Ufudu was our ‘permanent’ home for the year October 2013 – September 2014.
It started 6 years earlier, this notion that we need a motorhome; when we moved from Pretoria to Johannesburg as a result of the daily pressures of traffic on the Ben Schoeman Highway. That was a big decision at the time and not such an easy feat: moving from a 350 sq. metre house to a 170 sq. metre town house. We then joked about it and said to anyone asking: our next home is a motorhome. Prophetic words indeed!
Our interest was piqued after walking around the 2012 Beeld Holiday show and seeing what was out there. The dream started taking shape. After some enquiries and investigating the possible service providers we by chance were given a copy of the Caravan and Outdoor magazine (April 2012) which contained an article on the Addax built by AC Motorhomes. This was IT. We wanted something that would suite our lifestyle and requirements and needed to look no further.
Roger contacted Hein and the scene was set. We went to see them in Cape Town soon afterwards with our requirements and what a welcome we received. Both Hein and Melissa were attentive, interested and sincere. I must admit that it was all a bit alien to me at the time. Being from a very technical background it was really strange to be specifying something that would cost R1M plus without any technical drawing or design tools; simply relying on the experience and technical expertise of one person making a few rough sketches on a white board!
After the interview Hein managed to slot us into his schedule for November 2012 and without delay Melissa got onto the task of sourcing our Isuzu NPS 300 truck. All being said and done, before we knew it November arrived and lo and behold, on 1 November we received the first photos to show us that the build had started.
The following 4 months were hectic; balancing between work, making design and finishing decisions, choosing curtaining fabric and many other choices that had to be made. Roger spent a fair amount of time on site finalising choices and just generally being interested and involved. The team were most patient with him constantly photographing and filming the process.
It has been an interesting journey to go from the idea to the final product. Below are some pictures of the build in various stages.
Take one brand new Isuzu NPS 300 truck
Cut it up with an angle grinder
Build a sub-frame to support the ‘home’ part
Add a floor
Construct and cut the side panels, and mold the fibre-glass components
Start putting it all together
The beginnings of the interior
The final product
And finally, the big moment!
