16th Feb 2017

We are both well and really enjoying ourselves. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Neil, Jeanine, Jenna & Thomas from USA. There was a mix up with their plane tickets so they are only arriving on Saturday. We will see them briefly on Sunday & then they will join us at a resort close to Bela-Bela (Warmbaths) for a few days. We have hired a 6 sleeper self-catering Chalet.

We had the joy of having Peter, Elaine, Christy, Joshua & Rebekha spend last weekend with us. They brought their tent & camped right next to us. It really was a joyous time.

We needed to find and visit the UIF office in Brits so that Lynette could claim her penultimate UIF payment. It is hard to believe but most government offices have no names on them and are almost impossible to find.

While at a car wash the other day, we asked a local (who was also having his car washed) if he could direct us to the UIF offices. He said he could not describe the route, but he would take us there. When the cars were clean, we followed him to a little back-street & he pointed out an unnamed building. When we visited it on the appointed day we found that it was quite clean & reasonably organised. Praise the Lord!!

Being in a caravan park with not many other people around during the week, has given us a better understanding of how much effort goes into making it work so well. The irrigation, mowing, cleaning and maintenance of a place like this is a big job. I have noticed that even the shower mats are removed, disinfected and replaced every day.

A few days ago, Lynette and I sat outside under the veranda of our tent during a real Highveld thunderstorm. To be right in the action and see a tiny bit of the power of God at work was AWESOME. Lightening, thunder, wind and rain!! It was truly invigorating.

We are placing a few more photos so you can see some more of our surroundings.

We pray God’s blessing on you all,

Lots of love,

Tom & Lynette.

We are at “Drie Berge” Caravan Park just outside of Brits. Our first taste of life – long term – at a caravan park since we left Hazyview at the end of November last year. We researched this park well, read reviews and made our booking. We arrived here on Wednesday 1^st Feb to find the park virtually empty. We were received very well & were assisted to get the basic structure of our tent up.

Having packed everything up the previous day (it is a big and very taxing job) I was stiff and sore. In the heat of the day, carelessly dehydrated and soon suffering from a sugar-low, we had to put it all up again. I was in really bad shape. Many lessons were learned that will make all future moving much, much easier.

In time, everything was ship-shape and very comfortable.

Since Wednesday, we have relaxed and taken everything very slowly, taking in the beauty of the surroundings. This is a beautiful, well run & very quiet caravan park. 

We wondered how it would be over this weekend when we knew it would be full, almost to capacity. Well now we know.

It has remained quiet and peaceful with the ablutions well able to cope with all the people.

When we made our reservations, we were able to negotiate a very good rate because we are pensioners and are here for a relatively long stay.

Tomorrow, God willing, we will spend the day in Pretoria with Peter, Elaine & family as we celebrate Christy’s 14^th birthday. 

They plan to come and camp on the stand next to ours next weekend. That will be really super.

We also look forward to seeing Neil, Jeanine & family when they arrive from America in less than two weeks.

We are so aware of the goodness of God, who goes ahead of us, is with us and who blesses us all the time. May He bless you and those whom you love also.

28 January 2017

This morning when I woke to the sound of the rain on the roof of the caravan, my heart sank. I know we have been pleading with the Lord to send rain, but now that it has arrived I have changed my mind. How fickle we are! 

The reason for my distress is that on Tuesday, 31 January we are packing up our tent and trekking over Kommando Nek to Brits. We have booked into a caravan park on the banks of the Krokodil Rivier (not sure if this is the same Crocodile River in the Lowveld – will have to check that), called Drie Berge. 

This caravan park is situated just 7 km outside Brits. Tom and I went to look at the park on one of our outings and were very impressed. 

We are looking forward to standing on a level site, but we are really going to miss this beautiful farm where we have spent the past two months. Alex and Natalie could not have been kinder and more generous to us and Tom has really rested very well. If we are not careful we could end up spending the rest of the year right here, so that is why we decided to get the show on the road.

We will be booked in at Drie Berge from the 1^st February until the 9^th March. From the 9^th March until the 30^th April we will be going to a caravan park just outside Bela Bela (Warmbaths) called San Cha Len. Reviews on Caravanparks.com website for this park are really good and the photos also look super. Not sure where we will find ourselves from the beginning of May, but we need to be back near the Durrs for Thalia’s wedding on the 27^th May.  Thalia has asked Tom if he would do the – as she put it – “Do you take, will you love, etc part of the wedding.” A close friend will be doing the message. 

After the wedding we plan on going to Namibia for the whole of June/July. We have booked at Clanwilliam for the whole of August, to be there for the flowers in Namaqualand, God willing. We are getting organised slowly but surely. 

As you can see on the photo Tom is having a ball. He is busy repairing an old Lister engine for Alex. He has been really dirty on some days, but is clearly enjoying the challenge. 

The cat on the photo is Alex’s cat, Willie. Willie has made his home with us although we don’t feed him. He sleeps the whole day and obviously hunts at night. Some mornings there are offerings of beheaded rats at our door! 

The other photo is of  Tom’s McGyver contraption. Because of the slope we are standing on,  the rainwater collects on the tent roof and causes it to sag, with the result that one of the tent poles has actually bent. This contraption works really well and we no longer have this water problem.

