technical – The Vanninis' Manoeuvres

What goes on in a black tank

I mentioned in an earlier post from a few weeks ago that I would explain what happened with our black tank, so here goes!

WARNING: This post will discuss the maintenance and care of the black holding tank in an RV/Bus/Motorhome, that is the tank that holds human waste ie. poos and wees! DONOT read any further if the subject offends.

We had emptied the black tank before we took the van in to have a new loo installed, which highlighted not only a bit of rot in the floor but we were reliably told that our black tank was definitely not empty. Oh no, have we got the dreaded “poo pyramid”?

No, we do not have the pyramid of poo which forms when the vehicle is stationary for long periods of time and not enough water is used. There is a large resource of blogs/videos/articles available to read about this anomaly on YouTube and by asking Mr Google. In our case, on inspection, that is by looking down the toilet into the tank with a torch, it looked as though the base of the tank was covered in a layer of something that almost looked like compacted toilet paper. On further investigation and many hours of research later, I realised that this was in fact what is called Struvite.

What is Struvite? It is defined as a phosphate mineral crystal with an elemental composition of magnesium, ammonia, and phosphate that forms in water and is a completely natural process. In simple terms its the black tank equivalent of kidney stones.

Magnesium is a byproduct of hard water, Ammonia is a byproduct of urine and urea and phosphate is a major element of organic matter, food and detergents. They come together in crystal formation to form a rock like substance that then lines the tank and pipes.

Examples of struvite buildup in a pipe and other forms and colours of the deposit.

Struvite causes a scale-like formation in pipes in sewage and waste water treatment plants, heat exchangers, and many applications in the marine environment and RVs to name a few. Struvite can prove to be a major problem for Recreational Vehicle (RV) owners where hydro-flushing, mechanical cleaning, or the use of acids are needed to rid of the buildup that can clog up the pipes and systems as well as rendering those monitoring sensors as ineffective.

It can also occur in household toilets and pipework, especially in hard water areas and is noticeable in toilet bowls, it looks like there is calcification buildup in the base of the toilet bowl.

I spent many, many, hours reading, watching videos and researching the many many articles on the subject, there are a huge number of YouTube videos on the causes, treatment and removal of struvite from black tanks in particular. Most of them seemed to require the need to employ someone who specialises in basically water blasting the inside of the tanks – this seems to be more of a specific job in the USA as I’ve never heard of anyone doing this in NZ. Or we could purchase a special back flush valve attachment and the rest of the gear and do it ourselves however this is more suitable to waste systems where the pipework is in a direct line from the tank to the outlet, ours is not as it twists and turns.

In the end I contacted a company in NZ that supplies a product called Rydlyme, this to me seemed to be the best, most efficient, effective and safe method to remove struvite. Rydlyme is non-toxic, biodegradable, and can be safely disposed of in sewers. It’s not cheap but we decided to go ahead and give it a go. The company were extremely helpful and talked me through its use and effectiveness, I was most impressed with their helpfulness and efficiency.

We had 20litres of Rydlyme delivered for when we headed down to the van before returning it to the repair shop. We put the Rydlyme into the tank with a few litres of water. It’s most effective application, we were told, is to be continually pumped and cycled through, as in it would take 15-30minute to successfully complete the task, however, it would work just as well by being left to sit in the tank for at least 24hrs and as we were heading to Antony’s for the weekend, we could safely leave it standing for around 48hrs as that is just how timing worked for us.

On our return, we emptied the tank and were amazed at how much extra liquid came out, as in probably close to 80litres. Remember the tank was supposedly empty and we had only put in the 20litres of Rydlyme with a few litres of water. It did not smell nor was it offensive in any way but it certainly removed all the struvite in the tank and the pipework. A few extra litres of fresh water were put through to rinse out the tank, what an excellent result.

The next thought is how can we prevent this from occurring again? The answer is water, make sure you use plenty of water when flushing to dilute the contents, especially as uric acid production is apparently increased, by men in particular, as they age, as well some medications affect uric acid production, and of course what you eat and drink. A water softener is also a good additive to use. There are plenty of recipes for what is called the Bio-Geo method of treating your waste tanks, each one slightly different in the products they use depending where in the world you may be. It is up to you to choose your own methodology and recipe. The thing to remember is that your black tank is a holding tank NOT a septic tank, therefore you need to be able to flush the tank out cleanly and effectively (ie. make it slippery) rather than be concerned about decomposition.

Why did this occur now and not before? Well, that’s a function of three major factors;

1. We haven’t been moving as much as usual in the past 18 months having been in the UK for 6 months, then at Shakespear for another 3 months and sitting still for long periods whilst housesitting.

2. We would usually let the tank get fairly full before emptying so as to create a good volume, or wooosh when emptying as this is what is recommended. But recently we have been more frequently using a tote tank to decant the tank into (to negate the need to drive the RV to a dump station) which takes around 40litres at a time and as it’s done every week the tank does not get full enough to empty completely.

