Another driving lesson meets officious prejudices...

I've been parked in one place at the Paeroa RV Centre while unpacking and moving into my new home.
Decided another driving lesson was in order too.
Going into town, in this case Thames, 35km away,
would be good practice.
So I set off with a friend with several instructions about  coping with gear changes, the indicator, using the gears to slow down at corners and intersections and the caution not to drive too fast...
Stay in control...  
So off we went, merrily along the road...
Not too fast...
Not too slow...
A bit hard to tell really as I'm new to driving this vehicle, also I don't have an accurate speedo, it needs re-calibrating, so a bit of guess work is needed.
We were nearly to Thames when I heard a siren and pulled over
expecting an ambulance to pass me but no...
It stopped behind me and a traffic officer got out of a plain unmarked car.
I knew everything about the bus and my licence was in order so...
I came face to face with the first prejudice of the day.
I don't know what this young man expected or who he thought might be driving this lovely old Bedford but he certainly did not expect me...
White hair, mature, make-up, well groomed, gorgeous...
Need I say more?
Well he shuffled around and all he could come up with was I needed to pull over more often and let the traffic behind me past as other drivers get impatient and do silly things...
If I don't let them past.
I pointed out that the roads are narrow, there is seldom room on the side of the road for a bigger vehicle to pull over and also I am not responsible for other peoples, feelings, attitudes and behaviour.
Suitably rebuked with a warning he sloped away...
And on I went into Thames to a virtually empty car park well out of town where I practiced U turns and backing and parked out of the way, not bothering anybody...
And had lunch.
There I met my next prejudice - another traffic enforcement officer who stopped on the road beside me to tell me I was illegally parked in the way I was parked and the particular park I was in.
If I took note...
I was told...
Further along the car park were 4 parks allocated for self contained vehicles parking overnight and I should park nose to the kerb.
My friend who was with me, who has parked in this car park before in a similar size vehicle, pointed out that there are 2 allocated parks, we were in town to shop not park over night and that as I was 7.2 meters long and the allocated parks 4 meters long, I would protrude 3.2 meters over the end of the car park and over a fire hydrant,which it is illegal to do.
I also pointed out that the large breast screening vehicle was also parked parallel over several car parks...
Was that vehicle also illegally parked?
The dialogue got heated, as Number 15, her name when asked...
Was not going to discuss anything in any reasonable fashion...
The end result...
My friend was deemed rude so she would give me a parking ticket...
For inconsiderably  parking...
Such was her anger, rudeness, aggression.
Well...
No such word so an invalid ticket.
So off we went to town and just  happened to pass the office of the local newspaper...
A paper for the voice of the community, it said...
We had a story we thought...
The editor just happened to be another bus dweller and very empathetic...
My photo was taken, photos we had taken at the 'crime scene' were handed over and...
Yes...
Front page news in next weeks edition.
The heading:
Little old white haired lady takes on local bureaucrats!

Moving Day...

It was so exciting.
Out of the old and  into the new...
Well it's a 1970's model but so well restored...
First things first... hats, bags and shoes...
What every girl can't do without.
It was a beautiful fine day so, as you can see the motor home got emptied onto the lawn. Everything outside got put away but the inside has taken me a couple of days.
I have more room inside... More cupboards...
A bigger fridge...
A full length wardrobe.

A Sunday Drive...

 Up, up and away.
I'm on the road in my new House Bus.
This is my 2nd driving lesson and the start of a whole new journey.
This bus is a 1970 model so nothing about it is automatic.
It's got power steering which is essential for me.
It's got a large steering wheel, 6 gears, a manual indicator...
That I need to remember to turn off.
It's got an old brake that takes 2 hands...
Or one stronger it seems than mine...
I'll get used to it.
Meanwhile we have worked out another way of starting uphill on the handbrake.
So I had fun on the road on a Sunday drive.
Starting uphill...
Doing U turns...
Backing - I'm going to install a reversing camera.
It's too hard to judge the distance 8 meters behind me with only wing mirrors.
My marvellous tutor Chris, with loads of patience tells me I'm doing well.
I'm not ready for the city traffic yet though.

I'm So Excited...

