Twenty days before hitting the raod.

The time for us to hit the road is drawing close.The excitement is building in our household.There are only twenty or so days left for us to finish up everything here.
Yesterday Johan from A.N.Blinds came to the bus to take the measurements for the rolling blinds that we decided on. The blinds will take tow weeks.
We have at long last signed a contract on a self storage unite.It is unbelievable how expensive these thing are.We are paying R480.00 per month for a 3x6M unite. So now we can slowly move our stuff to the store room.
We all so gave the go ahead to the carpenters to make the lounge suit smaller so that it will not take up all the space in the lounge.I hope thy don't mess it up.
It feels like there is still so much to do on the bus although the in side is 95% done we still need the electrical side connected up.I normally get along with most people, but the electrician that we contracted to do the electrical side of the bus,is a different story.I cant really say what it is that makes me feel the way I do but I can not stand the man.Unfortunately for me he must come back to the bus to finish up the electricity.

Hanging the cabinet doors

To day the carpenter will come to the bus to hang the cabinet doors.I am so exited to see the doors thy are soled Kiaat panel doors.The doors should round the kitchen of nicely.
We still need to decide on the carpet for our bedroom floor.I like a bronze colour carpet but Anita leans more to a lighter colour.
The light fittings are all so not decided on jet. The problem is that the space from where we must fix the light to the wood panel on the wall and the space from the wood panel to the sealing of the bus is not enough for the lights we like most. So we are still thinking on what we can do. One idea we have is to alter the lights slightly,but then we loos the  guarantee on the lights,I don't now we will see what we can do.

14h45
The carpenter came to hang the doors in the bus.What a transformation it is.I decided that I can not call our bus a bus anymore. From now on I will revere to the bus as our Motor-home because that is what she became today.
Millie our Motor-home The ugly duckling that nobody wonted became our beautiful Swan. I know that we as a traveling family will live and travel in this beautiful motor-home for many years to come.And that we will visit many wonderful places in her and entertain many wonderful new friends as we travel to wonderful new and amazing places.

The bus is back.

We went to fetch the bus on Friday afternoon,we could get the bus Friday morning but Aluschka my daughter wanted to come with us to fetch the bus and to take her first ride in the bus.The bus runs grate with the all the weight added to the inside.We hoped that the bus would run more quiet with the bed build over the engine and we were right I am certain that all the insulation we added in the walls and roof is also helping.When we arrived home with the bus it was time to check every thing out.We are really impressed with the bus so far.Last weekend we tiled the bus and it came out very nice of course I could-nt wait for the tile flex to dry and when I went in for a sneak look I broke some of the tiles but I will fix the later. 

Finding the right lights for the bus

Today we went light hunting for our bus,or at least that is how it felt to us.To even find a light fitting that Anita and I both like seems tough enough.We looked at so many light fittings that my head is still spinning.Why must all the shop keepers hang the lights from the sealing, my neck is still sore from looking to the sealing all day long.

We at long last decided on a light stile that we both can live with and when we got to the bus we where not entirely chore that the light fitting would fit on the wall with enough clearins at the sealing.So we went all the way back to the shop where we fount the lights to measure the thing and take a foto of the light,and then all the way to the bus to see if it will  fit,and its a no go the light fitting is to long.
So what do you know, we must go back tomorrow to find something els or to make this one fit,one thing I do know after being married for many years to Anita,at lights I will look tomorrow and their will be now backing out of it.

Building of the bus

FacebookThe cabinet builder is still busy with the cabinets and every time I go there I am more impressed with the work thy are doing.We where standing in the front of the bus where thy are building the cabinet over the windscreen for the flat screen TV, when we realise that thy forgot about the build in shelf, where the satellite decoder and the DVD must go.We disgust the situation and decided that he would build a separate small cabinet that fit under the top one and can then be scrod and glued into place, problem solved.
We have been looking around for roller blinds, but the prices that we where quoted for the is out of this world.At Game super store we where quoted R1200,00 for a 1.4m x 1m meaning that the blinds alone for the bus would have cost us R8000,00. I don't thing so.I found a place that can do the blinds for R 3500,0 but I'm still not convinced that it is the rite price to pay,so I'm still looking for a better price.
It is 04:47 AM and it started raining softly here is South Africa I think it's time for my morning coffee.

Just a few foto's to show the progress on the bus building.

Building of the cabenits in our bus.

Cabinets are build and the granite is in.
Yesterday we went to the bus to see how the cabinets is coming along.I am so impressed with the work Pieter Roos and his team are doing.Most of the cabinets just need the Kiaat wood cladding and then the Kiaat panels can go on.We decided that thy will not use Kiaat plywood to finish the walls off but solid Kiaat wood panels so it's taking longer as it should.
Lukas the granite man fitted the granite tops to all the work spaces except for the bathroom vanity cabinet.He all so fitted the dining table slab and it is all looking fabulous.
Anita and I went to CTM to buy the ceramic tiles for the dining area and the kitchen floor.We decided to buy the tiles for the splash back wall in the kitchen to.

