By special request - a tour of the bus

Freshly painted - an operation which absorbed almost 10% of the budget.
You can see the roll-out awning roof over the door and the auto-tracking
satellite on the roof. There are also five skylights and three solar
panels up there.

 



Looking forward from the door. The captain's chairs swivel so they are the driver's
and passenger's seats while travelling and part of the lounge the rest of the time.
The 'jelly bean' couches were designed to stop the area looking like a doctor's
waiting room. We have two removable tables - one large one to go between the
chairs to make that area our dining room, and a smaller one that can mount
next to the passenger chair to take my laptop.

   


I love the kitchen. The bench tops are very deep so I have plenty of work
space. The drawers are soft-close and there are three large ones you can't see
on the right which are the pantry. Under the bench on the right is the 210
litre fridge/freezer, and the cooks among you might spot the Thermomix on
that same bench. Past the kitchen on the left is the toilet and handbasin. The
shower is opposite. There is a privacy door to separate these rooms and the
bedroom from the rest of the bus.

 



Impossible to photograph this room, but this does at least
show the glass sculpture our entire colour scheme was
based around.

 



In the bus on our wedding day.

  

The things we do in carparks

There are some odd things about our travelling lifestyle - and one of those is what we do in carparks.

It takes a bit of getting used to, sitting in a carpark and cooking a meal or doing a couple of hours work on the computer. Occasionally we even sleep in carparks, at places like golf clubs and RSAs.

But it's even more strange to come back from a run and have a shower in a carpark by the beach. Even though the windows are heavily tinted and the bus is completely private, I often feel like someone is going to say "You can't do that there".

And of course using the toilet is stranger still. But at least we don't have to put up with queues for public toilets. And we can 'go' any time we like.

The queue outside the only toilet open in Tirau on Christmas Day.
Photo taken from the toilet window in the bus.

Six month check-up

We've been on the road for just over six months now.

Has it been what we expected? Well, no.

Has it been amazing anyway? Absolutely.

Of course, it didn't start out quite the way we planned - the late delivery and unfinished state of the bus saw to that. We thought we'd be all relaxed and in the swing of things before we started our first job; instead we turned up at Treasure Island late on Christmas Day and started work at 7am on Boxing Day.

We've done all sorts of different work since then, and travelled a fair bit of the North Island. Financially, it would have been good to have more work, but we made a conscious decision to not work February and March so we could get some of the major issues with the bus finished/repaired. A lot of Craig's spare time is still filled with working on the bus; finishing, fixing, tweaking.

This has, in some perverse way, helped us become more relaxed. There's no point in ranting and raving about things we can't change, we just have to sort them out as best we can. This lifestyle isn't orderly and predictable, but that's not a bad thing.

It may not be what we expected, but we are loving our life. We are, indeed, On Happy Ground.

Perhaps not as adventurous as we thought?

25 June 2011

With a couple of nice days forecast early this week and no work on the horizon, we gave in to our itchy feet and set off on an adventure.

We've never been further north than Coromandel township, so decided to try for Port Jackson. Once you get past Colville the road is narrow and unsealed (not to mention torturous), so Craig was a bit nervous about tackling it in the bus. We weren't towing the little car for this trip, though, so that makes it easier.

The map shows our location, but not the condition of the roads. The Coromandel Peninsula is very hilly and we don't get anywhere quickly in our 8.5 tonne vehicle.

Our start was delayed by flat bus batteries - we've been sitting in one place too long. The local tow truck operator came in to give us a jump start (it's a 24v system) and Craig had a good chat with him about the roads around the top end. Unfortunately he knows the roads well because he goes up there to pick up wrecks - not great for the confidence. But he did say it would be fine so long as we took it easy. Apparently the trick is to stop when you see another vehicle coming and then 'negotiate' past each other. The big mistake most people make is to keep going and just veer off onto the verge - the edges are very soft and some of them don't make it past.

Because of our late start and the drabness of the weather, we decided to stay at the camp at Colville that night, then head further north in the morning. However, we're too heavy for their ground at this time of year - there has been an awful lot of rain. It turned out to be a lucky problem though, because the proprietor suggested we head a bit further north to Otautu Bay Farm Camp.

What an amazing spot. A couple of kilometres along the Port Jackson road is an idyllic bay, housing a farm, a few holiday houses and a lovely camping ground. We parked 5m from the beach, looking straight out into the Hauraki Gulf.



