Spioenkop's Surprises: Our Beginning

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Destination: Spioenkop Nature Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal

Dates: 25th March to 24th May 2022

No. of nights: 60

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The very first weeks of our Great Big Adventure were glorious.

Spioenkop Nature Reserve in Natal certainly had a great deal of surprises up its sleeve—jam-packed full of quality time with family and friends, gorgeous scenery, and wildlife, and some awkward, funny moments in between!

After our very first night as a travelling couple, we rose from our deep slumber to a cloudy Saturday morning—quite apt considering I wasn't as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as I'd imagined my first day to be. My eyes took time to adjust to my brand-new surroundings, and my brain felt rather foggy, not yet registering where we were and what was happening! Soon, I remembered...

My body ached with the culmination of two intense months of sorting, packing, and moving our entire lives (including all the assets of a 115-sleeper conference centre we had previously managed!). You know that feeling where all the intense stress you went through suddenly catches up with you?

Discover our full story HERE - Where it All Began. :-)

Surprisingly, Dale was way more up-and-Adam than I, and when I eventually surfaced rather apprehensively from the caravan and tent, he handed me a glorious, steamy cup of coffee. While our bodies were sore and our new home and appearances looked particularly dishevelled and disorderly, our hearts were happy—our new life was finally beginning.

I'll never forget that very first morning, rising to the new day and adventure before us! Note Dale's crate and fishing gear in front, getting ready for a fish on the dam.

Soon, the rising warmth of the morning sun cleared away the clouds, and my eyes began to soak in the rosy, sun-kissed surroundings of our very own African safari. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

After about 20 minutes, as my brain slowly thawed with every sip of delicious caffeine, our close friends, who lived just down the road from the reserve, called us up unexpectedly.

They wanted to visit us right now!

After getting dressed in a flurry and trying to look semi-presentable, we happily greeted our friends about 10 min later. We hadn't seen each other for a very long time, so it was so good to catch up. To my huge surprise, I managed to locate what we needed from our storage boxes to get a lunch braai (or barbecue) going.

It really was a magical day and just what we needed to ease into our journey. Sheltered from the midday heat under our newly purchased gazebo, we took in the cool breeze off the dam's surface and even enjoyed a dip in the dam for a good cool-down. The food was delicious, and the conversation and company simply wonderful and refreshing to the soul—what more could one want? 😊

On Sunday morning, we embraced spontaneity even more and decided to 'make the circle bigger,' inviting other friends over from the area for a joint braai. Nothing beats time with incredible, lifelong friends, soaking in the warm African sun around a classic South African braai!

Dale masterfully windproofed our new gazebo by erecting a storm net over the frame. It can get super windy at Spioenkop in a flash, so we had to be extra prepared.

As the day of catching up, chatting, and sharing a meal ensued, I surprised myself even more by switching off my planning, organising, and 'keeping things tidy all the time' brain. I think it was much needed. The real arranging and unpacking could wait until Monday.

As the sun faded and we bid our friends farewell, we soon welcomed the start of a brand-new week in our new home.

Adjusting to Our New Way of Life

Monday morning echoed in, bringing in our new way of life with it.

It sure was an interesting experience adapting to our new way of living. Everything was a huge learning curve for us—from living between our tent and caravan, to setting up our kitchen, learning how and where to store food away from animals, to using public ablutions, and the list goes on. There's a great deal of learning and adjusting when it comes to mobile, outdoor living! And so our journey began, while still trying to meet our online work deliverables during the weekdays.

From Monday morning, I started working full-time as a freelance content editor and writer. The content manager I had worked for on a part-time basis online was starting to recruit new writers, so the sudden rise in editing work was certainly coming at a perfect time after being retrenched a few months before. God is so good, and His timing is always just right!

Dale also continued with his studies (a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and Christian Counselling through the South African Theological Seminary) and then took up an amazing professional coaching course at the same time. During our full time at Spioenkop, he completed his coaching course and started fulfilling his qualifying hours towards registering with the ICF (International Coaching Federation).

