Unpretentious charm

From newbies to locals within a few short years – a platteland couple share their story…

- Elna van der Merwe

WHO LIVES HERE?

Suzette and Piet du Plessis

WHERE Nieu-Bethesda

SIZE 328m2

I think we should get out of this place as soon as possible, ”said Piet du Plessis to his wife when they drove along the dirt road through Nieu-Bethesda for the first time. Suzette, on the other hand, was thinking to herself: I could live here. “As we came down the pass, I just knew. Don’t ask me how. I had stars in my eyes when we drove through the town. Piet thought the place was too quiet, and he never wanted to take a drive here, even when we lived in Cradock at one stage. But when we bought a four-wheel-drive vehicle, I was able to persuade him.”

A year later, in 2007, the Pretoria couple bought a holiday home in this Karoo village nestled at the foot of the Sneeuberg mountains, the source of the Sundays River. For the next three years, they’d escape to Nieu-Bethesda whenever they got the chance and when Piet retired in 2010, it was he who suggested that they move there permanently. These days, they’re no longer considered newbies; they’re regarded as locals. “I think that after 10 years it’s safe to say you can start making your presence felt,” says Suzette with a chuckle.