Not all hard work though, and itchy feet

While Trucky and John have been tinkering on the multiple vehicles in the yard here (male bonding), Maria and I have been off seeing the sights. We went to an antique show at the University of WA where the buildings and grounds were spectacular in their own right, took Jess before she left to the art gallery to see a couple of good local artist exhibitions, and generally doing other girl-bonding things – shopping, coffee, shopping…

Trucky and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary at a medieval-themed bed and breakfast in Carmel, in the Perth Hills (see members.westnet.com.au/smithers/carmelot/index.html). It was certainly something different and a bit of fun. And nice to get away from the bus for a while too. We stopped at Lesmurdie Falls on the way back to town - a very pretty spot.

We’ve also spent time with Karen and Jake (my SIL and nephew), and their friends Tracey, Tony and Connor. We've also caught up with some of Trucky's old friends and other relatives including Maria's boys Tony, Joe and Pete.

I’ve been lucky enough to pick up some nursing work through a local agency that supplies locum nurses to operating theatres in Perth. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing some different theatre complexes and how they are run, their standards of practise and the way they operate that’s different from ”over East”.

The kids had an uneventful flight back to Canberra early July, and are enjoying catching up with family and friends back home. They’ll return to us next week (can’t wait) then they can see a bit more of Perth before we head off on the 27th.

I can't wait to hit the road again!

Extreme storms lead to an extreme makeover

We’ve been in Perth now for almost three weeks, camping in John and Maria’s driveway. Trucky had to modify one of the trees in the yard to enable this, but we’re firmly here now.

Unfortunately the massive storms we encountered left a lot of residual damage to the poor old fibreglass roof of the bus, and we suffered badly with water damage inside. The worst affected was the lounge room and Jess’s loft bedroom. We’ve had to dry out all her bedding and replace a few wall and floor panels up there, and get her a new mattress.

The lounge has had an extreme make-over. It’s been fantastic to get rid of the nasty grey couch and hideous carpet, and the horrible chipboard built-in cupboard will not be missed! The whole room looks a lot fresher, bigger and brighter. Maria revamped the couch and it now has new foam and covers on the seats. Trucky and I relined the lounge room walls and recovered the floor with wipe-clean lino which hopefully will be more practical than the dust and mildew filled carpet of old. Thanks to a donation of an old pantry from Karen, we also have a new linen cupboard. The crowning glory is the new built-in cupboard that Trucky and John spent many hours and many swear words on.

Trucky’s also been busy fixing other bits and pieces – amongst other things the passenger door has been re-lined, the solar panel mounts moved and new hinges welded on the maintenance locker together with new floor supports. Oh, and most importantly we’ve both spent many hours on the roof with cans of sealer making sure no more rain can get in. We’ve got all our fingers, toes and everything else crossed to make sure no more water gets in!