3. We normally give the tank a good rinse out or back flush after emptying at the dump station but we’ve been a bit slack on this of late especially when using the tote tank. We would usually attach a hose at the dump station and pass the hose through the toilet window and flush the tank out by filling the tank through the open valve in the toilet NB. but only if there aren’t others waiting to use the dump station – we don’t want to be one of “those” people!! Note to self: use lots of water especially to rinse out the tank after emptying.

I usually always put a few litres of water into the bottom of tank after emptying, I think I may have been a bit slack in this regard as well (trying to save water and all that). This prevents any residue drying out and hardening but adding water also starts off the next lot of dilution and decomposition. Trying to save water is silly really as we don’t really use that much water particularly if you compare how much we would use in a week compared to an average household. Our water tank holds around 280litres of water and we would use around a tank full for the two of us in 10-14 days depending on how frugal we are being, whereas the average person in NZ uses between 140-170litres per day (according to Watercare Auckland).

It is a good job well done, and one we hope NOT to have to do again so long as we maintain the tanks correctly. I hope this has been of some help to some of you.

A quiet week – yeah right!

Monday morning we took the van into East Tamaki ready for the underneath sandblast, treatment and paint. It will be all done by Friday we are assured. Meanwhile, we emptied the fridge and freezer, packed our bags and moved in with Antony. We had a week to annoy Antony, he should actually be grateful, as his house is now clean & tidy, laundry up to date, and meals cooked! We settled in to have a quiet week, famous last words.

Early Tuesday morning I had a phone call to ask if I would be able to help out by driving a brand new motorhome from Ardmore to Silverdale, sure I said, why not? The transport of the three new Roller Team vans had been scheduled for the previous day however the rain and winds made it necessary to postpone that trip. Consequently one of the original drivers couldn’t make it the following day hence the call up. I’ve done delivery trips previously and the organiser knew I was around. Roy dropped me off and the three of us got underway in motorhomes and Roger in his vehicle to bring us back. First we had to put a bit of diesel in the tank (checking first to make sure it was the “right” tank as it has been known that diesel has been accidentally added to the water tank – not by me I hasten to add), then we were off in convoy for the slowish trip to Silverdale. The traffic was pretty heavy all the way but we were soon at the RV centre delivering three new motorhomes for their lucky new owners, one of which has been driven by one careful lady driver 😜.

Top: Only 49km on the clock, it was only at 41km when I first hopped in but I took this photo at the petrol station, Bottom: safely delivered

I was back home in time for lunch before spending the afternoon completing lots of chores. Wednesday morning and we had arranged to meet up with fellow full timers Carol & Glen in Manukau for lunch. Roy was going to join us a little later as he was heading to the Dr for a further checkup. The next couple of hours whizzed by, I completely forgot to take a photo as we spent the time chatting along with having some lovely coffee and food. After we parted ways we had a bit of shopping to do before heading back to Antony’s.

Thursday morning and I’m busy vacuuming and dusting at Antony’s when the phone goes, it’s the workshop, the van is finished and ready to be picked up a day earlier than anticipated. We were soon on our way to pick it up and return to Ardmore, but oh dear, I have more cleaning to do. The sandblasting has crept inside in places and settled in on every surface, seat, cushion, and everything in sight. It got in through any tiny nook and cranny, vent, gap as well as through the open passenger side front window 🤦‍♀️ which resulted in everything covered in very fine silty sandy dust so thick in places I could write my name in the dust! Bugger. No, I didn’t take any photos of the before and after cleaning, I just got on with the task in hand and did as best I could. The rest of Thursday was spent washing down everything in sight.

Friday morning and we are off to Pukekohe with Antony as he is being presented with his Long Service and good conduct badge with Counties Manukau Police. A very formal ceremony starting with the piping in of the flags, introductions by local iwi and Police hierarchy, performances by the Police Choir and a rousing performance by the local primary school kapa haka group. Then the awards were issued, ranging from 14years service through to one Police Dog handler who received his 49years of service badge.

Antony receiving his award and the badge.

There were also commendations for bravery, community awards for members of the public going above and beyond including to one young man who was overcome with emotion at his presentation for confronting an axe wielding person, disarming them and protecting his fellow co workers. The ceremony concluded with the piper leading the flag bearers and officials out of the hall. All in all a very good mornings duty and an eye opener to just what some of our men and women in blue have to deal with in their everyday lives.

It was back to the van and out of the glad rags where I got out the sugar soap and started cleaning again, everything was washed down from ceiling, walls, cupboards and floors as well as anything in between. I only got the front cab part done Friday afternoon before getting stuck in again Saturday morning. Meanwhile Roy was sent off to do the washing and shopping so I could have an uninterrupted run at cleaning. Unfortunately I seemed to have caught Roy’s bug, waking up on Saturday morning with laryngitis and a horrid cough, but it wasn’t too long before I had finished all the cleaning so i could spend the afternoon in bed, utterly shattered.

The rest & recuperation seemed to have done its job, Sunday morning we hired a Steam Cleaner so I could use it to clean all the upholstery. It didn’t take too long and after a few hours the machine was returned to the shop and we could stand back and admire our handiwork. What a huge difference it has made, now everything is beautifully clean and fresh.

