Skipper Weekend at Mac Nicol’s

It’s a family thing …

We left Durban at 11am, with the aim of stopping at Skipper’s factory on the way with a list of questions. Robbie, Reinhart and Charmaine were incredibly accommodating and welcomed us into the Skipper fold with some great advice, quickly sorting out the spares we needed for our van.

From there we headed to Mac Nicol’s at Bazley Beach, just 20 min away.
We thought we’d be one of the early arrivers, but were surprised to find the resort already full of Skipper Trailers! What an amazing sight! Usually, a caravan park is a jumble of tents and caravans of every make and model … but this weekend was a field of Oysters, Model T‘s and a couple of variations. There was even a very unique Ranger – the Model T’s baby brother of which only three were ever manufactured!

From the moment we arrived at our site, we were greeted by fellow Skipper-lovers, all eager to share their wisdom and camping tricks. We made an effort to remember names, but we made so many new friends I’m sure we will need reminders when we meet again.

Mac Nicol’s offers their trademark tray of tea and erection of your tent by their team, on arrival. We had only brought the bare basics, so decided to just do it ourselves this time, but it’s a service we will definitely make use of in the future.

We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the resort, checking out all the unique setups. While the vans and tents all look pretty much the same, everyone has their own ideas for modifications, giving each Skipper a character of its own. From an extended front step, to tubes attached to the under-carriage for storing tent poles – and other interesting add-ons, we were kept intrigued and made lots of notes.

Later, everyone gathered around the provided braai fires to enjoy our meal and discuss the expected weather for the weekend … “It always rains at a Skipper weekend.”
As predicted, it rained steadily all through the night.

Saturday morning saw the sun making a half-hearted appearance as the wind tried to move the clouds away. My best chance for getting my bikini on would have been Friday afternoon – a missed opportunity

Between tea & scones at 10:30, and another round of tea at 3pm, we explored the resort, made more new friends and prepared for the evening’s festivities.

Traditionally, everyone decorates their table with Christmas-y flair, and a winning table is chosen after dinner. Almost everyone went all out to impress with their sparkly decor, candles and lights – a pleasing sight as the afternoon light faded into dusk.
Once again, the Kerkhof’s provided a hearty dinner of fresh fish and chips with a selection of salads to suit everyone’s tastes. How amazing to sit down to dinner with a crowd of people we had only just met, and yet feel like we were visiting with family and old friends

On Sunday morning we did another round of “visiting” while waiting for our tent to dry out a bit after the night’s rain. Everyone met around the pool for one last serving of tea and scones, and then we reluctantly headed home.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again at the next Skipper camping trip in 2019!