ALL ABOARD

Ali Jones Writer, broadcaster, and housebus adventurer

@housebusdylan @dylanthehousebus

Winter proofing

We’ve been on the road for about three months now, and it feels like a new way of living rather than an extended holiday. The minimal living is fantastic, with very little clutter helped along with mindful decision making about what we bring on board and whether we really need it.

Most work-related meetings are still done via Zoom, creating interesting feedback when my background is a line of campervans or the inside of the gazebo. At one recent video meeting, someone asked if I was at the Cranmer Square protest in a tent. The last time I sat in Cranmer Square was in the mid-1980s, and I was wearing a Christchurch Girls’ High uniform.

Our thoughts have turned to being ready for winter with the cooler weather approaching. Rob has put in a new bench. It’s fabulous and gives us much more space in the narrow walkway where the kitchen is. It also doubles as a stand-up desk. Underneath is space to put shelves for shoes, the dog bowls, and other things we’ve been tripping over.

The gruntier winter-proofing includes installing a diesel heater because although the log burner is wonderful, it does smoke a bit, creates dust in a small space, and is actually too efficient. We will need a heat transfer system to spread the log burner heat to the back of the bus where the bedroom is; there’s tiling to do, curtains to put up to keep the heat in, and finally, painting inside to finish. Other things like somewhere to put wet clothes and jackets when coming inside has to be sorted.

While Dylan is being prepped for winter, we are staying in Methven and really enjoying it. There are two toilets and a washing machine. Wahoo! But we miss the coming and going of other campers and motorhomes and caravans being directed into a site as though a jumbo jet is being brought to land. “Ok… ok… plenty of room….. STOP!”

We miss giving other campers names like “Mr Underpants” (who always wore his jocks when riding his motorbike around the campground) or “fluffy dog people” (there should be laws about how many fluffy dogs are allowed in a campervan). We miss waking up to a different view when we move somewhere else and being able to just drive, anywhere. However, the price of fuel will be dictating that a bit more.

Dylan isn’t going in for work until the middle of this month, so we’re off to the Pukaki canals near Tekapo for a week or so. Fishing, biking, sleeping, and more ZOOMING with a different background.