Monday morning and we are off to get a COF, but not before meeting a couple of fellow bloggers. It was so nice to meet Dave & Nancy, shame it was such a brief chat but I hope you enjoyed your soak in the pools in Te Aroha later that day…We head off to get the COF today as we hear there is some bad weather coming.

Unfortunately the van fails on the new Cardan Shaft handbrake rules. Apparently we need to have over 25% efficiency on the brakes, ours came in at exactly 25%…would 25.5% been enough to pass? I was not cheeky enough to ask. The upshot is that the van has been booked in to get that adjusted in just over a weeks time (the earliest it could be done).

A very busy few days

But before we get into that I’m not sure if we have mentioned before about the penchant for the English to have a drink on a train. It seems every train we have been on, and in particular the longer journeys, that everyone takes along a bottle of wine or can of something to drink as well as snacks to eat. So not to be seen as being out of place, Roy joined in with the habit on his way into London.

Friday evening Roy headed into London to the Royal Opera House with Ian, his brother Matt, and their parents Chris & Barry. Meanwhile Alex and I had a very important date as we were busy watching netball, namely the silver ferns at the Commonwealth games. Roy et al were off to listen to a lecture given by Professor Brian Cox.

The following was copied from the website promoting the tour.

Horizons takes us on a dazzling cinematic journey.
A story of how we came to be and what we can become.

Using state-of-the-art LED screen technology, Arenas will be filled with images of far-away galaxies, alien worlds, supermassive black holes and a time before the Big Bang.

What is the nature of space and time? Why does the Universe exist? How did life begin, how rare might it be and what is the significance of life in the Cosmos?

What does it mean to live a small, finite life in a vast, eternal Universe?

The deepest of questions will be explored using the latest advances in our understanding of quantum theory, black holes, biology, planetary science, astronomy and cosmology.

Horizons is a celebration of our civilisation, of our music, art, philosophy and science; an optimistic vision of our future if we continue to explore Nature with humility and to value ourselves and our fellow human beings.

The “I” referred to henceforth is Roy until told otherwise!

The presentation was at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. We approached the entrance from the Covent Garden end and it was tucked away in a corner behind a very unassuming doorway. However from the inside we could see the very tall glass main entrance.

We were on the fifth floor at the bar when the picture was taken. We went from there to our seats on the same level. The presentation was in two parts, the first an hour and the second an hour and a quarter. It was highly entertaining and interesting highlighted by a very good presenter supported by two other persons. The content ranged from the birth of the Universe to today and then onward to the end of the universe. All presented with magnificent photos from the James Webb Space Telescope. Some of the photos were only taken two days before the presentation. I think there were only four mathematical equations presented but the presentation was done in manner which just supported what was being said without enough detail to see where they sat. The whole was presented around Black Holes and their interaction with the time and space around them. We all enjoyed the evening and would highly recommend going along given the chance. Brian Cox is in New Zealand giving the presentation in Wellington on the 8th of December, Christchurch on the 10th and Auckland on the 12th We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening, with everyone taking their own very different understandings of the content.

As a post script to that adventure I went to the market about a mile away from home on Sunday morning and spotted a very appropriate beer being sold there.

Saturday was to be a day of football. Ian supports Charlton Athletic whose ground is about a 10 minute train ride from home. They are currently in League One, the third tier of English football. It was the second game of the season after they had had an away win the week before. It was the second time I had been to the ‘Valley’. Last time we were here in 2019 we had been to a game.

We met up with Brian, Ian’s cousin’s husband and made our way to the Abbey Arms at the station for a couple of refreshments before catching the train. A quick train ride and we were at the ground.

The view from our seats just short of the halfway line. It was a very hot afternoon but we luckily had seats toward the back of the stand in the shade. We were playing Derby and their area in the stadium is in the stand behind the goal to our left. Charlton are in the red and defending at this point. They played very poorly in the first half and were lucky to be only one goal down at the break. Derby had the position, possession and were very unlucky not to score several times, only the fact that the Charlton goalkeeper had a very good game kept them in the game.

The second half began in an entirely different manner. It was almost as if Charlton had found a completely new team of players. They were very much the better team. Derby were still playing well but Charlton managed a goal early in the half to equalise. From then on it was end to end football. Finally with only minutes left in the game Charlton got the winning goal.

A short walk to the train and then to the Abbey Arms for a post mortem and then Brian’s wife Julie picked us up and brought us home.

The following day was to be a day at the race track, no not horses, this was to be a day of car racing at Brands Hatch a famous racing track in the South East of England. It is about a half hour car drive from home. This was to be a lads day out with Ian, Ian’s father Barry, brother Mat, son Callum and me. We set out early in the morning

A little bit of history and a look back to 2017. I have memories of Brands Hatch from a much earlier age. I remember it starring in some adventure stories in either Eagle or Lion or another comic from early days. It was therefore something that I really looked forward to when first offered the opportunity to attend a meeting when we were here in 2017. Ian’s father is a very keen fan of motor racing and has memorabilia from the early days of racing at Brands Hatch. The boys have enjoyed being at the track on many occasions as well.