The view out the front window of the bus.

The camp is run by a lovely couple who have lots of interesting plans for its future. It's clearly very popular with fisherfolk and families and is in one of the best locations we've ever found.

A moody-looking evening.



Otautu Bay with part of the camp at the far end.



The gorgeous beach dunnies.

While there we discovered there were roadworks on the Port Jackson road, which meant there were a fair few heavy trucks around. So we decided against going any further north and had a second night at Otautu Bay. The rest of this adventure will have to wait for another time.

New Chums

16 June 2011

Today we took one of Coromandel's magic trips.

New Chums Beach is somewhere you want to keep secret, but at the same time want to share with the whole world.


It is a quintessential east cost beach, but with a difference. You can't drive there. You can't buy an ice cream or an espresso. In fact there aren't even any houses.



Whangapoua



To get to New Chums, first you have to drive to Whangapoua. Finding where to go from there is a bit challenging - there are no signs. Even if you've checked it all out on the Internet first, drop into the Whangapoua store for directions. It's worth it just for the storekeeper's reaction. To paraphrase:



"Directions to New Chums? Of course you wouldn't be coming in to buy something. I love living here, but that's the one thing that would make me sell up. You're the 25th person today to come in and ask how to get there. It would help if the hairy-armpit brigade would let us put up signs, but they want to keep it to themselves. It doesn't matter how many maps I put up in the window, you all still walk straight past and ask me for directions. Even when I'm out riding people flag me down to ask how to get there. Just drive to the end of the road and follow the hundreds of others heading to New Chums."

Actually, we saw eight other people there, but I digress.

It is a bit of a scramble to get to New Chums Beach, but such a beautiful sight at the end. Wade the stream, hop some rocks, follow a track and cross the headland. Then you'll be in paradise.

He's going to be so impressed when he finds out there are a couple
of beers in that pack I gave him to carry.

First glimpse of New Chums.

Stunning.

A couple of our fellow adventurers.

  

The return view of Whangapoua.



Was it worth it?

11 June 2011

There's no doubt a kayak is a great alternative for putting your kontiki out when there's no wind. But I think I would have worn a wetsuit at this time of year. And those waves at Tairua were making it pretty hard work.

Hope they got plenty of fish.

Winter. Really?

1 June 2011

It's a sparkling start to winter, here in Whitianga. A pretty day, heading for a high of 18C. Doesn't feel like winter at all to a couple of Wellingtonians.

We're reaching the end of the kiwifruit packing season, with just a week or so to go. It's been a fairly tiring and somewhat unblogworthy month. On the whole we've worked six days a week, mostly on the 1pm to 11pm shift.

So basically, we sleep in (not something I'm very good at, although Craig is rather an expert), spend the rest of the morning mooching around drinking cups of tea and cooking food to take to work, drive 20 minutes to work, work for 10 hours, drive home, sit up long enough to be able to sleep, sleep, start the cycle again. We're not really as dull as that sounds, but not far off!

The work itself is repetitive and a bit physical. It's easy enough to cope with once you get your head around the tedium, and Craig and I tend to get moved around several tasks during the shift so at least we get some variety. And at the end of the shift - we just walk out and forget all about it. No finishing of reports when we get home, no fretting about what tomorrow will bring, no catching up on emails you couldn't get to; just switch off.

And our favourite answer if someone asks our opinion on a decision? "We're on minimum wage - you have to pay more if you want us to think."



Mercury Bay Holiday Park - such a pretty place to stay.

   

We love theses goalposts. Who needs perfectly straight
poles when you can just hack the branches off a couple
of trees?



It must be winter - all the action at the marina involves
fishing boats getting hauled out for a clean-up.

  

Such a pretty, sparkling day to start winter.

 

These things never look like they should stay in the air!

Packing kiwifruit

4 May 2011

It's funny, the tricks your eyes and mind play on you. When I'm proofreading, common words like 'the' and 'with' start to look like they're spelt wrong, because you see them so often.

After a few hours watching gold kiwifruit tumble down a roller belt, similar things started to happen. For about half an hour they looked like limes. Then they turned into shrivelled potatoes left in the pantry too long until they turned green.

But at least I was grading (picking out damaged and poor quality) gold kiwifruit. They're quite smooth. Apparently grading green kiwifruit is much worse - they push them through faster because they're not so easily damaged.

And with green kiwifruit you get 'the brown fuzz'. Apparently it goes everywhere.