Our days were definitely busy but also very fulfilling.

It's funny how one door closes, and another opens—you’ll never imagine what you’ll see on the other side. Often, it really isn’t as bad as you thought; it's simply wonderful.

After facing retrenchment and being faced with very uncertain circumstances, we started seeing this new adventure as an opportunity to mould and design the life we desired.

If you’d asked me when I was a child what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have said an architect. I saw myself designing beautiful and fascinating houses—my house designs were pretty bizarre, to say the least, and as a kid, I kept an entire book of these fun designs! But I soon realised that I was way more captivated by my imagination and the possible stories surrounding those houses, and that I actually wanted to be a writer, and hopefully a published author one day.

I could see myself creating thought-provoking 'words-of-art'. Or in other words, a unique 'architect' of words, bringing and sharing knowledge gleaned, inspiration found, and hope and meaning to those who need it most.

And so, as my dream as a writer began to take shape, Dale also found himself working towards his dream.

As far back as he could remember, he always wanted to be in a profession where he could help people discover and walk in freedom, purpose, and fulfilment in life. While his ongoing, part-time degree was setting him up with a strong foundation in Christian Counselling and Theology, he could now start using his coaching course qualifications to practice what he loved the most—helping others unlock their unique greatness.

After working many hours acquiring all the qualifying hours he needed, he registered with the ICF and launched his own online coaching practice. Woohoo, you go, Babe! So proud of this amazing man of mine!

A fascinating glimpse: One of the many beautiful early evenings we spent working together overlooking the dam. Dale doing his coaching hours and training on Zoom while I catch up on editing work.

So, going back to the nitty-gritty of caravan life.

Spioenkop turned out to be a very productive time of figuring out our new mobile life.

At the time, we were using my dad’s caravan, which was on the smaller side of things—perfect for a long weekend away or even a month somewhere, but way too small for full-time caravanning. What also made life a little trickier is that we had brought WAY too many belongings along with us. Being very new to the mobile life, we were still figuring out what we needed and didn't need. This meant rearranging our belongings into new piles of 'give away,' 'sell,' or 'put in storage'. We were also constantly setting up one space in the tent, then disassembling and setting things up differently to find out what suited us best.

It was time-consuming and frustrating at times.

Our one main table in the tent, or “all-sorts” table (as I liked to call it), morphed from a breakfast nook in the morning to a full office during the day, to a dinner table, and a fishing rig set-up, all in one day. Juggling the kitchen area was a fascinating task, which was all of one metre from the “all-sorts” table along the side of the caravan. I had spent time perfectly arranging all our spices, cooking utensils, and other cooking goodies along one side of the table, only to discover that it was on terribly uneven ground. On one particular evening, cutting vegetables for a roast turned into a game of chasing the spices and utensils under the table as they rolled in every direction. It certainly made life entertaining!

And now... drum roll, please... I am 'proud' to present our very first camping kitchen below. We didn't have a drying rack for drying dishes yet, and our kitchen stuff was literally everywhere. Haha...

Looking back on this time, I marvel at how far we've come now. Everything has a beginning, and while it's uncomfortable and challenging at the time, when you look back, sometimes those awkward, frustrating moments make the most precious memories.

Thankfully, we didn't have any problems with the wildlife trying out our food, so we weren't worried about preventing access to our food containers. Surprising in a reserve!

And, as you can probably tell by now, we loved working outside when the weather was friendly.

So, that "all sorts" table I told you about (pictured with Dale working on below)? Well, that dear table also had its good share of turns in a range of destinations. It typically went from being in the caravan tent to under the gazebo as the sun rose, to being out in the open and then back under the caravan tent all in one day—weather-dependent, of course.

Dale working hard into the night.

The constant moving of things was exhausting, but it sure helped us make the most of some gorgeous sunny days.

