Ain’t she pretty?

For more than a year I’ve been on the road in Tasmania, a not unpleasant task, but the last month has been hell.

I’ve basically been camped in a huge workshop in industrial Rokeby, an outer-Hobart suburb where ‘The Bus’ has been getting a major makeover.

Since Day One rust spots had been a problem (one apparently shared by many Toyota Coasters … ) It came to head at the end of last winter when the awning began to fall off just as I was setting off from a friend’s place in Hobart.

Luckily, he spotted the awning sagging and managed to alert me before I hit the highway north. We managed to get the heavy fitting off without inflicting too much more damage, but it did reveal some nasty rust, previously hidden by the awning.

The original plan was to head north to the rust capital of Australia — Queensland. There, we were led to believe, were platoons of panelbeaters experienced in dealing with ageing Coasters. It was not to be.

Various work and personal commitments held me up, and I was finally persuaded to use a local chap. It has been an interesting experience to say the least.

Basically a one-man operation, the sandblasting, ‘bogging’, sanding (wet and dry), masking, polishing, etc, etc, all had to fit in around other jobs. hence the extended ‘holiday’ in this industrial wasteland.

It is now approaching the final stretch, some more wet sanding and a final touchup should have ‘The Bus’ ready soon to strut the highways. It is a dramatic new look, and all to be revealed in the next entry. Watch this space.

Here’s a great solution for storing a two-piece flyfishing rod and reel with line fully-loaded and ready with fly attached.

Jim Hill of Oatlands, like me, has trouble tying on flies on cooler days, and this way he just pulls rod and reel out of the 40mm tube, joins the two pieces and he’s ready.

He suggested it would work fine with my four-piece rod with a shorter tube and perhaps a 50mm pipe. Watch this space for a progress report …

While waiting out 100km/h winds at Ross yesterday this little pooch made friends.

A Jack Russell/Corgi cross as a best guess, he had no collar and his ears certainly perked up when he was called by any name with ‘biscuit’ in it. He also answered to ‘Chubby’.

Here he is guarding the entrance to the ‘office’.

Last night’s office, about an hour before twilight finally disappeared. Oatland’s Lake Dulverton foreshore is a popular overnighter for those travelling the Midlands Highway, and certainly enjoys a better reputation than the one foisted on it by The Mercury, in January 1898:

Lake Dulverton is little more than a quagmire — a breeding ground for pestilence and fever.

The lake has been transformed in recent months — flooded for the first time since 1990 — and teeming with more than 6300 brook and rainbow trout.

And, each afternoon, the local schoolchildren try and haul them in. For the majority it is has been their first opportunity to fish.

Organised by local angler Kerry Mancey, below, the lake has been stocked with 6000 yearling rainbows (about 200mm) released by the Inland Fisheries Service and supplied by Springfield Hatcheries in north-east Tasmania, who had them surplus to their needs.

And on October 20-21 two more lots of adult fish, mainly brooks, were released by the Australian Maritime College. The 300-odd fish were also surplus to their research needs.

While travelling I usually stop once or twice a day to check emails from clients and, of course, I choose stopovers with a view. And, in Tasmania that often means an ocean panorama.

Above is the very pretty Pirates Bay lookout near Eaglehawk Neck, and below is a very low tide at the beach at the southern end of Dunalley.

Both turn a potential chore into a pleasure.

Have just spent four days working with sculptor Peter Adams helping him get more than 300 blog posts transferred to a new software setup. You can see the results here.

His studio at the Windgrove Centre near Roaring Beach on the Tasman Peninsula enjoys stunning views of the thundering surf down below. While I was there the surf went from mirror-calm to near five metres.

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.

About eight years ago I was in a minor dispute with the Tax Office and they requested bank statements for the previous five years.

Not a problem I tell the accountant, they’re in a box in the basement storeroom and I’ll send them to you by the end of the month.

It was not to be. A wild storm, a blocked drain, and the storeroom was flooded. By the time I realised what had happened, about three days later, the documents were a solid brick of sodden paper.

Many phone calls later, the bank finally delivered the needed records, at a price — a big price. Only consolation the ATO agreed with our figures in the end.

I imagined travelling with seven years of business records and started feeling a bit depressed. Then sometime last year I got this from my bank:

Smart Statements You can now choose to view, download and save up to the last 7 years of your statements online free of charge. View your statements online 24/7 within NAB Internet Banking by selecting “account info” then “View statements”.

Good timing for my travels. My paper files gets lighter by the day.

Now I’ve got to find a way to lighten my load of books.