business the first 3 visits. On the 4th we were in business, well except
for the lady behind the desk refusing to do the work based on Sue's SA
passport as opposed to a SA ID Document. Sue has an ID number, as per her
passport, but no actual ID Document at the mo. After several confusing
conversations on the basis of 'if it can't be done then how is it already
registered', we got the paperwork done. Sigh of relief. He still sports his
old tags at the moment but the new NUD ...... plate will be on as soon as we
lay our hands on a new tax disc holder to put the expensive little disc of
paper on the windscreen. The new plates were obtained at the village tyre
place, ordered one day, ready the next. Been carrying them around for a
week!

Our real aim this trip, apart from seeing what is going on and sorting out a
few issues, was to reclaim the jungle back to some recognisable garden.
After several months of summer rain and sunshine the grass was at least knee
high in places and the weeds nearly shoulder high. Honest. Armed with our
new shiny lawn mower, fork, spade, trowel, and bush cutter, we set about it.
To say that we have sweated blood and tears over the last 2 weeks doesn't do
it justice. We couldn't bring ourselves to spend a large wedge on a petrol
strimmer so me my gloves and the swish of the bush cutter was the exercise
routine of choice. I look a bit like tennis' Nadal with my right arm twice
the size of the my left! Sue has been mighty busy with weeding and stealing
plants from next door. The guy who bought the 3rd part of the subdivision
has been clearing the site so Sue had a chance to relocate a shed load of
plants. It's a start for us and hopefully they will not die like our poor
relocated roses. She is well pleased with the acquired greenery. We will
leave with some good work done but the garden is by no means a show piece
for Chelsea yet. Oh, and when we get back in March it will be time to start
again.

Now, the house, as this is what it is all about. Getting there, as BR used
to claim. I guess we will now miss the real progress of the finishing off.
Paint, tiles, kitchen, bathroom etc. The build is just coming to the end of
the heavy work phase. Our few problems with windows and other things have
been corrected and all is on course. The guys have been digging the holes
for the septic tank and the drainage tanks for gutter water. You kind of get
an idea of how the pyramids were built when you see a couple of chaps dig an
almost perfectly round 7ft deep whole for the septic tank with a spade and
pic. The down side of all the digging for sewage pipes etc. has left the
place a tad muddy with the daily downpours. Dries out quickly but gets muddy
very quickly too. We chose paints before we came down and with samples
applied and approved painting started. Looks good in and out. The
electricians have started to wire up and hopefully by the end of next week
tiling will have started, final glazing will be done, and doors and kitchen
fitted. I guess the problem now comes as everything is in the finish and
with not being on site we can't control it. Oliver (Mr Builder) knows how we
want it and if it isn't done properly then it will have to be redone. A
pain, but unless we camp for the next 5 weeks that is the way it will be. We
might descend on the house again with a week or so to go to get to grips
with it.

As soon as possible some photos will get posted.

Roll on March!!

Merry Christmas ... is the house wrapped and ready?

So the year slowly comes to a close, but is the house coming any nearer to
completion. Progress made, but slow going with some very wet weather.

We had hoped that the house would be a sealed unit before the builders down
tools for the festive season. Sadly things have been going a bit slow after
some very wet weather earlier in the month. Outside and inside has been
plastered now, the windows and sliding doors are all in, so good news there.
The kitchen was meant to have been fitted in December but as the house is
not 100% sealed due to lack of doors this has not yet been done. It is
looking good though and with the builders due to re commence work a week
earlier than scheduled in January things might just get back on track as
they get on with some painting, doors fitted, and kitchen in.

We have got some slight concerns with a couple of things we have noticed
from the pictures we have been sent, but hopefully we can resolve those when
we head down there in the new year. Our collection of bits purchased has
increased with a basin mixer and shower mixer (many thanks to Michael!) to
go with the kitchen sink and mixer we had already acquired. Must remember to
pack it all in Mufasa when we head down!!

I have put up some of the latest pictures (see the link on the right) and
will add more as soon as possible in January. Other than checking on the
build progress we need to get the grass cut before we have our very own
safari park!!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2011!!!

Getting plastered ... big style!

Well, a lot has been done to the house since we were last down in the village, well we assume it has. Money seems to be pouring from our account all too often, but as far as we can tell things have been happening, and the odd photo we get from Oliver (the builder) seems to concur.

Yes, I know I have been slack with updates, but ... been busy. Since we spent our two weeks in our new house (indoor camping) back in September our time has been eaten up with both scraping together the funds to keep Oliver happy and also finding and deciding on fittings, i.e. sanitary ware, taps, tiles, kitchens, blah. Ok, there might have been a bit of feet up time in between chores. Hopefully we have nailed all the bits and bobs now, we even bought a kitchen tap and sink, not that it is going to do much sitting in
Bob's garage 600km from the building site!