As I sit and write this in the early evening it has cleared very nicely and it has turned into a really lovely evening. It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord has blessed us in such abundance. May God bless you and you are in our prayers and thoughts always.

We are still at Broederstroom, we are both well and we really enjoy our caravan.

Every day we realise how blessed we are as we experience the comfort and the functionality of our caravan setup. Everything works and works well. We have experienced almost all weather conditions (with the exception of really strong winds) and have been very comfortable throughout.

When we booked for our first stay at a caravan park, they could not accommodate us on our chosen (or any other) site for the duration of our lengthy stay without having to move, so we delayed our departure from the Durr’s farm until the 13^th February. We then move to a beautiful camp on the Crocodile River & between the mountains, called “Drie Berge.” It is situated just North-East of Brits. We are booked there until 8^th March, at which time we will move on.

If we can get it organised, Peter, Elaine and children can come and camp with us on one or more of the weekends that we are there.

We are not sure which direction to take because we must return to Broederstroom (without the caravan) because I have agreed to do the wedding of Thalia, Alex & Natalie’s daughter on 27^th May.

We are busy researching our next stay which may be in a warmer part of the country because it will be winter.

It is fun deciding in which direction we should go, and then finding the best possible camping place for the most reasonable tariff.

Attending church services without having to organise anything is a new and wonderful experience for us. Participation without responsibility is very enriching and enjoyable.

31^st December 2016

It is just a month ago that we packed up everything in Hazyview and moved to Scottburgh. After storing everything safely in our flat we drove up to Pretoria.

We have settled in really well here at B’sorah – the home of Alex and Natalie Durr. The farm is situated near Broederstroom. As you can see from the photos God has once again blessed us beyond anything we could have imagined or hoped for.

We have been busy sorting out problems and technical hitches and just getting used to the caravan and tent setup. Yesterday Tom decided to tackle the tap in the bathroom which has been giving trouble. He had to take the whole basin setup apart and with the help of Carla (Nicolas Durr’s wife) they manufactured a part which had totally disintegrated with age. Carla is an excellent carpenter and did a lovely job. Tom has not quite completed the job yet but is almost there. This morning we used the “kitchen” basin for our ablutions. That tap is working well. When Tom opened the door to the bathroom he found that when you use one tap the other one pumps as well. While using the kitchen tap the bathroom tap which is still stripped down pumped as well and filled up the floor of the bathroom with water. Another lesson learned the hard way. Fortunately there is a drainage plug in the floor and Tom was able to drain most of the water that way. Well you live and learn.

May God bless you and your loved ones with grace and peace in 2017. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

A lot has happened since our last post.

With time running out at Kiepersol, preparations & modifications had to be made to the caravan while the whole house had to be packed up for removal to Scottburgh.

On Saturday 29^th October, the Church held a farewell function for us. What a blessed and Christ centred occasion it was with many who had been in the Church over the years coming back to share remembrances.

Fond farewells were said.

On Sunday 13^th December I had to do a farewell service at the NG Kerk in Hazyview that I had to deliver in Afrikaans. That was a real tester but it all worked out well & we had opportunity to bid farewell to all our Afrikaans friends.

Our final service was on Sunday morning, 29^th November. It was a lovely service with all three musicians playing together for the occasion. It was a great surprise and a wonderful success.

And so our ministry to the people at Kiepersol came to an end. People who will forever be remembered for their love and generosity. We tried very hard, from first to last, to keep them pointed to Jesus Christ & living lives that were characterised by Scriptural holiness and love.

The next few days were hectic but productive in that we were able to get all our possessions packed, moved to Scottburgh, and unpacked into two bedrooms and a portion of the garage of the flat.

On our way down to Scottburgh, we stayed over with a dear friend Gill Dyer in Nottingham Road. She received us like royalty and spoiled us thoroughly.

With the move complete, we returned to Pretoria & spent a few nights with Peter & Elaine. On Monday 5^th December, Peter and the children accompanied us to the Durr’s farm at Broederstroom & helped us to position and level the caravan on its site here.

Two days later, Lynette and I set about erecting the tent and making our campsite home.

We made really hard work of it, making many rookie mistakes but we kept at it and by evening all was ready & welcoming.

On 12^th December we received the wonderful news that Neil’s wife Jeanine delivered a very healthy baby son who has been named Thomas. The Lord is so good to us.

Neil, Jeanine, Jenna and Thomas plan to come to South Africa in February so that we can meet our newest grandchild. We can’t wait.

We plan to spend a week with them at Mabalingwe Game Lodge in mid-February. Soon after that we will take to the road and tour.

1 April 2016

Lynette & I celebrated her first day of retirement with a trip to Nelspruit. We had super breakfast at Spur in W/River, then on to Nelspruit to get my international drivers licence, check on travel insurance & get TSA locks for our luggage.
I exchanged a (new but leaky) caravan gas regulator at Builders Warehouse for a different make. We visited the brand new (robotic equipped) Mopani Pharmacy for flu shots and Airmune. We browsed around the new Outdoor Warehouse at the Crossings centre then started for home. We stopped for lunch at The Ocean Basket.
On arriving home, I fitted the new gas regulator to the caravan & tested the stove. All perfect!
The Lord is good.