In 2017 we went to a meeting which was predominately open wheel racing cars and saloon cars, the following are some pictures from that time.

The circuit itself is two fold a grand Prix circuit

The shorter 1.9km circuit a section of the Grand Prix circuit. This is the one we watched racing on. Generally from the trackside on Hailwoods Hill and a little from the end of the Brabham straight. From the hill we can see form before Paddock Hill Bend to half way along Cooper straight. From the
stand you get a view of the Brabham Straight as well.

Saloon cars on the start grid ready for the off. Clark curve in the background right

Rounding Paddock Hill bend before heading up the hill to Druids Corner which is a sharp hairpin

At the end of the race they pick up the cars that have come to grief during the race.

Now come forward in time to the 7th August 2022 and we are off to Brands Hatch again, but this time it is for a Mini Festival. No, not a small festival but rather a festival of Mini racing with all but two of the races being for Minis in various guises. There were races for pre ‘66, fastest Mini in the world, Mini se7en S class, Mini Se7en, Super Mighty Minis and Mighty minis and finally Mini Miglia all of which had two races.

But first we had to get to the track

The best thing at Brands Hatch, according to Callum, was the tractor we found on the way in

however that was quickly surpassed by getting into the drivers seat.

R to L Barry, Mat, Ian and a partial Callum walk past the mini parade,over 50 cars on our way in.

Watching the Minis go past on Hailwoods Hill

At this stage my phone ran out of battery so no more photos. We had arrived at the track by about 10:15am and finally left at 6:00pm. This I might add was a little against expectations which were that Callum would get bored and we would be home after lunch. He lasted the full day and thoroughly enjoyed himself, as did all.

That was the end of a very busy three days. I have missed out on my afternoon naps and I hear the next week will be busy too.

Oh and if you were wondering, Berinice, Alexandra and Barry’s wife Chris had a girls day out and watched New Zealand win the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games over England. No, there weren’t divided loyalties, it’s Silver Ferns all the way.

Happy Vanniversary

Yes folks, it’s 11years ago today since we bought the van and started this chapter in our lives. And it’s been a journey and a half with so many highlights, adventures, places visited, scenery viewed but more importantly meeting lovely people whom some become firm friends.

I started to try and draw a map of where we have travelled to over the years but it became too complex and difficult, the best way I can do it is with a physical map, but finding a half decent hard copy map is proving difficult, especially as I would like a particular size. To fit on the wall, it will be a work in progress.

We started off on this adventure with a mind to being on the road for a year, maybe two, to find where we would like to settle except we didn’t factor in that we loved travelling and the lifestyle and we couldn’t really pick where we would like to set down roots. Every time we think we found the ideal place, something else or somewhere else comes along and we change our minds. Now we don’t even think about it, and are quite happy to continue with what we are doing whilst we can.

We are very fortunate to not only be able to travel around NZ but also off shore (pre Covid of course) and we have been to many amazing places, seen plenty and met lots of wonderful people. Of course these days our travels focus on visiting London and visiting Alex, Ian and Callum, but we always manage to sneak in a few side trips to somewhere we haven’t been before.

So, a few stats on our past 11 years of travel…..actually, I tell a lie, I have very few stats. As one who was a Statistician in a former life, I don’t keep many stats, basically we keep a log book for fuel purchases and this is the sum total of my stats keeping and that is only because I have to as we get a fuel rebate every three months. Why do we do that you ask? Well, we pay road user charges because of the size and weight of the van, and as the van runs on Petrol, here in NZ road user charges are included in the petrol cost so we can apply to get it reimbursed which means it works out to be about the same cost as diesel although right at the moment it works out cheaper than diesel. Confused? Don’t be. Anyway, we have travelled over 25,000 miles/40,000kms in the van and another approximately 75,000miles/120,000kms in the car!

Of course there have been many more miles added to our travel logs overseas with the many trips we have made across the globe.

The most common and frequently asked questions we get is “when will you be finished” or “do you enjoy it?”, and the reply to both of those is met with similar responses as why would we do something we don’t like and why would we stop doing something we love? It’s almost like asking someone when will you be finished living or do you keep doing this because you hate it?

We have no set timelines nor do we have routines or too many plans as we are well aware that life can throw a curve ball at you occasionally and you just have to deal with it at the time and make plans accordingly.

Looking back on some photos it’s hard to recall what the van looked like when we first got it, here are a couple of pictures of before and immediately after, it has since changed again!!

The original look at the top (including a fuzzy picture), and just after changes were completed. Of course things have changed slightly since but I need to take more photos which I will do one of these days!!

