‘We made the move’
Writer Carina Stander and her family are ensconced in a Garden Route forest
Deep in the Tsitsikamma, safely ensconced in a lush, green, lively forest, wordsmith and visual artist Carina Stander lets her talents shine. Here, between the mountains and the sea, she and her family don’t give a thought to the bustle of the city.
Like a nymph, Carina Stander appears from among the trees in the Tsitsikamma, where she and her family live. Barefoot, wearing a plain white dress... her hair long and dark brown with splashes of colour. She glides down the garden path, which she, her husband and two sons laid themselves, to the gate in the white picket fence. Smiling broadly, she throws her arms wide open, tilts her head and warmly exclaims: “Welcome to our world!”
It’s a land of magic, of fables and fantasy, that she’s created with her husband, Gerrit van Niekerk, and their two sons, 14-year-old Aden and 10-yearold Ilan. In the garden, monkeys cavort and turacos call to each other in the trees, and every now and then one of their two cats, Mooiloop and Avontier (meaning “night tiger”, according to Aden) make an appearance. The garden is a profusion of flowers and foliage, with paths, sculptures, cosy nooks, treehouses, hammocks and a “foefie slide”.
The interior of the double-storey log home is equally fantastical: bright colours, art everywhere, arum lilies and other flowers popping out of pots and vases on the windowsills. Orchids in full bloom. And everywhere, mementoes of people and places: near the front door is a model boat that the boys chose in Mauritius; in the cinema room there’s Carina’s grandmother’s couch, the bell from her father’s herdleader, a door handle from Zanzibar, a bird sculpture from the Amazon…
The cinema room has no television, but it does have a projector and a large retractable screen against the wall.
That’s Gerrit, says Carina, who tiled the floor, as they’re currently “migrating” here from the top floor, having previously rented out this space to holidaymakers for some extra income.
“Engineers think they can do anything!” She laughs, interrupting herself. “The first thing Gerrit always asks me is: ‘Did you read the instructions?’” She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “He really does have a can-do attitude – he doesn’t wait for other people to do something. He’ll just grab a chainsaw and doesn’t mind a bit of man-glitter.”
She smiles at the quizzical frowns… “Sawdust!” she says. “He put up the hammocks himself, he builds, he tiles… he and the boys designed and built the braai and pizza oven themselves. He can even sew – he made me a cushion cover from fabric we’d bought on Benguerra Island in Mozambique. He’s an amazing man.” >