So here we are, 5 years later after our relocation from the suburbs to a freeholding.
We have learnt a lot, how to work sparingly with water and rainwater harvesting, and so on.
Now we want to relocate out of the city to a piece of land in the Eastern Cape. Reason being bigger place, no noise or air pollution and we’re closer to the sea (for the kids).
It is about 3 hours away from Port Elizabeth. We currently are in Gauteng (aka Gangsters Paradise).
Both my wife and myself are disillusioned with living in the city - incessant noise, increasing levels of violence, etc etc. I have noticed that our visits to big malls etc have dropped down and we only go to small shops.
And also this COVID-19 pandemic. This is a major part for our motivation to get out.
We had a look with Google Earth, there are no townships or squatter areas close by, which is a good sign. The area itself are not developed, it is a bit close to the mountains, so we will have no neighbours for miles.
We also want to go 100% off grid. Currently we are using electricity from our monopolistic supplier, but if things go well and we can do it, I want to get both solar panels and wind turbines to generate electricity. Should the wind be blowing for long periods of time (it is in the mountains) then we can rely on wind for electricity generation.
The downside is that it is in a winter rain catchment area, so we will get snow and serious coldness during the winter season, but what the hey… better than being in a desert.
Housing - there are none. It is just open veld. Our plans are to get a 2nd hand steel shed and use that to live in. Currently we are eyeing a 12.5mx24m steel shed (it have roof and side cladding). Wife have contacted somebody who specializes in that sort of thing, they will go out and eyeball the shed on Tuesday.
Said person also got a permit to work over provincial borders, so if the shed is 100% for us, we will ask the same person if he will pour a foundation and erect the shed for us. The it means we can just move in and start converting the insides to a house with living area and bedrooms etc. By doing it this way, we will be protected from the elements (rain, wind, sun etc).
Far quicker than going to an empty piece of veld and starting to build.
We already have put our existing freehold on the market, so it is a catch-22 situation at the moment, but I have faith in our Lord that the pieces will fall in position and we can go forward with this.
Things like doors and windows etc? Somebody in our area is busy doing house renovation, so we get all their old window and door frames. Hopefully both bathtubs and toilets can come out unbroken, so we’ll get these as well along with basins etc.
The only logistic part of this is to get everything packed and transported to the new place, but it is a worry for another day.
Kids are also looking forward to it - bigger place etc.
Have no idea what internet is like in that part of the boondocks, we are making plans to go there physically and have a look at the place before we sign the title deed etc. I’m pretty sure a WISP will be operating in that area, but that can wait for another day.
The biggest advantage of this is that I’ll have less stress with IT, and if we can find a market niche and start our own business up that side of the world, it’ll be a good new start.
So… now we wait and see what happens.