Speaking to a illegal immigrant from Uganda

We packed up the stall on Monday morning after a slow start we gain momentum later. We finished packing the stall away at noon. The girls went shopping at Riverside mall one thing I will never be able to understand is how they are always ready to shop while I am dead tiered. I went in with them for a lite lunch and then decided to wait for them in the car for them to finish there shopping.
While waiting in the car I had a very interesting conversation with a man from Uganda a illegal immigrant. He told me how difficult the life fore him has been wile living in South Africa. Wherever we travel in South Africa and some of our neighboring country’s their are always illegal immigrants and every one is complaining about how difficult life is here. How is it that thy do not tell there friends and family to stay where thy are. Alternatively, can it be that struggling here is better than struggling in there own country. This man was telling me that how difficult it was getting work and how thy are struggling to put food on the table and how thy are being exploited by other.
I asked this man what did he hope to find here in South Africa and his answer was a job with a good salary so that he can send money to his wife and kids or maybe make enough to bring them here. This young man spent a lot of money to come to the south and now he makes barely enough to take care of him self. Wile I spoke to this young man I realize that wile I feel sorry for him I can do nothing for him. It cannot be easy to admit failure and go back to his country. Later that night I did some research on the inter net to find out what this young, man can do to get back to his Home.
I always thought that you could just go to your embassy and let them sent you back on the first plane north. Hell no, it is not so easy to go back home. Here in South Africa, you will be arrested and you will be sent to a penitentiary, first so that your case can be investigated. This investigation can take months and in the mean time, you will be incarcerated. The state penitentiary is in Krugersdorp an old mining town in the West rand Gauteng province where all illegal immigrants are locked up.
This is not a nice place to be. Overcrowded like all jails in south Africa.People from all over the world is being held their and YES there is corruption and rapes, intimidation and drugs like in all other jails in South Africa.
Now I to can understand how this man can keep on trying to make it here in Little Europe as South Africa is being could in the rest of Africa. But I would prefer to struggle to make it in my own country where I at least can speak the language and with the suport of my family and friends.

Nelspruit Innibos arts Festival 2012

We left Randfontein to travel to Nelspruit for the Innibos arts festival.We have been going to this festival from it's start nine years ago.We are always exited to go to Nelspruit because we have family there that we visit and it is so much warmer in the Lowveld.We arrived at Nelspruit at 8PM and it was so nice to get rid of all the warm clothes like jackets and jerseys.
My cousin Rieki made us feel welcome and we sat up talking till late, before we retired to the motor home for the night.
Monday morning we all went to the registration office to get our stall.And Allison, the lady in charge of all the stalls met us at the office and everything went well with the allocation of our stall.After we left the office we went to look at our stall.Because the festival is held at a school and the sport area of the school is protected by Palisades the organisers must take some of the fence of so that we can put our stalls up where they removed the fence.At our stall thy took of only three meters and we need a opening of six meters in the fence.Luckily we know the caretaker of the grounds and he was very helpful and took the rest of the fence of him self, we are so grateful to him.

The next day we spent getting our stall ready for the festival.Anita really puled it off this time and we received so many compliments from the public and fellow traders.We had a tuff day and all most did not go to the traders dinner.Nobody felt like cooking so we went to the dinner but we did not stay long.
The festival started on Thursday morning and from the start we where reasonably busy it is always a goon sine.

The festival ended Sunday night 8:00PM and not a minute to soon because we where beat and couldn't be more thank full. On Monday morning we packed our stall away and head off to Riki our cousin for a well deserved rest.

Populer posts

Today I looked at the stats page of my blog and it was very interesting.Of all the posts I wrote the last year the posts about traveling to the different areas are the ones that gets the most attention.
As from the end of this year the team and I will be traveling full time again.At this stage of our lives we are building our new home on wheels.We previously travelled with a caravan and a Iveco motorhome that I all so converted.
We searched for three years to find the right bus to buy.We looked at many buses in the search for the one for us.
I had certain must haves in our search for the bus.First it had to have a gross weight of less than 16 tuns dew to our license limitations both mine and that of Anita's.I wanted a bus with the engine at the back of the bus it makes for a much quieter ride while travelling and suits the layout we wanted in side bus the best.The bus had to be automatic, our Winnebago was automatic and I loved driving the Winnebago.I all so wanted the bus to have air suspension,we spent many hours on the road on a full-time basis and a air suspension makes traveling so much more enjoyable.And then ther is the small matter of our budget.
The bus we bought last year from a Primary school in Krugersdorp fit all our needs and fit in to our budget. Our new home on wheels will be a 36 foot{11m} 1976 Mercedes bus that we are converting into a motor home.
As we will be travelling full-time next year we will be trying to avoid the very expensive caravan parks.Caravan parks can eat into your badged very quickly if you are not careful.I have nothing against caravan parks thy are good for the family's taking weekend breaks or their yearly holidays.We don't have any use for them anymore.I can not bring my self so far to pay hundreds of rands per day for a sower and a toilet and electricity.I much prefer to park the motorhome somewhere at the beach watching the tides come and go.And to take long walks on the beach with my wife and children.
To be able to free camp comfortably we need to also spend a lot of money.For instance I need to install solar panels on the roof of the bus and deep cycle batteries so that we can operate normally without being plugged in to shore power.Water is also as important,to be self sufficient I need to install a big enough water tank to last us at least a week before refilling.Refilling our water tanks is not to much of a problem.Most public parks have water taps so do graveyards.We need to refuel with diesel any way and while doing so refill the water tanks to.
Free camping or wild camping does not mean that you must forfeit all the comforts of parking in a caravan park as long as you are prepared for it.