Looking back we did lots including changing the layout of the front on the RV; removing the dinette and putting in comfortable recliner swivel chairs, a cabinet built for keeping printer, computers and other office materials, changing out the flooring, enlarging and putting in a new kitchen including pantry whilst removing the 3 seater settee and swapping it out for one of the two seater dinette seats, replacing the fridge and oven, removing the (horrid) frieze that went right throughout the van, recovering two seater and captains chairs, removing the valances and sconces around every window, removing the Venetian blinds and replacing them with double cell thermal blockout blinds, removing the overly large bathroom hand basin and cabinet with a smaller more efficient style, changing the bed and mattress from a king size to a queen, remodelling the floor on either side of the bed, re carpeting and reflooring throughout. Having a pop up desk installed which is hidden in the passenger side dash. Then there was the tech stuff like adding more solar and batteries (both of which we upgraded again last year), wifi, power points, 12v and usb charging points. The Aircon units on the roof were one of the first things to go being replaced by vents and fans, this reducing a lot of weight off the roof. New awning material was installed along with new sides and ends made to partially enclose the awning space. Then there is the regular maintenance done on the motor, preventative maintenance like undersealing the chassis for rust prevention, new tyres, new roof….and the list goes on.

Then there are the clever little tweaks made, like adding spouts to the gutters to make water collection easy. Installing gutters above the windows to stop those annoying water streaks coming from the roof, changing the water intake so all water is filtered before it goes into the tank and a secondary filter on the kitchen sink tap to ensure water is good to use. Motion activated lights installed in the bathroom, all lights changed to LED’s with soft lighting strip added to the main living area as well as sensor lights added externally.

We’ve been through at least four different iterations of dining table with the current one the best use of space and function by utilising a Lagun table leg to maximise space.

Lockers and cupboards are regularly cleaned out with items removed if they haven’t been used recently or no longer deemed necessary, it funny how interests and priorities change.

So happy 11th vanniversary to us, we look forward to whatever lies ahead.

We’ve got the power!

We thought we had sorted out our power issues however it wasn’t to be. The voltage dropped out overnight on a couple of occasions, other times it was ok and there was no rhyme nor reason to the voltage drop so we presumed that the batteries were probably on their last legs. It was time to get new batteries.

As a bit of background, we installed our battery bank of 4 x 230amp AGM deep cycle batteries just over 10years ago. It was all done by Absolute Power in Clevedon who did an amazing job. Last year we upgraded our solar capacity to 800W, and also upgraded our solar controller and charger, those upgrades being done in Hamilton at Motorhome Solar. We talked, at that time, about wether we needed to replace the batteries but they were tested and were ok. However, I will put my hand up and say 5hat we probably overloaded them this summer as during the day we switched the fridge over to power rather than run off gas. I think it was a step too far to expect the batteries to cope with the extra loading.

In consultation with Wayne of Motorhome Solar, over many messages pinging back & forth, we needed to get things organised. Wayne sorted a supplier of the new batteries for us in Christchurch. Which was after much discussion of what sort of batteries to go with i.e. AGM versus Lithium. We came to the conclusion that ;

a) we look after our batteries, as 10+years of continuous usage is probably double the life expectancy that many people get from them. (Note to self, leave the fridge on gas until we have to replace the fridge which we will do with an domestic fridge to run off dedicated solar, battery and inverter. I thought we would give it a go this last summer swapping the fridge over to power, in hindsight, not a good idea with old batteries! And yes, Wayne did say it was probably not a good idea but we thought we would give it a go anyway 🤦‍♀️. Lesson: Do as you are told! ).

b) we are not heavy power users i.e we don’t have or use a microwave, electric toasters or kettles (we use gas) and we don’t watch TV and if we do it is probably only to watch the news and then the TV gets switched off.

c) we are not restricted by the weight of batteries

d) taking into account the above, we could not justify the extra cost involved with lithium.

We were scheduled to have the new batteries installed on the Monday morning. On the preceding Friday we visited the battery supplier in Christchurch to just check out where exactly it was located, to familiarise ourselves with the route and to check that if indeed the van would fit into their premises. Just as well we did check as they tell us that they are just the wholesalers and don’t fit the batteries but they have booked us in with an auto electrician at another location. Off we trot to the friendly guys at Hornby Auto Electrical where we discover that indeed it would be a tight fit for our van to get into their forecourt plus they would have to ensure that their forecourt was completely cleared of all other vehicles to accommodate us. Hmmm, what are we to do? An easy solution they say, they would come to us and install them in situ where we are parked at Weedons NZMCA park. Excellent.

As per our arrangements on Monday morning we got a phone call from them to say that the young man was on his way.

The installer tells us it’s always a concern when they fit on-site as they are not sure what they are going to need, as in, is our existing set up a good one? is the cabling the right size? etc but he tells us he was delighted to see that we have an excellent set up so it will be a simple swap in and out of the batteries.

Two of the old batteries under the steps

Installing the second battery, a tight squeeze so the apprentice was required to hold a few cables out of the way.

The second lot of old batteries in a locker

A quick and painless (apart from paying the account) process, it was all done very efficiently and neatly. We can now happily continue on our travels knowing that we have the power.

Kaikoura and a hiccup

The weather has decided to turn cold, wet and windy, something we are not used to as yet and we both had to dig through the wardrobes to find trousers and jumpers which have been well hidden away.

