The Lofts Boutique Hotel Review In July 1869, Arndt Leonard Thesen, a timber merchant from Norway, left his home with his wife and nine children, with plans to start a new life in New Zealand. Their ship encountered problems near Cape Town, and they decided to stay in South Africa. Arndt settled down with his family in Knysna, where they started a timber trading company. They then bought Paarden Island in the Knysna River estuary and established a timber processing plant on the island. Paarden Island thereafter became known as Thesen Island. The Thesens were quite successful and The Plettenberg