All the hard graft on the house is nearly completed, i.e. walls and roof, and the plastering and windows will also soon be done so that the place is a sealed unit. The builders break up for Christmas on the 22nd December, just a few weeks away, but if all goes well the place will have a kitchen (no doors), sewerage, internal plastering, plumbing and basic electrical. Of course this will induce another scrape of funds from us as an early Christmas pressie for Oliver! He did mention sommit about Barbados for the festive season?!

Anyway, our aim is to get down to Underberg in early January to check it all out for ourselves. Sadly it seems like end of February will be the earliest we can actually move in, sigh, long wait still. Good news though, our goods we shipped from the UK have arrived. Funny thing is though, they should still be in the UK as we told Anglo Pacific not to ship until December 1st at the earliest. They apparently 'overlooked' this wee detail. Several emails and interesting telephone conversation later we got a decent apology.
Oh, and they even buggered up the invoicing for it. So now our stuff will have to sit in storage in SA, assuming it is all there, for a couple of months until we can receive it in the house.

I shall post some pictures now (see album link to the right) and hopefully some more later in the month,
assuming we have some new ones.

Our first week in the village

It seems like we have been here for much longer. Only a week? So much has happened, well it feels like it.

The long drive down from Joburg is starting to feel a bit shorter. Still took 8 hours with stops, at Mufasa speed! Thankfully we know all the truck stops now so we can feed Mufasa at a good price, he gets very hungry. By the time we reached Underberg our thoughts of 'what are we doing' and 'have we made a huge mistake' had gone and we were glad to be home. With the keys in hand we went to explore. Nothing had changed since our last visit. No rain, dry garden, and dead roses that we had planted a few weeks ago.

First on the to do list was sort the electric and water. Easy, no? Before all that we needed an address, post box at the post office. No keys for three weeks though. Water we could turn on at the top of the drive, electric we needed a man with a key to switch our feed on. Eventually two days later with huge help from Faye, our estate agent and new friend, we had power. Boy the cold showers were not fun without it. The water people have our details now, the electric, well still waiting for them to phone us back!

Our next must do was submit the plans for the changes to the house. Easily done and should have them processed by 29th of September, approved hopefully! Following that was meet the builder to get quotes. Done, waiting for the figures, gulp. Just wish the exchange rate would improve. Last job, get someone to take a look at our inherited stove. A No.3 Rayburn. We would love to get it restored and keep it, but depends on how much it will cost and if we can find somewhere to put it. The people in the know are coming tomorrow so fingers crossed.

Other than the above we have been hard at work in the garden. So much to do and only two weeks here to get a start on it. Digging, raking, cutting, sweating! It has been extremely hot during the days. At night the temp drops. Had ice on Mufasa's bonnet Sunday morning! We spent the first few nights in the tent but have now moved in doors with our tent bed on the floor, indoor camping! It has however warmed up at night now though, well for the moment.

The people in the village seem very friendly, but that brings about our biggest nightmare, remembering names. We have started a list! Our aim is not to be hidden away in our house but to get involved in the goings on in the village. We had dinner last Thursday with Faye, her husband James, and her father Roy. Half price pizza at The Grind, and walking distance. Today we joined the Underberg Garden Club and went to our first meeting. Get to meet people, oh and nice coffee and cake! It does seem though that we are the ones not in the know, as the village telegraph has delivered around the news of our arrival. At the excellent plant nursery just out of town, they had heard of us!

Oh well, back to the to do list. Ok, perhaps tomorrow, its evening now, time for dinner and a glass of wine.

At last ... we own the house

Yes it has taken a while, but we are there. Official owners of a wee piece of land and building in sunny Underberg!

The fun now really starts. Almost have the plans sorted for the renovation and extensions, hopefully completed by the end of this week. Then it is down to the Berg next week to get quotes and commission our builder. Spend spend spend!

'Life on the Road' to 'Life in the Berg'

So how does it happen? One minute life is an adventure filled with far flung places. A different story to told with every day started. Then suddenly, a house, and a different way of life. Well, to be honest, having a house again is an adventure for us. It has been a while, over 5 years now, since we last had a fixed location. Not to say that the travelling is over, just a time to get to grips with a new challenge, and keep the travelling to be our 'time out' from the hard grind of life at home!

Our new base will be in Underberg, KZN. Spitting distance from the fabulous Drakensberg mountains. A mere 600km from Joburg. A strange location? Not for us. We love it. Just like a 'little England', with mountains! See http://wooliesthruafrica.blogspot.com/2010/07/namibia-thailand-botswana-south-and.html for the how and why.

So, now a new blog to tell the tale of life in the 'village', and the development of our property. 'Woolies Thru Africa' will continue to tell the travelling story as and when the tales are there to be told.