From Naboomspruit to Norway — Scrap Art & Viking Axes with Martiens Bekker .- Ep 71

Martiens Bekker is a sculptor, blacksmith and multi-medium artist from Naboomspruit.

He served in the SA Police Force, studied forestry, and built a career making scrap metal sculptures and film props for Warner Brothers and DreamWorks.

In 2009 he moved to Cornwall, UK, where he ran a coffee shop, served on the Coast Guard rescue team, and sold art — including a piece to the drummer of Queen.

A chance invitation brought the family to rural Norway in 2014, where they've lived ever since. Martiens became a Norwegian citizen in 2024.

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Timestamps

00:44 — Introduction: calling in from the mountains of Telemark, Norway

03:16 — Growing up in Naboomspruit, a family of Springbok athletes, and losing his father at age four

03:68 — Police force, forestry, Israel — finding his path back in South Africa

04:35 — Meeting his wife outside Cape Town and deciding to leave in 2009

05:35 — Life in Cornwall: coffee shop, Coast Guard, exhibitions — and worrying about British youth culture

07:26 — How Norway happened: a sawmill invitation that fell through, and a school principal who convinced them to stay

09:17 — SA → UK (2009) → Norway (2014) — and a visa battle with the Home Office involving a court case

11:41 — Becoming a Norwegian citizen in 2024 and the language test

13:20 — Which move was harder? Why he'd tell South Africans: "Find somewhere they speak English first"

15:07 — What Norway gets right: unlocked doors, great healthcare, open-source tax transparency

17:24 — The scrap metal art: making props for Warner Brothers and DreamWorks from a Cape Town workshop

23:29 — The Falmouth market story: selling a fish made from pick handles to the drummer of Queen

27:49 — Living with narcolepsy, diagnosed after sepsis in 2016

29:30 — Winter income: copper jewelry, firewood for a traditional bakery, and a heritage market in Mjønøy

31:56 — The price of immigration: reuniting with his brother in California after 16 years apart

36:12 — Why they left: giving the boys a better chance — and what that cost in family connections

37:10 — Would he do it again? His son thanked him for getting him out of Cornwall

38:12 — What he lost: his heart is still in South Africa, but his mind can't align with what he sees there now

39:43 — Could he go back? A brother-in-law's farm and a nephew with Angelman syndrome

41:22 — Advice for young South Africans: understand passive income, tax, and build a foundation

43:28 — Final advice: don't set expectations too high — every country has its problems

Quote of the Episode

"The grass is greener on the other side — you know why? Because there's more sht there."* — Martiens Bekker

Links & Resources

• Martiens Bekker — Instagram: search MJ Bekker or Martiens Bekker
• BBC Autumnwatch -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DowbAXSquqA
• 
  

More conversations. More destinations. More stories of South Africans navigating life abroad. Explore the full episode library at http://therelocatedsouthafrican.com.

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