In Hot Water

About 5 weeks ago we noticed that one of the cupboards under the bench seats had water in it, unfortunately the one where we store various papers, as well as the pc and printer. We got everything out and spread it around to dry, and tried to figure out where the water was coming from. Given the hot water service is housed at the end of this cupboard it seemed like a pretty good assumption that this was leaking, although we couldn't find from where. We booked the van in to the local caravan repair place and a couple of days later hitched up first thing and took it over there. Less than 2 hours later they rang to say it was done, and when we picked the van up we were told that they had replaced a faulty valve. We kept an eye on the cupboard for a few days but it seemed to stay dry so we repacked it.

2 weeks later when we next had reason to access the same cupboard we found that once again everything was wet. It was a few days before the caravan repair place could fit us in, this time they decided that rain was leaking in from around the plate in front of the hot water service, and resealed all around it while we waited. We were a bit suspicious that this could be causing the amount of water that we were finding, and sure enough within a week there was once again water evident in the cupboard. Back we went to the repair shop, this time they kept the van for several hours and claimed that it definitely wasn't the hot water service, but that the water was leaking in from somewhere outside, origin unknown. In order to pin it down they said they'd have to keep the van for several days and remove the windows, the tail lights and all edge seals to find what was wet underneath. However, they wouldn't be able to fit us in for several weeks.

Given we need the van to live in, we are leaving Albany next week, and we still have misgivings as to whether the cause isn't the hot water service after all, we declined the offer to book the van in. Assuming we ever get more than a day or two without rain (hopefully once we leave Albany if not before) we should hopefully have more evidence as to whether the fault is a leak from outside or not. We will then book the van in for repair somewhere in Sydney, which we intend to reach at the end of March, and try and cadge a bed from relly's there for a few days. Meanwhile we have to try and find somewhere else to store the things that normally live in that cupboard!

Note that we have updated the itinerary below up until we reach Darwin, where we intend to spend the winter months this year.

John & Wendy Go on Holidays

One of the 'drawbacks' of living on the road is that you never get to go on holidays - no matter where you are that's home. On the weekend just gone we decided to take a break - we headed up to Manjimup for a golf tournament, leaving the caravan in Albany and staying in a motel. This wasn't quite the treat we had hoped for, the accommodation in Manjimup isn't exactly 5 star, and we even had to make our own bed one day as they forgot to service the room.

We had heard about the tournament when we were staying at Manji in early December, and by all reports it was a very popular and well run event. The only draw back as far as we were concerned was that the main sponsors were the Kristoffersson timber furniture company. Not that we have anything against their lovely handcrafted products, we just have no room in the van for trophies such as dressers and coffee tables. The upside was that local wineries were also involved in sponsorship, so we were aiming to bring home some of this product. In the event John obeyed instructions and didn't win any furniture - in fact, didn't win anything. Wendy collared one NTP and 2 longest putts over the 3 day event, which brought a very acceptable haul of a pack of toiletries, a tournament branded golf towel, 2 bottles of wine and, unfortunately, 4 wine glasses. The latter will be given away to people here in Albany - we don't have any glass in the van.

The real problem came when Wendy won gross runner up (we still have trouble coping with the concept of gross prizes in a stableford competition, but it seems to be a popular thing over here in the west). In fact, she wasn't awarded the prize at all, despite having 49 'gross points' over the 2 day major competition, somehow they worked out that someone else on 49 points won and another golfer with 42 points came runner up. We lodged a protest, and after much checking and rechecking of cards it was decided that the winner stood but Wendy was runner up on a countback, coming away with a large timber framed mirror. At least it wasn't a tv cabinet or wine rack, but still large enough that we are still debating where we are going to put it in the van until we can get it into storage somehow.

We took the scenic route down Highway 1 back to Albany today, stopping at the Swarbrick art installation in the Walpole Wilderness Area. This is a series of art works set in old growth forest, with the highlight being the 39 metre long 'Wilderness Wall of Perception', a mirrored wall giving the history of the conservation fight in WA and the local forest. A very pleasant drive through tall timber, stopping at some beautiful beaches (although not for a swim), got us back home feeling refreshed after our weekend away.

Under the Big Top

The Circus Royale is in town here in Albany, and, having not been to a circus since we were kids, we thought we'd go along. We booked tickets for the show last Monday afternoon, but Tropical Cyclone Bianca snuck down the west coast and was forecast to cross the coast at Bunbury last Sunday then reach as far East as Albany. We found it hard to believe that we could get a cyclone as far south as here, but the warnings were pretty strong and we prepared the van by putting away all our outside furniture and putting up the awning. The circus rang us on the Saturday morning to say they had cancelled the shows from Sunday onwards as they had to pull down the big top, and of the remaining shows offered to us we chose Friday evening.

In the event Bianca fizzled out before she even hit the shore, so all we had in Albany was a bit of rain, but the big top stayed down for a few days and no extra shows were scheduled. So last night we had an early dinner then headed down for the big show.

Circus Royale is an old fashioned, rather hokey, affair. The ring master had at least a dozen changes of clothes, each more garish than the last - our personal favourite was probably the bright lime green sparkly jacket and pants, teamed with a black shirt and lime green bow tie. No lions, tigers or bears, but they did have ponies, llamas, geese and small performing dogs. At one stage 3 big friesian cows lumbered around the ring then propped their front feet on ramps set around the edge. We had ring side seats, and hardly looked at the white pony that trotted around under them, so transfixed were we by the huge cow's head placidly chewing its cud right above us and quietly drooling on our knees. Tumblers, clowns, acrobats, a not very good juggler (the dropped clubs didn't appear to be part of the act and the ring master's wide smile became more and more fixed) provided all the fun of the fair. The grand finale was a contortionist who squeezed himself into a box that was probably only about half a cubic metre, amazing to see but also slightly nauseating. When the cast came out for the big bow it didn't surprise us to find there were only actually 10 performers, including the ring master, there did seem to be quite a repetition of faces over the different acts.

All in all, we had a very enjoyable night, and at $30 a ticket ringside the less than perfect touches only added to the charm.