MID 2018  (2)

After the long day trip to go house-hunting, with its obvious limitations, John decided we should take Bus and spend a few days viewing properties – going where the flow, or agents, took us.

To that end, Bus needed a service first. Not that we had done lots of kms since its last mechanical attention, but with it sitting unused for lengthy periods, I worried that things might go “off”. To my disappointment, found that the bus service establishment that was adjacent to Ventura in Knoxfield, now no longer serviced buses for the general public.

This brought to the fore another drawback of Coaster ownership, which I hadn’t realized back when contemplating buying one. It is not easy to find places and people to work on them. Many owners of motorhomes based on Coasters belong to the DIY fraternity, both in terms of doing the original conversion themselves, and then doing their own mechanical works. From what I had seen they were not always experts at either aspect.

When we bought our Coaster, I was determined that it be a professionally converted one, where I could be most confident about the quality of things like the plumbing, gas and electrical fittings, the overall balance of weight, and so on. But, just like it was increasingly hard to find professional converters, it was hard to find mechanics.

I sent out a plea for advice through a couple of online forums, and received from some different people recommendations to try FMA Car and Truck Repairs, in North Nayswater. That was just down the road – very convenient.

Bus duly went there. We were most impressed with the set up and expertise. Came home satisfied that Bus had been checked over thoroughly. Were not so happy, though, with the finding of a small radiator leak and the verdict that a re-core would be needed. However, there was not enough time to get that done before departure, so I bought some Stop-Leak – and hoped.

I also had the same place service the Terios… when you are onto a good thing. More bad news – new muffler needed, and CV joints on the way out. These would also have to wait until after the coming jaunt.

The agent we’d dealt with in Bendigo had booked an inspection of the unadvertised house he thought we’d like, for a Friday, but vehicle servicing had run us short of time, so John phoned to move the inspection to the following Monday. He wasn’t able to speak to the agent, but left a message.

After much online browsing, John also phoned another couple of agents, and organized inspections of places that looked possibilities.

With only a few days away planned, packing took minimal time. A few food items, the usual electronic gadgetry, the dog’s requirements, and the medications that must go everywhere with us, these days.