Wednesday 4th June.

Picked the Cardiffs up around 9:00 am and headed for Thames, arriving about 2:30 to find it was all go at the Donaldsons’ place.
They’ve had the bus for nine months now, and their progress/performance has been abysmal.
They've installed toilet/shower unit with tanks and water pump, sink, gas stove and bottles, double bed unit, (which can be two singles or seats,) backrests along both sides of the rear of the bus, a fridge, and the floor.

All up it should have been about a month's work.
Perhaps six weeks.

There's no upholstery or floor covering yet, and the ceiling (with insulation,) interior lights, power points, rear seat belts, reversing camera, tv etc. still has to be installed.

And it's still to be painted and signwritten.

Thursday 5th June.

Took it for a Certificate of Fitness in Kopu, and it failed.
The rear riding lights are orange where they should be red . . . the stupid man wanted me to cut the wiring.
Get off!
I'll change the lenses . . . but in the interim I’ll just remove the bulbs.

He also wanted more reflectors on the rear bumper, so while I removed the bulbs in the riding lights I sent Rosie in to Thames to get four strip-type stick-on reflectors from Repco.
She came back with reflective tape.
NO!
Strip-type stick-on reflectors!
Reflective tape is not now regarded as a legal reflector for wof or CoF.
Bryan Creswell, a mate of ours from way back, had shown up to look at it, so sent him in to get the correct thing, which he duly turned up with.
Bunged them on, and took it back to the man.
Whilst waiting for him to finish his coffee, I looked at the 'stuff' VTNZ had for sale in their wee shop . . . and there were the appropriate reflectors . . . $2 cheaper than Repco. He could’ve told me.
Sigh.
They're out there . . . and they're allowed to breed.
And vote.

But he passed it.
And we drove it home.

Meg and Richard Cardiff took the Calais home while we followed.

Bloody hell that thing has some grunt!
Coxy had said its got more pulling power than a schoolboy with a copy of Penthouse and he's right.
More tit than Dolly Parton.

We passed a ute parked on the side of the road at Tongaporutu, and later stopped at the top of Mt. Messenger because Richard wanted to take some photos with the bush as a backdrop, and the ute we'd passed pulled in behind us.
It was Lyn Vincent, a mate from way back.
"I knew it had to be you; because I couldn't bloody catch you!"

So there ya go . . . there are one or two things to sort over the next few days; and then it's off to the paint shop.
Hopefully they can paint and install the ceiling too.
That can be done while we're overseas.

Well I hope it can.
What can go wrong?