Missing bits for the solar installation, including the four new AGM batteries have finally arrived and been fitted.

The inverter and charger are wired up in the boot, the Morningstar solar charger is installed and showing all is well with the battery bank fully charged.

Only trouble is the existing 12v wiring seems to have decided to do things its own way and when you switch on the pump the kitchen light comes on!

Have left the bus overnight so they can get an early start. As usual, it has taken nearly double the time they initially indicated. Luckily the labour was costed into the quote.

The nomad’s mantra is ‘save weight’. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.

But sometimes a small sacrifice has to be made. Last week I spent half a day cruising the local camping shops for some outdoor furniture to fit under the awning.

In the end I simply gave up. Sure a lot of it is lightweight and compact when folded, but the look got to me. It was aluminum tubing, gaudy Hawaiian cushions, springs and bits that like biting your thumbs. The final straw happened while I was trying to fold up an outdoor lounge chair and squashed my index finger.

Bugger.

I have a new mantra. Comfort first. And as part of it I am taking my original Queen Elizabeth First Class deckchair with me. Made of teak and brass it is wonderfully comfortable [and I just saw one for sale on eBay for $US800 and there's still five days left in the auction].

And something else, it is not all that heavy.

It is getting a fresh coat of linseed oil this week, as is the folding wooden table that came everywhere with me while I travelled with Bluey [my red Kombi].

I’m not even on the the road yet, but already the weather has me grounded.

Tasmania had a typical equinoctial storm early in the month. It was wild enough to wake me, inside my solid sandstone walled bedroom.

In the morning I looked out from the back deck and something about Plush’s roofline bothered me. When I inspected the penthouse later I found that the hatch’s top had been cracked wide open.

It had to happen while I waiting for a replacement I had ordered anyway. The original was jammed shut and the insect screen had been holed too many times to repair.

Rain was forecast so I set up a bucket system to hopefully collect any wayward drops of water.

I checked the hatch order [part of a bigger order — including new legs for the awning, the originals simply did not exist, and new seals for the Thetford toilet] but the suppliers were still waiting for the parts to arrive.

Things seemed secure enough until a week later. Another storm came through and in the morning the roof profile looked different again. This time the whole top of the vent had been thrashed. A bigger collecting bucket system was put in place.

It worked, sort of. But the following night another storm front came through and the violent wind sprayed the rain around the upper level like an internal shower on high pressure.

There’s now a brand new hatch in place, and thankfully it passed with flying colours when the heavens opened just hours after I got the bus home.