Some 10 years after thinking to emigrate,we have finally done it! It doesn't seem strange or "wrong", just the right thing to do. Cape Town, and Camps Bay in particular, has always been favourite. My first trip was in the early 80's, having driven overnight from Jo'burg, arriving in the Garden after the straight roads of the desert, descending to the sea and thinking that this is the life, which for a mid 20 year old, it was!!!
I've been many times since and Angelka and I first visited together in 2004. I was quite shocked when she told me, after two days,"I don't get it!", however she did change her mind and we've been coming regularly, ever since.
We first looked at houses in 2007, our first stop on our Round The World trip. We nearly went for a new build and one split level town house, also appealed, however, it wasn't until 2013 that we really got serious.
We had an offer accepted on a house we both really liked, backing on to Table Mountain. While the main floor was fabulous, I wasn't a big fan of the bedroom level. Retrospectively, we are both glad that it did fall through. The Rand devalued by 25% in the following months which meant that we would have lost a great deal of value in our new house. It also meant that when we were looking for a house, the following year, our budget had just increased by 25%
We visited again, in July, 2014 and found the house we would love to buy, over budget, lots of "issues" but, the perfect location and everything we needed in our house! After structural surveyors reports, builders quotes and real estate encouragement a deal was done and it became ours on October 3rd, to great excitement! 14, Theresa Avenue, Camps Bay sits on the highest street above Camps Bay beneath Table Mountain with a 360 degree view that is unparalleled anywhere we have visited in the world. It is over 4 levels, as it is built into the gradient of the mountain and is 5 minutes from the beach strip and little more than that in to downtown Cape Town.
We have left the perfect environment in Hopwood, in that we travelled a great deal, and we could lock up, surrounded by 7 neighbours in a gated courtyard, to now be surrounded by great neighbours in our preferred location. We can walk,cycle,run, hike and swim from our front door. The flora and fauna that surrounds us, not to mention animal and mammal life, is wonderful and having visitors is very easy with so much for them to enjoy. Africa is the continent we have visited the least, from our new vantage point we are aiming for three new countries per year to address the balance. Of course, there's a house to address, building, renovating, furnishing and decorating. This is the first time I've ever got involved in a project and it is not a process I'm comfortable with. Watch this space!