We parked at the new NZMCA Park on the north side of Kaikoura and quickly settled ourselves in. We decided to stay here over Easter as the forecast wasn’t looking particularly great and it seemed prudent to stay put. We can explore around the area basing ourselves here.

The view from the van, note the fresh snow on the Seaward Kaikoura’s.

We settled in for the next few days. Then came the hiccup. Overnight we noticed a problem with our power or to be precise our batteries. Oh no, does this mean we need new house batteries? Let’s see what happens in the morning. Bugger, looks like one set of our battery bank has died. Many messages were then sent to and fro to Wayne from Motorhome Solar, trying to diagnose the problem. Readings off the monitor were taken, photos taken, batteries checked with the multimeter, charts drawn up, emails and messages were pinging back and forth. The same thing happened the following night with one set of battery voltages dropping to the dead zone according to the monitor. Ok, we told ourselves we have done well to get 10years of continuous use out of our batteries thus resigned ourselves having to replace them all.

Roy took the monitor off the wall as it had become difficult to press the buttons to get any readings, he tightened up a few loose screws and mounted the monitor back on the wall. Well, what do you know? Ever since then, we are back at full capacity, batteries not dropping voltage overnight, and all testing has come back A OK. We cannot figure out what on earth is going on but we figure that there must have been a loose connection at the back of the monitor which was short circuiting somewhere and causing the problem of false readings on the battery voltages as the amp readings were ok. Fingers crossed, we may yet get a few more years out of these batteries!!!

Good Friday arrived, cold, wet and miserable so a day spent indoors was planned. However, I got a message from Auckland friends Anne & Greg to say they were also in Kaikoura and would we like to meet up? We were there in less than 5minutes! Anne’s brother Trevor and his partner Sue were also to join us as they are now living in Kaikoura and are building a house.

L-R: Trevor, Anne, Bernice, Greg, Roy and Sue

We had a lovely couple of hours with them before we bade farewell with Roy & I arranging to meet up with Trevor & Sue later over the weekend.

Meanwhile, we did a few little tiki tours around the area.

We experience some stunning sunsets with the colours changing from yellows to oranges to deep reds.

We also experience every season imaginable, over 4 days we had heavy rain, strong winds, fresh snow on the hills which saw us reaching to get out the warm clothing and bedding followed by a scorching hot 31C day! The trousers and jumpers were put away and the shorts and t shirts came out again.

We visited Trevor & Sue and their house build up on the heights overlooking South Bay, what a stunning location and view. Their house is going to be lovely when it’s finished which shouldn’t be too much longer, then comes all the hard work of landscaping and putting the finishing touches in place. I was so entranced by their views and chatting that I forgot to take any pictures at all.

It’s time to move on from Kaikoura, it’s a lovely town which seems to have quickly recovered from the earthquakes. Although we have been here a few times, this is the first time we’ve spent more than a day or two here and we were quite impressed with what we saw. The town very busy, very tidy and vibrant with lots going on and lots of friendly locals. Oh, and yes, we did sample some local seafood though not what the town is named for (Kai= food, Koura=crayfish) but fresh blue cod, it’s been a while since we had blue cod and delicious it was too.

It’s also been a while since I gave a Callum update, here he is enjoying a little light reading! The Qi book of General Ignorance no less.

Callum getting in a bit of light reading!

And doing what he loves, reading, baking and playing outside.

This is Callum and how he talks to a grandma and Grandad! I’m sure he thinks we live in the TV 😂

Fridge woes

It was blowing a gale, with horrendous horizontal rain….halfway through the day I could hear that the fridge was click click clicking away as though it was trying to ignite without success however all lights showing on the face of the fridge said that it was still going ok. In a brief respite from the weather we checked the back of the fridge (accessed from the outside) and it seemed that the flame was going ok but the starter thingy whatsit (that is it’s correct techie name) just kept on going and wasn’t detecting that the flame was actually present.

The outside vent and access to the rear of the fridge

Our fridge is a three way fridge, gas, 240v power or 12v, however we have had the 12v capability removed as it uses far too much power and would kill our batteries, therefore the fridge will only go on gas or 240v power. And as we very rarely, if ever, plug into power, it runs mainly on LPG gas. We presumed that the clicking noise something to do with the fact that the wind was directly blowing into the vent and rain was coming in horizontally on that side of the bus, possibly extinguishing the flame.

Fast forward to the following day which dawned bright, clear, sunny and no wind, however we discovered that the locker under the fridge vent was water logged so the rain was really coming in that direction with great force. Roy tried all the usual things to try and fix the fridge, he cleaned everything, blasted it with compressed air etc etc, until he determined that the control box starter thingy (another techie name) was faulty. He was sure he actually had a spare one but couldn’t remember where he had put it…..so, all the lockers got emptied, boxes opened and searched, he went through everything and couldn’t find it so he presumed he had carefully filed it at Antony’s for safe keeping.

Meanwhile we switched the fridge over to power and thought we would run it off the inverter and batteries during the day. We were already at 100% full by the time we thought of that option and with the inverter on, the control said we were consistently putting in 1 or 2 amps all day which made us think perhaps it wasn’t working properly on power.