After a 7 hour drive and feeling exhausted I stepped into this lovely looking, from the outside, bus.
I must say I was wondering what to expect.
I had been sent photos, but they can be deceptive.
Well...
I was stunned and overwhelmed.
I just sat and looked for a while and absorbed.
These photos give you a glimpse of what I was seeing...
And so much of it is on my 'Wish List'.
It is beautiful...
It has class, it was featured in the Metro magazine a while back.
It has character.
The front driver's and passenger seats swivel into the sitting room area.
It is simple in design and lovely soft muted colour scheme...
No pink or purple anywhere to be seen.
It has lots of drawers, cupboards and pantry space...
A 120 litre fridge/freezer...
A lovely 'L' shaped little kitchen with full size oven & 4 gas hobbs.
Beautiful wooden floors and table.
Big windows that open and plain white pull down roller blinds...
So no patterned clutter.
Walk through to the bedroom with a full length wardrobe on the left...
And the bathroom on the right.
The bed is east/west, exactly what I wanted and notice the window...
To look at the stars.
There is no fireplace but a top of the range diesel heater.
I will change the name to...
Licorice Allsorts.
You can see where I will sit to drive it...
In time...
I'm having lessons.
This bus is a 1970 Bedford VAS.
Ten years ago an Izuzu 6BD1 motor was put in.
It has a 6 speed gear box with overdrive.
And...
Yes, power steering.
It's Gross Laden Weight is  5.5 tonnes.
In New Zealand on 1st April the rules changed for Class 1 and Class 2 licences, allowing vehices of up to 6 tonnes to be driven on a regular Class 1 car licence...
So that's me - driving my new home on the car licence that I have.
I move in next Tuesday...
I can't wait!

My Wish List...

Since I moved to live in my motor home on the road full time I have had a dream of a bigger vehicle.
I've been looking and looking at all sorts of vehicles and developed a 'wish list' of my ideal bus.
First it had to have character...
Not be ordinary like 10,000 others on the road, so maybe it would be older...
A Bedford maybe?
I wanted power steering...
Not in a Bedford people told me.
I wanted the front drivers and passenger seats to swivel to be part off the sitting room area...
Well Bedfords are old and don't do that.
I wanted beautiful condition...
Old vehicles I have looked at usually have so much rust, are tatty, old tyres, peeling paint...
No thanks, not for me.
I wanted style, a bit of class...
No pink bedspreads or purple curtains or patterned couches.
No animals or smokers smells.
I wanted something simple in design and layout, plenty of cupboards...
I wanted a bedroom with a view...
To be able to lie in bed at night and look at the stars.
It also had to be warm...
I would like a little fire...
And then...
My friend Keith rang and said with great excitement...
"I've found your bus here at Paeroa, get down here, I've got first option on it for you" so convinced was he that this was 'my' bus.
"There is another buyer in the wings, he doesn't quite have the cash.
Come down immediately.'
It was a 7 hour road trip from Russell in the Bay of Islands in atrocious weather conditions.
I arrived exhausted.
As soon as I stepped inside my spirit soared and I knew the trip had been worth it.
Keith had been right...

Palm Sunday...

Yesterday I went to church at Christ Church in Russell...
Or to give it it's Maori name -
Te Whare Karakia o Kororareka.
It is New Zealand's oldest existing church and possibly the oldest building still being used for its original purpose.

 It was Palm Sunday which marks the beginning of Holy Week, the last week of Lent and for Christians it is when we remember the last week of Jesus' life - when He made the journey to Jerusalem on a donkey - which symbolises peace - to celebrate the Jewish Festival of Passover.
People welcomed Jesus by waving and throwing palm branches in the path of the donkey.
They hoped Jesus was the Messiah/Saviour the Old Testament of the Bible talks about and promises.
Some people today believe He was/is, others are still waiting.

The service reflected that Palm Sunday is both a happy day and a sad day because Jesus died less than a week after his arrival in Jerusalem.

I've been reflecting...
What courage to knowingly ride to your death...
And a death of such cruelty.

Travelling South...150km in a week!

Te Ngaire Bay was my home for a night. I reluctantly moved on from Tauranga Bay and followed the road round to Mahinepua. I intended to stay there, it's another beautiful little bay, but the wind was a gale and blowing right in so I kept going past Wainui (look at the map posted a few days ago) to Te Ngaire.
I tucked myself at the end of a little road that went nowhere except to the beach. It was out of the wind and sheltered.
I was surrounded by empty holiday homes so had the million dollar view and accommodation all to myself. Quite deserted as you can see, when I walked along the beach.
I moved on again the next morning over the hilltop, Matauri Bay in the distance.
The wind was fierce and nearly blew me away when I stopped to take photos.
So I left the Far North behind...
It took me a week to travel, stopping lots of course as my blog has reported...
150km to Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands, Northland.