People & Places
Meet the retiring Muddles
Arts and crafts, abseiling and endless dinner parties – the Muddles are still swept up in the excitement of emigrating to Knysna
Kate Baddeley asked Graham and Angela to reveal how they've managed to make every day a holiday.
Meet the Muddles; Graham, 64, and Angela, 56, originally from St. Leonards. They decided to take early retirement and emigrate to South Africa, a country they are clearly absolutely passionate about. As soon as I got on the phone to Angela she was straight in there with, "it's the perfect day, it's in the twenties, there's no wind, blue skies", before I could get a word in edge ways. Then she continued to tell me how they had been in the forest handing out water to cyclists on one of the many cycle rides through Knysna.
It's not often that you hear people describe their day as 'perfect', but this is South Africa not the UK. "We love it so much here!", adds Angela, just to make absolutely certain I get the picture. Angela tells me how Graham, was brought up in Tanzania so had always had 'a thing' about Africa. Together they have travelled extensively, but the trip that fuelled their life changing move came in 2003, when they did the Garden Route. They came across Knysna on their way to an elephant park. They were immediately struck by its beauty. In Angela's words, "We fell in love; it was the nicest place we'd ever been."
The Muddles returned to the UK, but just couldn't settle at work, and couldn't stop thinking about Knysna. A couple of months passed, and then in September 2003 Angela came home from work and said to Graham, "'Let's go for it', and that was it", explains Angela. "We threw in our jobs, rented out our house, and headed back to Knysna for a fortnight. "We looked around, decided where we wanted to live and fell in love with the first house we saw. It had a big fireplace, wooden beams, and a huge garden – everything we wanted." And so without any hesitation the Muddles bought the property they now call home and in June 2004 they moved out there on a year's temporary visa.
Uprooting and relocating to a country you've only visited twice before might sound terrifying but Graham and Angela never had any problems settling in. "We had absolutely nothing when we arrived as our furniture was in the process of being sent out. But we made some friends who were estate agents in Cape Town and they insisted we stayed with them – I mean we hardly knew them but they were so friendly." Angela tells me several times during our conversation about the wonderful people they've met. "There's no standing on ceremony here, everything's a laid-back affair, people invite you round all the time but it's all very casual, nothing's a big deal."
Since the Muddles arrived in South Africa their lives have been fun, fun and more fun. "It's just been full time enjoying ourselves." Moving to South Africa has allowed them to do things that wouldn't have been possible in the UK. Angela has been able to indulge her passion for art. "I met a wonderful lady who happened to be an art teacher and so I went along to one of her watercolour classes and now I've featured in exhibitions and even sold some of my work." Angela is fairly modest about how her hobby has grown, but when Graham gets back on the phone he's keen to tell me how many pictures she's sold and how her paintings now adorn their house.
Angela finds it hard to put her finger on exactly how they fill their days, but they are certainly never bored. "Everything you could ever wish for is here. Whether you want dangerous extreme sports or gentle activities. There's fishing, golf – we've even abseiled." Angela says South Africa is reminiscent of the UK a few decades ago. "There are no louts, nobody swears, everybody says hello, people are always dropping by for coffee. It's just a special place".
There's certainly no going back for the Muddles. They extended there one-year visa to a four-year visa and are now applying for permanent residency. They explain how they employed the services of an immigration practitioner to deal with the headache of all the paperwork. "We pay a fee, and they deal with everything, they've been wonderful." However, the emigration proceedings haven't all run smoothly. Back in the UK when they first applied for a visa there were a few tears and trials, as they tried to get through the red tape at the high commission.
The only other low point was leaving their families behind, explains Angela. "We are very close, and we had been living near by so of course we were sad to leave them. They understood as they knew what a great quality of life we could experience out here." Angela is endlessly optimistic and always looks on the bright side, "They get to enjoy some amazing holidays, and of course we speak constantly on the phone. The small time difference also makes South Africa feel closer to the UK."
And on the subject of holidays the Muddles point out that you can holiday in South Africa without ever getting bored. "We were thinking about visiting Australia or New Zealand for our next holiday and then it suddenly occurred to us 'Why leave here, when there is literally everything on our doorstep'. The weather is perfect, the food's amazing and our own house looks out on to forests and mountains," Angela enthuses. "So we booked up a Safari trip to Kruger Park."
The Muddles really do have it all. They describe Knysna as "a bit like Scotland," with green hills, a big lagoon and pretty little houses. There are certainly many natural attractions to make the most of, and there seems to be a festival for every occasion. "It's the Knysna Oyster festival in June and Knysna even has its own gay pride carnival, the Pink Loerie Festival," Angela explains.
Despite all these spectacular attractions the Muddles consider property prices to be half of what they are in the UK, and in spite of rumours that prices in South Africa are on the up, they believe that property prices are stable and will remain so. They have also noticed how much cheaper the cost of living is compared to the UK. "I recently went back to the UK and I couldn't believe how much prices in the UK have increased," Angela observes. Another rumour they want to dispel with is that crime is a problem in SA. "We honestly feel safer in South Africa. The children play outside where we live and nobody worries."
There is no doubting that the Muddles are living the good life. "We have a maid and a garden, which most people can afford here. In fact, I haven't ironed in two years!" And their advice to others considering making the moving? "You just have to come for a holiday in this beautiful country. As soon as you see it, you love it."