Fast forward again to the afternoon, Roy went off for a nana nap, I decided to dry out and clean out the locker that had got wet which contains lots of containers with all those handy things like nuts, bolts, screws, fuses, wires, electrical connectors, and lots and lots of essential tools and bits, all neatly stacked in labelled containers. In tidying everything up before putting it all back neatly…..I opened one of the “miscellaneous” boxes and guess what I found? Yep, the little green box thingy all carefully wrapped up in bubble wrap!!! Once Roy woke up, he replaced the starter in the fridge workings and off it went perfectly on gas. Phew!

But just to check, that evening we switched the inverter on, set the fridge over to 240v power and guess what? It uses around 27amps….amazing, so the system works really well during sunny days that means our power system is well setup and works extremely well.

We figure that for over the summer months, we shall run the fridge on power during the day and gas overnight, and see how it goes especially whilst we are at Shakespear, hopefully it will reduce our gas consumption considerably.

The fridge workings exposed, with new drainage hose attached and new ignitor in place

PS to the tale of the fridge, we thought initially that the wet locker was from the rain, but no, on inspection the drain hose at the back of the fridge to the outside (that white crinkly concertina pipe stuff) had completely broken down and shattered into tiny pieces with the water now dripping down into the locker below.

Some years ago we had replaced large section of the hose but the last remaining 6inches of pipe at the fridge end had deteriorated so we needed another hose to connect directly with the fridge outlet. The replacement piece we had on there just wasn’t doing it as it was very stiff and I couldn’t bend it enough to directly connect it to the back of the fridge. You must realise that I am trying to do this from the outside (the back of the fridge) through a narrow gap which can only be reached if I stand on a step, angle myself into all sorts of twisted positions to feel my way past all the other pipes and wires…..so, thinking cap on. What can we use for a better drain pipe of the correct dimensions…..light bulb moment, the clear flexible hose from one of the solar showers fitted perfectly and was pliable enough to squeeze directly onto the outlet pipe at the back of the fridge. Voila, it works perfectly.

The woes of RV fridges!!!

How times have changed

Every other day we get to talk to Callum in London via video call and we really, really, love being able to see and talk to our lovely, happy grandson……….. oh, and his mum and dad too!!

It’s a far cry from just a few years ago when communication was very different, you had to be very patient, without the instant and various means of communication. I can recall as a small child that my parents had to book an international call when they had an urgent need to call family in the UK. They then had to wait for the call to be returned before being put through and then talk very quickly as it would cost an arm and a leg for the call as you were charged per minute.

I recall we had a “party line” and our phone number was 913D, the D was denoted by the length and pattern of the ring, I think ours was 2 longs and one short ring. Of course that also meant that someone else on the line could ‘accidentally’ listen in on your call, which I’m sure happened quite regularly.

The switchboard was in use when I first started work at Kinleith in the late 1970’s, with five or six women working the telephone exchange. These women were the hub of information and a fun group who connected your calls within the various branches of the company as well as external calls. I can recall that my extension number was 801……how is it I remember that, but can’t remember what I did yesterday?!!!

Or you wrote letters, waiting for weeks for a reply before responding. Who remembers the blue aerograms that arrived in your mail box?

I have a large number of copies of aerograms that my mother wrote to family back in the UK, thanks to cousins who kept the correspondence which they have shared with me on various visits. It has given me a real insight into daily life and reminded me of forgotten family events spanning over 50years. When I get my act together I shall sort them out along with various other bits and pieces into some semblance of order for family to read. You would have thought that lockdown would have been the perfect opportunity for me to accomplish these things however, recovery from the knee infection was more to the forefront of my mind during that time.

It’s hard to imagine how it would be to have to wait weeks for a response to a letter you have written, then to write back whilst trying to remember what you wrote in your last letter which you could well have written months previously.

Then came the internet, and emails were the way to communicate, depending on time zones and what people were up to it was a fairly instant way of communication. I can still recall the high pitched squeal of the dialup line waiting to connect.

Of course then we had the likes of Skype, FaceTime, WhatsApp and the myriad of other ways of talking face to face in real time. Zoom is the latest iteration of video communication and it’s almost like being there.

What will be next? Plugging in to other people’s thoughts?? What we used to watch on cartoons and the seemingly far fetched space programs like the Jetsons, Lost in Space and Star Trek are soon becoming reality…..oh bring on “beam me up, Scotty” to transport me across the globe would be wonderful right now but I don’t think I’ll see that in my lifetime.

Although we are physically separated by many kilometres, we feel like we are being kept in touch with our grandson and he knows who we are. But there is nothing quite like being there, getting a few cuddles in, and making memories. So hurry up with an effective, safe vaccine so we can return to the UK in person, and soon.

Solar upgrades

We have had our solar set up on our van for just over 8 years now. We’ve had a great run with our set up including the solar panels and the battery bank. We are told that AGM batteries should last only about 5 years but ours are still going strong, which is what happens when you;

a) buy decent batteries in the first place

b) look after the batteries

c) don’t overload their usage ie. we panic if the battery levels ever get below 80-85% full!!!

