Well, the bus refit is still very much ongoing, and we’re truly getting there now, with all the carpentry being a wonderful combined effort by my dear Dad ( boatbuilder/carpenter ) visiting who really wanted to be part of the project despite on holiday : )  and a great boatbuilder friend Ian and of course Paul – what a team. Then the finishing paint was kindly done by our good friend lovely Lindsey – Thanx so much.

We came across another big project to be done before we leave. On renewing the batteries we realized that the bus needed a WHOLE new rewire –  so with that, Paul got to it, with the help of a kind sparkie friend who spent hours and days with his head stuck in the electrical cupboard!  So a BIG thanks to Matt that we have everything really well balanced with a new fridge, lighting, inverter, solar panel, and batteries to run it all. Also, a big thank you to our local Opua businesses –  Burnsco and Cater Marine for their support and cost prices which have made it all more affordable for us, and also to Cam from solar solutions northland for supplying our solar panels at cost. We’re so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderfully skilled and generous people.

So, although a big delay, a good job done and dusted in a few weeks, but now the covid 19 pandemics really kicking off and we’re in lockdown!  What a world right now. Our house is pretty empty and ready to rent, shame – all this pushing to get going and now we just can’t go!

So once again, our plans have changed ( as many others have done to during this crazy time ) and we’ve decided not to rent the house. We’re spending our lockdown time in isolation which allows us to get on top of the bus projects, move back into the house!  creating a veg garden, walking locally, and homeschooling our girls, so plenty to be getting into. With that Lola’s been gravitating towards the kitchen with more time on her hands, whizzing up some fantastic meals, which we’ll be uploading onto her webpage soon.

So we’ve battened down the hatches for now, and postponed our travels until we know more – stay safe over these difficult times.