Books... And More Books...

I love books...
I love reading them...
I like looking at them...
I like being surrounded by them.
A while back there was a comment on my blog expressing interest in what the books on my shelf are...
So, as it's a wild wet day and I'm inside I thought I would tell you about some of them and about one in particular.

Lots of them I haven't read yet, that's why I have given them space in my house bus.
I have about 20 more boxes of books in storage, some university books, many specalist counselling books, some treasures that belonged to my mother...
So when I have read these ones I will either give them away or swap them for some more in my boxes.

So starting from the left...
Suduko It stimulates my brain in a different pattern.
Scrabble Players Dictionary, I don't play so much but used to play online with a friend,  I must get back to it.
'The Poisonwood Bible' came highly recommended. I've had it for a long time and haven't got round to reading it. Set in 1959 in the Belgian Congo, an unforgettable epic that chronicles the disintigration of a family and a nation.
'The Fatal Shore' by Robert Hughes, the fleet sent in 1787 by the British Govt to colonise Australia. An opus on the convict years. I have been on the lookout for this book for ages and found it recently in a 2nd hand bookshop.
'Six Hours One Friday'. I've had this book a long time, I've read half of it and want to finish it. Easter, Good Friday. Three bodies are nailed to three crosses, one of the bodies is that of an extraordinary man... Jesus. Find out why: Your life is not futile... Your failures are not fatal... Your death is not final...
'The Planets' by Dava Sobel, a science journalist, her most ambitious topic to date, the planets of our solar system, whether revealing what lies behind Venus's cocoon of acid clouds or recalling her personal encounter with moon dust, this intimate account is filled with fascination, beauty and surprise. I can't wait to read this.
And last but not least for today - 'Health Wars', by Phillip Day. Pub: Credence Publications. www.credence.org.
I recently went to an evening seminar given by this man who travels the world endeavouring to bring the facts in this book and in the many others he has written to peoples attention. It encourages us to take responsibility for our own health and well being and not rely so heavily on hospitals, doctors and drugs all funded by the huge encroaching greed of pharmaceutical corporations. It's a fascinating book with some truths that will shake the myths you believe.
 

Hunters and Gatherers...

The weather is getting cooler and it's the time of the year for lighting the fire.
My friend has a 'Little Cracker' fire in his bus.
I have a diesel heater.
We both love the fire so when we are parked somewhere long enough we gather firewood, cut it up into a wood pile
I love it...
It's very therapeutic and satisfying.
I climbed over the fence outside my door and fossicked in the sand hills. This is the area between the Uretiti DoC camp and the beach.
There used to be a lot of pine trees here but they have been cut down in the name of safety.
They were cleared from the camp area but left to rot in the sandhills...
So fire wood abounds.

 

Alternator's... And Auto Electricians...

My first breakdown...
I have a 120 litre 3-way fridge. It had been running on LPG.
I decided that as I only have 2 x 9kg LPG bottles that last about 20 days each...
And in the interest of being self sufficient and being able to get lost in the wilderness for weeks on end...
That I would switch the fridge onto the solar powered batteries...
At the moment I have 2 x 85watt panels on the roof feeding into 2 x 220 amp hour house batteries.
There is a meter inside that tells me how many amp hours are going into the batteries and what their level of charge is...
So everything was fine and life went merrily on...
Until Friday morning I decided to put some music on in the CD player that runs off the starter motor.
Funny...
It wouldn't go.
So I tried the CB radio which sits on top of the CD player on the front dashboard...
It wouldn't go either.
So nothing for it...
Start the motor...
But...
It wouldn't go either.
Oh dear! What now!
Call the AA Breakdown...
It's a good thing I have recently upgraded my membership to 'Motorhome Plus' which means they will come out to a vehicle as big as mine and tow me to a garage if needed.
So a mechanic duly arrived and isolated the problem...
The fridge is connected to the starter batteries, not the solar powered house batteries.
So it had drained the batteries while I have been parked.
This exposed another much older problem...
The alternator wasn't charging the batteries from the motor when it was running.
But...
Said the mechanic...
This is a job for an Auto Electrician...
Here's a name and number...
Give him a call.

This Auto El had his head under another vehicle somewhere else but would give me a call if he was free before next week.
A couple of hours later I got a call, his next job had been cancelled and he was on his way to me.

What a wonderful 'find' this man turned out to be...
A real 'old timer' who had grown up with these old motors and knew exactly what to do and what screws and bits needed to be taken out and fixed.
He made sense of the jumble of wires attached to the batteries.
I have an Isuzu 6BD1 motor, athough it's new to this vehicle 10 years ago, he told me it's a motor from the early 1990's.
The most reasurring thing was that he can fix the alternator, it needs new brushes.
He also took the batteries away to charge them.
When he brings it all back on Tuesday I will be up and running again.
We agreed that Uretiti DoC beach camp is a great place to be broken down and stranded. I wasn't planning on going anywhere for a couple of weeks anyway.
You can see how in these old Bedford's the motor is accessed - not the easiest thing. The engine cover is lifted off, the motor and grass below is exposed and in the recesses is the alternator.
The amazing thing about this man is that he can also fix the fuel tank guage which isn't working.
He told me where to go to get the Speedo re-calibrated - that isn't working either!
He is going to look at the wiring for the fridge and when I get a big roof rack made with more solar panels on one side and room for my kayak on the other side, he is going to wire in the panels and re-wire the fridge...
So my desire to be self sufficient for a long time will come to pass.
He is also going to wire in a reversing camera for me...
So in another month when all these things have happened...