However, we did want to put in a new charger that would top up the van battery off the solar feed that serves the house batteries, as when we sit still for any length of time, the van battery starts to lose power and although we can top them up from running the engine, it seems silly to start the engine every day just to charge it up again although we do have a magic switch that allows us to start the van off the house batteries. A new charger would keep the battery topped up all the time with the excess solar. So it was off to see Wayne Hunt in Hamilton.

We had arranged to meet him at his premises opposite the Base shopping complex in Hamilton, after a bit of discussion we also opted to have a new solar controller put in, an MPPT controller which would allow better charging of the batteries especially when they are getting to nearly full. I had it explained to me once that putting the last little bit of power into the battery was like trying to fill a container of water to the very top, carefully and slowly trying to dribble in the last little bit in to get it absolutely full. Previously, on a sunny day and batteries at 96% full, we would get a maximum of 0 to 1.5 amps dribbling in. In stark contrast, today at 96% with a weak sun we are putting in up to 11amps with the inverter going as well. A great improvement.

Wayne had it all done quickly, efficiently and tidily, he also tested out a couple of other things for us and also told us that our initial set up done by Absolute Power all those years ago was very well done which is always good to hear and he also made a point of telling us that our batteries were in great condition and we must have looked after them very well. We were happily on our way in an hour or so.

The new digital VSR on the left and the new MPPT controller at the rear

We can highly recommend Wayne at Motorhome Solar in Hamilton for very friendly, excellent service and at a very reasonable price, plus he goes out of his way to explain in layman’s terms the ins and outs to people like me who have few clues on all things electrical!

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig.

There’s no place like home said someone, once, and it’s so true. Although I have to quickly add that we do feel at home in England as well, especially at Alex & Ian’s.

I remember in one of my tutorials at University we were asked to define where is home…is it where you live now? or where you were born? or where you were raised? or where you went to school? You hear immigrants in particular talking of ‘home’, I remember my parents talking of ‘back home’ meaning England. Is home defined by place, people or thing? There is no right answer, everyone has a different viewpoint.

Getting over jet lag, opening mail, sorting out stuff were the order of events over the first days back. We made appointments for Doctors visits for checkups, sorted out bits and pieces and in between tried to get body clocks onto NZ time.

We had a very pleasant surprise in the mail from England. A spice kit that Alex Ian and Callum had organised for us. It’s a monthly spice kit which arrives with all the spice mixes to make delicious meals. With full instructions on the meal preparations as well as a little history on where the meal originated, a list of how to remake the spice mixes for a repeat of the meal all included.

It’s something we had seen in England as Alex had bough Ian a subscription for his birthday. You receive an email notification of what is coming up in the next months kit and options to change for another kit of your choice if you so desire as there are up to 5 choices each month. You can also put a hold on receiving it for a few months if you wish and restart when it suits.

We just love the curries in England, it’s always our first choice when we arrive and it’s our choice of farewell meal as well.

Of course we were keen to give the kit a go, with the shopping list in hand (included in the kit) it was off to the shops for the main ingredients.

We were cooking this

it also required us to make a dum aloo, potato dish, and a spicy tomato chutney to accompany the main dishes. We had only arrived back the previous day, I should have thought a bit more about that before embarking on cooking the meal. I got 9/10ths of the way through preparing it all when Jet lag hit me, I just had to go to bed right there and then before I fell over. Roy and Antony finished off the cooking and reported that the meal was fantastic.

Really flavoursome and tasty with the only chilli heat coming from the tomato chilli chutney that accompanied the meal.

We had the rest of the meal the following day and I can attest to how deliciously flavoursome it was and plenty for all of us so a generous 4 servings as per the leaflet. We really look forward to receiving the next parcel.

We had to get a WOF for the car as well as register it, that was done the afternoon of our arrival. Then we both needed a WOF for ourselves at the Doctors, that done we then could head off down to Whakatane to be reunited with our van.

The trip to Whakatane was via Hamilton so we could call in to see Wayne Hunt, a motorhome solar expert, to sort out a time to have a new charger put in that would trickle feed the van battery off the solar so that when we sit still for any length of time the van battery will be fully charged negating the need to start the engine every other day. That done we then called in to see our dear friends Wade & Lindsay for a quick catch up and lunch before heading off to Whakatane.

We arrived at John & Jude’s late in the afternoon and then spent the next few days sorting ourselves out. John had kindly sorted out our RUCs and van registration whilst we were away so we just had to take the van in to get a COF. It was all done very quickly and efficiently without any hassles at Ted’s Testing Station in Whakatane. We can highly recommend them and we will definitely use them again.

We made a day trip up to Papamoa to see friend Estelle whose husband Bill passed away whilst we were overseas. It was then on into Tauranga to see my 3 nieces and great nieces to catch up with them before we leave the Bay and make our way north.

We can’t thank John & Jude enough for looking after our home on wheels whilst we were away, it was great to know that it was safe and sound in their care and well looked after.