We’re all going on a summer holiday… or not!

In late November, we received a call out of the blue from one of the estate agents that had been marketing our holiday apartment in Ballito. In December the year before (2011), we bought a piece of land, and a year later, after to-ing and fro-ing with architects, builders and council approvals, we are finally in a position to start building. So the urgency around selling the flat was starting to reach near-panic levels. After being on the market for almost 10 months, we had had little to no interest. And then, suddenly, a  guy, who based on only having seen photos of the place, made us a very reasonable offer. The catch? He wanted occupation the first week of December. And he wanted it lock, stock and barrel. So the plans for our usual holiday down at the coast for Christmas came to a screeching halt. It was too late to organise to go anywhere else, and quite frankly cost-restrictive with the exorbitant fees that are charged “in season”. So we had to get our heads around staying in Jo’burg while the rest of its inhabitants migrated seawards! (But that is a story for another blog post … )

In a lightning flash, I took a quick overnight to trip to Durbs to go and pack up our personal bits and pieces; arranged a removal company and a storage facility to look after our stuff for the next (hopefully only) eleven months while our new house is being built. It was quite strange to be away from Alex and Caris, and to be in the flat by myself. I had visions of spending an hour or two packing, and then relaxing with my feet up, kindle in hand! In reality it took me till close to midnight to pack up, throw away junk, and clean! I fell into bed in an exhausted heap. Between my mom, Promise and Gary, Alex and Caris had a ball without me.

The weather was grim the morning of the move. Perhaps it was Ballito’s way of saying “I’ll miss you guys”. I had a lump in my throat when I locked the door for the final time, remembering the good times we have had here. Alex was a year old when we bought this place, so his early years will always be linked to what he calls his Ballito-House.

After getting back from the storage facility, I drove past our building site, to have a look at where our dream home will become a reality in the next eleven months. The site had been wrapped in shade cloth, ready for the builders to start the second week of January.

On Monday morning this week, the builders started clearing the site, and our architect emailed us some images of the progress. The weather looks amazing, a great day to start building. Our excitement is mounting! (and Alex was very excited, mainly because there is a DIGGER in the photo!)

I know it is terrible to start wishing the year away, when it has only just begun, but roll on December! Happy 2013 everyone…