We had given the caravan a 'once over' and had a friend do so too before we even went up to Whangerei to fetch it, but it became apparent that the surround of the windows at the front of the van was decidedly 'squishy' and dubious feeling. On closer inspection, we unearthed a rotten wood surround to all the front windows and set about ripping it all out and 'starting over' as it were. We have since become aware that this is a problem with all of these vans - something about the design that doesn't do too well with condensation and such. Below, the new wood fitted and being finished.
Many hours of sawing, planing, sanding and fiddling later, we have a solid and seriously functioning front end to our van. Thankfully there are guys in the world who find a problem, roll up their sleeves and get stuck in fixing it (usually better than the original!). It was quite entertaining finding this particular 'fix' detailed - with step by step photographs on the Internet and discovering that what Jo had already completed was even better than the 'experts' indicated! The author just wondered if the chappie on the Internet 'fix' had a lady with a vacuum cleaner and dustpan and brush lurking behind his every move and keeping the work area clean enough to see what he was trying to accomplish! In my humble opinion, this is a spectacular repair! It preceded a less spectacular repair when we discovered that the inside 'vents' were none too waterproof and the deluge of rain last week had soaked the carpets! 
We found a big and tatty looking bag lurking in the 'bathroom' of the caravan - and it was with some trepidation that we hauled it outside and tipped it out onto the lawn. You have to understand that in this life there are no guarantees and the emerging awning could well have been a smelly, mouldy, holy heap of dubious coloured striped canvas. To our surprise and huge relief, we have a pretty well 'never been used' awning (which in this first picture is actually attached inside out!) However, with serious determination and our usual 'jy sal my nie wen nie' attitude, we have it over the top of the 'lady with the wine'.
We finally seem to have this awning sussed - except for some mystery pole-ends which apparently should affix onto the van using some even more mysterious plastic bracket-with-a-hole-for-pole-end-thingy (which doesn't quite fit, nor is it at quite the right angle!) So it's back to the 'drawing board' internet browser to see if we can figure it out before the next weekend away!
Our first Silly Season in New Zealand saw us investing in a Cadac portable braai for the motorcycle - how handy for our caravan too! Folds up into a carry bag which fits neatly under the seats in the van! How organised we appear to be!! 
Our friends Martie and Andre (Top Ten holiday park owners) called in for a sundowner/roof wetting - nobody had too far to stagger before hitting a bed somewhere and nobody could give a rogue cop a happy Saturday evening. There is a zero tolerance attitude for even the smallest amount of booze in the blood, so most of us stay on the right side of the law in Wanganui. We had a terrific 'try out' weekend - looking forward to many weekends away! Dis al!
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