TUESDAY 14 AUGUST     BENDIGO

I’d actually slept better than I thought I would. John seemed to have little trouble sleeping in!

I was up first, and walked dog around the park a couple of times, then brought her back for her breakfast.

It rained on and off through the day, and was quite cold. In such circumstances, the extra space of the Bus was appreciated.

John walked to some shops, which were about 1.5kms away, to buy some TV aerial cabling. He’d brought some with us, but couldn’t find it! I said there was ample storage room in Bus…… He took the phone and called me to say he’d got there alright. I asked him to also buy a bottle of wine for tonight, not realising that meant he had to walk an extra km or so. He came back with five bottles – a special deal at the bottle shop, which had seemed great – until he had to carry them back!

I had a thought while he was gone. The various switches and controls on the electrical control panel were still mostly a mystery – trial and error there. But I wondered if the TV would work if I turned on the TV/stereo 12 volt switch? Suggested it to John, he did, and it worked. He was very happy. Seemed obvious, with hindsight.

We gave dog a couple more lots of park circuits during the day, in between showers. The big bull bar on front of Bus made  a great dog tethering point. She was quite happy to be out there, with her camp bed, as long as one of us was sitting outside under the awning. If we were inside, then that was the place to be! She discovered she could sit in my front seat and watch the world go by out the front and side windows. I made a note to find something like an old beach towel, back at home, to cover my seat for dog’s daytime use.

I was still have to change dressings on the sore area of leg, where petrol had splashed the previously ulcerated skin. It had, briefly, appeared healed over, but then became weepy again. When I took off the dressing today, it looked OK.

Daughter and the two grandsons came after she finished work, daughter’s partner a bit later, and her mother arrived about 7.15 – after we’d finished tea and adjourned to Bus.

The BBQ tea was good, but it was too chilly to linger outside, even in the very nice BBQ area of the park. I provided sausages and burgers, daughter brought chicken skewers and a packet of coleslaw. We had onion, pineapple, beetroot, rolls, eggs, bacon – a feast.

We sat inside Bus, had tea and coffee and wine, and talked. Another great benefit of Bus over van was room for visitors to be inside – our two beds could act as lounges that held two or three people each. Everyone admired the Bus. Daughter’s partner also said how much she liked the blanket I’d made for the baby.

They all left about 8.30 – school  and work tomorrow for them. After we did the dishes, watched some TV – an excellent picture. Bus not quite as convenient for TV watching for me, though. John had set the TV up on the bench between our beds, which meant that my back was to it when sitting at the dinette, so I had to swivel around and sit sideways on the seat, to watch. Some sort of back padding then required.

We went fairly early to bed. I tried sleeping with my head towards front of bus – much better, less squashed in. It was a cold night but we were quite cosy and warm. Dog decided to sleep on the floor between our beds, where I had put a small floor mat to protect our feet from cold lino in the mornings.