Work on the bus goes on.

Taking off the inside panels of the bus.
We spend the weekend working on the bus. After we took off the inside panels, to put insulation in the walls. I was amaze to see that there was so much dust and sand in the walls. I cleaned the dust out using the vacuum cleaner to get the dust and sand out of the walls around the wheel arch. That is when I found that the outside wall separated from the frame around the wheel arches. This is where the dust and sand entered the walls. To fix this problem I filled the opening with expanding foam. The foam seals and fills the small openings between the outside panel and the frame.

The next step in the building of our bus is to lay the electric cables for the 220-volt electricity and for the 12-volt lights. After the electricity is in, we can start with the insulation of the walls. We decided to use polystyrene in the walls and the roof for insulation, partly because it is cheaper but mainly because it does not get so could in South Africa as in Europe.
I have decided that the insulation of the bus will consist of the 40 mm polystyrene in the walls and on the inside of the walls, we will use 8 mm knoty pine. In the roof, we will use 40 mm polystyrene and 5 mm plywood with a wood veneer finish.
The floor is 25 mm marine plywood already fitted and covered with a 3 mm rubber lining on the inside. The final layer of insulation we will use is 10 mm hard wood tiles in the lounge and kitchen areas. The bathroom floor and walls and the shower cubical we will cover with ceramic tiles. The floor of the main bedroom and the passage that leads to the front of the bus we will cover in carpet. The carpet is for noise insulation as well. The inside walls of the bus can be build by using Meranti wood doors thy are strong and cheep.

Pilansberg National Park South Africa.

ON our way to the park we could see that the park was burning and we where concerned that we chose the wrong time this year to visit the park.A few years ago a out of control  veld fire did major damage to the the park.Apart of the buildings that burned to the ground there was major concern about the animals that where lost and injured in the veld fire.  We arrived at Pilanesberg National Park Friday  at 15h00.After registration and paying our camping fees of R130,00 per night including electricity for 6 people we found our self a very nice spot to camp.We have been here at Manyane camp many times before and we enjoy the stay every time.We normally camp on the edge of the camping area in the bush but dew to the veld fire I chose a spot in the inner circle of the camp ground.Lucky for us because the veld fire burned through the night and burned right to the edge of the camp ground to where we normally camp.

Veld-fire near our camp.

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This is what Africa is all about, unspoilt Bush veld doted with Wildebeest,Rhinos and Elephants. 

The veld fire came close to our camp during Friday-night.

This time the veld fire was a controlled fire.The Game Rangers starts veld fires to burn off the bush to stimulate new grow when the summer rain starts.

Vlakie the Word-hog looking for a cooked meal.

A hot-air balloon ride to watch the game what a wonderful idea, but at over thousand Rand a person,no thanks.

The Wildebeest was liking the ground,that may seem strange but is perfectly normal.In winter the grass thy eat lacks some of the minerals thy need in there diet.In the ground thy are liking there is minerals and salt.

This Wildebeest gave me the stink eye for disturbing him.

We found this Jackal on his way to the waterhole.

The stripe pattern of Zebra is like the fingerprints not one is the same.

This Hippo was grazing during the day something thy only do in cooler weather.

A Kudu bull.

Our camping spot on the inner circle.

Our visit to Makouspan.

                 We visited Makouspan the cattle farm of our friends Buks and Susan.

We left Christiana diggers festival on Sunday morning after we pack the stall away.We were invited to the farm of dear friends Buks and Susan.Thy are cattle and sheep farmers in the district of Vryburg.Their son Kassie is the fifth generation farmer on Makouspan.On their 4000 hectare farm it feels like paradise to me,I feel so at home there.If only it was possible I would love to stay on the farm, I would work for food only,Susan feeds every one very well indeed.
We bought a lam from them at a very reasonable price and as I'm posting here Anita is preparing lam chops for supper I can't wait.
                                                                      Buks and Susan

Kassie their son.

Some of the cattle.