A Journey Of Discoverys

This month, the Land Rover Discovery celebrates its 30th birthday – marking the transition from Project Jay in the 1980s to the current ‘All-New’ tech-fest. The Holgate family, of course, has a story to tell for each of the five successive generations…

- Steve Smith

In 1984 a young man with a full black beard was driving his clapped-out Merc 450SL ragtop down a dusty dirt road on the KwaZuluNatal North Coast. In the back was a cold box, filled with the sort of things that are useful when wooing. Beside him was the object of his intentions.

They drove up to a half-completed house and clambered up onto the flat roof, where the young man had set up two camp chairs. There, cold beer in hand and the sun setting in front of them, a young Kingsley turned to his bank manager and asked him for a hand in completing his house.

On the deck of Afrika House in Zinkwazi, Kinglsey Holgate recounted this tale with a sparkle in his eye. “My bank manager – and remember, these were the days when you actually had a personal relationship with your bank manager – wrote a cheque on the spot, and I could actually finish my house.

“That my house was in Zinkwazi happened by default. I had just sold my trading post in Zululand and needed somewhere to live. I asked around, and found a little A-frame bungalow to rent on the lagoon here in Zinkwazi, that same lagoon where the Ma Roberts carried us and an All-New Discovery today. And I just loved living here, so when a piece of ground came up for sale on the beach, I bought it.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to build a house on my land, but a lovely old Muslim builder said he would help me out. He built it up to roof height and said, ‘Just show this to your bank manager and they’ll give you the money’. His plan worked and I was able to complete Afrika House, where I still live today.”

A small group of journalists had been invited to join Kingsley and his expedition crew – Sheelagh, King’s son Ross, Ross’s wife Anna, King’s grandson Tristan, and the indefatigable Bruce Leslie – for a little event to celebrate 30 years of Land Rover Discovery.