Maiden Journey... 300+km

Here are some maps...
Follow the dotted line...
It was a lovely autumn drive along a narrow country road, up hills and down dale, brilliant autumn trees...
And all went well.
Then onto the motorway...
And all went well...
We stopped for the night at Orewa, I think you will find that on the map.
The next day onto Warkworth for mail, shopping and a delicious Chicken, Feta & Spinach pie for lunch. I also found a fantastic clothes shop and did a bit of damage to my bank balance...
But it was such a treat to find a shop that was a 'one off' and not a repeat of the same shops in every mall in NZ.
Onward to Uretiti DoC camp where I am now. It's wonderful weather...
Lots of Vitamin D...
And a good place to 'settle' for a while and adapt to my new home.

Back In New Zealand... New Adventures...

I am back in New Zealand after a lovely week and birthday celebrations in Palm Beach.
Palm Beach was fabulous but it's lovely to be back...
And back to my new home.

While I was away the name the previous owners had endowed it with was removed...
It's about to be renamed...
'The Dawdling Hare'...
A delicious oxymoron...
My friend Keith has 'The Flying Tortoise'...
Hence the inspiration.
As soon as I can find a cartoonist to draw me a picture...
Then the 'naming' will happen.
The name depicts my lifestyle. Although the bus is old, 1970, it has a 6 speed Isuzu motor so is actually quite fast...
Trouble is...
In the story the tortoise wins the race...
Not that there is one, in fact quite the opposite.

Back to my bus...
Then on the road...
I have to admit I was rather anxious.
I had driven it around Paeroa and Thames...
But onto the motorway and over the Auckland Harbour Bridge!
The only reasurring thing was I am bigger than the cars so they would probably avoid me.
The big trucks were a worry though.
I started off following my friend, we both have CB radios, so the occasional information about the road and corners was very helpful.
Then the motorway and just before the bridge we went in separate directions...
For the first time I was totally on my own.
"Get a grip" I told  myself...
"Shoulders down, relax" were my instructions to myself...
"I can do it, I will do it"...
I kept repeating.
The thing I find most difficult with the Bedford is the gears, the old gear stick in the middle of the floor...
So when the lane of traffic I was in suddenly banked up and came to a standstill half way up the bridge incline...
I had to gather all my wits and courage and talk myself slowly through the gear and brake process and...
I did it, I got to the other side...
No mishaps.
So what is known in the local bus community as my 'Baptism of Fire' is over for the moment and next time it will be much easier.

It was a slow journey...
From Paeroa, firstly I had to fill with diesel and fill the 2 9kg LPG bottles.
More about that tomorrow.
We went as far as a place called 'Ray's Rest', on the Firth of Thames. It's a freedom parking place, a tidal salt marsh sort of place but thousands of birds gather to migrate so it's very interesting and beautiful in its own way. The tide creeps silently in and out and leaves a huge muddy estuary that the birds love.
We spent two nights there then the 'big' drive as far as Orewa.
I braved the supermarket car park as shopping for food was essential, no mishaps there and some help with backing.
I'm about to install a reversing camera, that's essential for me as I find it hard both to see and judge the distance 8 meters behind me.
So after my 'Maiden Voyage' of about 300km  I am now back at Uretiti DoC camp, not far from Whangarei.
 Pictures:
1) My Bedford
2 & 3) Ray's Rest
4) Auckland Harbour Bridge
5) Supermarket

Goodbye to Palm Beach...

It was goodbye to Palm beach and my family there.
I had a wonderful holiday and was very happy to celebrate my 70th birthday there.
On our last evening together we went to Clareville,  another lovely beach on the Pittwater Harbour.
A walk then a BBQ at the council provided facilities.
We shared a bottle of champagne and watched the beautiful sunset.
In the morning it was goodbye to the birds, goodbye to the deck where we usually ate breakfast and the hammock where I lay in the sun and goodbye to the view from the deck, where,
if I was there at a different time of the year, I would see the whales swimming by...
We left early...
50km to the airport...

My Last Day... Of Palm Beach Adventures...

All good things come to an end...
So 'they' say.
But I don't believe that.
One good thing ends and another adventure starts.
But on my last day in Palm Beach we got the ferry across the Pittwater Harbour to Mackerel Beach.
It's a regular ferry service and stopped at several little bays and wharves before we got off.
There is no car access so at the wharf  are lots of wheelbarrows that belong to the 'locals'. It's the way that everything from groceries to generators...
Babies to Grandma...
Are wheeled up the garden path to 'home'.
There are beautiful houses in the bush, rock carvings and very tame Wallaby's.
We went walking round the beach and up the hill to a friend's house that, like most houses there, is built up the side of a hill.
But this one is a bit different.
It's 3 levels, 2 guest bedrooms underneath then continue up the outside stone steps to the main living area which is two separate rooms accessed by and built on a large wooden deck with a walkway between and overlapping roofs to keep out the rain.
Magnificent views and openness.
At bedtime, or any 'nap' time it's outside again and further up the steep hillside in an 'Inclinator' - like a small cable car - it's fun but I don't know about the middle of winter in the rain!
In case  you wonder...
It was designed and is owned by an architect with lots of money who lives in Europe and visits this paradise once a year...