Wellington to Paeroa

30 April 2011

With the family celebrations over, it's time to head back to Whitianga from Wellington. We're off to work in a kiwifruit packhouse; the main season is quite late starting this year.

The North Island was hit by a fair-sized storm this week, so we left Wellington in foul weather on Wednesday. The wind made for exciting driving conditions, including testing how well Craig had installed the new wing mirrors.

Wellington Harbour the day we left.

Of course, I stayed warm and dry while Craig tightened the mirrors.

A very quirky Sanson house.

Main street Bulls.

Beautiful morning light on the Rangatira Golf Course.

And Rangitikei River.

Storm damage between Taupo and Rotorua.

Autumn colours in Rotorua.

Not often we see Te Aroha without its head in the clouds.

Family time

25 April 2011

My family has gathered in Wellington over Easter for an advance celebration of Dad's 80th birthday, which is in May.

Not quite the whole family, which is a very scary proposition indeed, but a pretty damn good representation:
Mum and Dad
All five kids (four daughters and a son)
One grandson and five granddaughters
Two great-granddaughters
One son-in-law

You'll notice we're fairly good at girls in our family!

Well done, Hamilton

20 April 2011

We went to the V8 Supercars in Hamilton last weekend. It's a street circuit, which means you only get to see a small part of the track, but there was a big screen opposite our grandstand so we got good coverage of everything else as well.

Our grandstand was on a sweeper, so there was plenty going on - particularly as we had a lot of rain and the track was very greasy.

It was a full-on weekend - practice and qualifying on Friday, races all day Saturday, a ZZ Top concert on Saturday night, more racing all day Sunday and a Good Charlotte concert on Sunday night. All of this was included in the ticket price and we soaked up every minute of it.

Motor racing is much more Craig's thing than mine, but there was so much going on I didn't have a chance to get bored. Apart from the V8 Supercars there were NZ V8s, V8 utes, muscle cars, trick utes and various other parades and demonstrations.

And then there's always the crowd to watch. Lots of serious race fans, but also lots of people who are there because it's the thing to do. I can never get over the way some women will still go in their mini-skirts and skimpy tops even when there's rain and wind forecast - and four-inch heels will never go well in ankle deep mud.

One way to avoid paying for your ticket. They didn't stay
long though, so it can't have been very comfortable.

But they built this makeshift grandstand at the bottom of
the tree. We reckon they could see about 10m of track.

This ute was helping clear up a crash when it got rammed
by another car, so the rescuers became the rescued.

Start of the final race, eventually won by Shane van
Gisbergen, one of only three Kiwi drivers. A very popular
result with the crowd!

Lots of people ended up on their bums in this.

A few more details

13 April 2011

The dress is from Annah S. We designed my ring ourselves with Colleen from The Village Goldsmith. We've had both of them since December - they've been travelling around with us in the bus while we decided where and when to get married. Craig's ring is one I gave him a few years ago; it just got shifted from his right hand to his left.

We only decided on Napier a few weeks before the wedding. Glenis and Brett were the only other people there.

I found both the florist and photographer via the internet. Shar Hays was fabulous - we love her photos and the cool slide show she made for us.

Clearview Estate makes absolutely beautiful wine and we like the fact it is still an informal, relaxed winery.

A few people knew in advance we were going to get married, but hardly any knew it was actually about to happen.

Basically, everyone found out at the same time the next day - via text, this blog, Facebook and Twitter simultaneously. Gotta love the social media!

How the day unfolded

Craig's mother's pearls.

Craig washed the bus and I sent off photos for a magazine article.

It seems like an odd way to start your wedding day, but the bus was going to star in the wedding photos and I had a deadline.

On the whole, though, we had a leisurely and lovely day, involving brunch, hair and makeup sessions for the girls and an interrupted attempt at a quiet beer for the boys (they’d just had their first sip when they got a text saying we were ready to be picked up).

We had a registry office wedding at the Napier District Court, with Glenis and Brett as our witnesses. The registrar was lovely and we were the 100th wedding at that office in 2011.

First married kiss.

We then travelled out to Clearview Estate, where the bus was waiting, for more champagne and photos.

Us and bus.

Us, bus and bubbles!





Dinner in the restaurant at Clearview was pizza and (gorgeous) wine, then Glenis and Brett stayed in a cottage on the vineyard while we spent the night in the bus.



On happy ground.