Below, we're making the most of a good fishing day while we work. Dale had his bass fishing rods out in the dam, while I worked under the gazebo. We even enjoyed some lovely midday swims on our lunch breaks.

What a life, and a super unique work experience. We used tons of mozzie mooty (aka mosquito repellent), but it was so worth it to make the most of the views and experiences before us.

After a few more weeks at Spioenkop, we also started identifying and compiling our wish list of all the camping goodies or odds and ends we'd need to make our lives a little more comfortable and easier.

As soon as we settled and had the necessary finances, we slowly started ticking things off the list, one by one, which was a great deal of fun.

Spioenkop's Highlights!

Our 60 days at Spioenkop were filled with many, many highlights.

A major one was all the quality time with family and friends.

My family (pictured below) visited us on the Easter weekend, while Dale's parents visited us near the end of our stay. Having worked in hospitality previously, going away to visit family on the weekends had been very challenging, so it was so special having the time now to catch up with them properly.

From the left: my Dad in his cowboy hat, then Dale, Mom, me, and my sister Megan.

I'll never forget the stunning self-game drive with my family through the Spioenkop Nature Reserve.

After our game drive, we enjoyed sundowners on top of the valley overlooking the stunning dam, marvelling at the sun's bright golden rays catching the deep blue clouds above. The rich, purple-yellow reflections of the dusky sky reflected in the dam's water below. As we watched the sun go down, it soon started feeling very chilly up on the hill, so off we went back to camp to warm up around the fire and enjoy a delicious meal together.

Another BIG highlight was seeing two good friends get married in the Champagne Valley while we were in the area.

It was such a privilege to witness their big day—a day filled with laughter, dancing, and many tears of happiness and joy. It was one of those rare, beautiful weddings you'll cherish forever.

Being so close to wildlife in the reserve was a spectacular experience and a huge highlight, too.

We frequently watched giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, bushpigs, birds (of all types and sizes), and various buck all from our front verandah.

One sunny afternoon, a young giraffe was so occupied enjoying the delicious Acacia leaves along the dam’s edge that he seemed to forget our quiet little campsite perched on the hill above him. While reading and typing away at my laptop under the caravan tent, I looked up in great surprise to see him walking towards the dam in front of us! So close.

When he realised where he was, he froze, dead still and stared at us with his long, black eyelashes and peculiarly large eyes. After a few seconds, he bolted with great urgency across the camp onto the other side of the dam. What a stunning surprise for a weekday.

Last, but certainly not least! Fishing.

Having been just 7 metres from the dam's edge, you can imagine we ended up doing a great deal of fishing.

With fishing being one of Dale’s passions and favourite hobbies, we spent many hours on the water with a rod in hand. Mind you, Dale had the rod in hand most of the time while I had the phone to take pictures or videos. I also enjoyed some birding while Dale fished. I was very happy watching him in his happy place and would join him in his excitement as he reeled in a catch, relishing the suspense of not knowing what was on the other end until it appeared flapping about above the water.

I’ll never forget his beaming smile on our very first full day at Spioenkop after he caught his first fish on our great big adventure (pictured bottom left). It wasn’t about the size. It was about finally starting to enjoy the lifestyle we’d chosen for ourselves.

So, folks, that was pretty much Spioekop in a nutshell for us.

About two weeks into caravanning at Spioenkop, we knew for certain that we wanted to do this mobile lifestyle permanently, for as long as we could. There was no doubt about it.

We knew we wanted a life of adventuring together and making unforgettable, unique memories along the way.

Yes, it would have its unique challenges, just like everything else did in life, but we knew we'd regret not embracing the adventure that lay before us.

Perhaps we would settle down one day when the time and place were right—where God would show us. Until then, we decided to embrace the travelling life that was before us, with all its peculiar challenges and unique joys, taking our home along with us wherever we went.

The next step, of course, was to get our very own comfy home, aka caravan. Catch the story below in our second instalment...

Our Next Adventure