It's A Wrap

Real Time

Well, you sure won't miss us on the road now! 

This is what has been keeping us in the Bay of Plenty and Coromandel area for the last month while we waited for a special order of vinyl to arrive from overseas. Over the last 3 and half days 'Out There' has been vinyl wrapped along both sides, had the graphics replaced and the pièce de résistance, one of my photos added to the back! 

Some of you may remember a blog I did last September regarding the dull bloom developing on the van and David polishing it. Well once again, and sadly after all his hard work, the bloom returned within a few months. While we love the darker colour of our rig, it does obviously show up marks & fading a lot more than white motorhomes. We decided that after 7 years, 6 of them on the road fulltime and in all weathers, it was time to paint the van. 

Before

For most of our lives we have never followed the norm and we weren't about to now either. After a lot of research, David had decided on 'wrapping' the van instead of painting it, if it ever needed to be done. We had recently visited a company in Henderson and were very impressed with what we saw and then through a chance meeting at the NZMCA Park at Waihi Beach we met another Ultima owner who happened to have a relation at the Mount who did vinyl wrapping. 

After

Craig from Wrap It Signs- located in Newton Road, Mt Maunganui- came and saw us while we were parked at the Mount campground. David also visited him at his workshop and we were both very impressed with his attitude and quality of work. We also liked his sense of humour!  We were finally sold on the idea when he showed us a car that had just been completely wrapped in black. Until you opened the door you could not tell that it had once been totally white. 

Much of wrapping that Craig does is in primary and/or bright colours so once we'd chosen our colour- as near as possible to the original- he had to order it in from overseas. Hence the reason David had some fishing time in the Coromandel while we waited. 

The vinyl duly arrived and with our home out of bounds, we de-camped to a lovely Airbnb at the Mount for a few days.

It was a tight fit but with good instructions from Craig & I, David managed to back the 5th-wheeler through an impossibly tight doorway into the workshop. I know you're thinking ('cause I was too) 'How the heck are they going to wrap that left hand side?' Well they did and it included a bit of Kiwi ingenuity/#8 wire thinking, David re-hitched and maneuvered the front of the van over while Craig and Dylan used their weight to push the rear over; their weight and the very slippery backing paper that came off  the vinyl, placed on the floor under the tyres.

David helped out each day working alongside the guys (or was that hindering). He removed and replaced all the hardware that could be taken off the van and helped tidy up as they progressed. He also took photos for me on his phone.

Dylan set about removing the old graphics using a steamer similar to a wallpaper stripper.

They seemed to peel off very easily. You can clearly see the fading that has happened in these photos.

Initially we'd chosen a metallic vinyl similar in colour to the van but unfortunately that wasn't available, the suppliers only had a similar matt colour. To overcome this Craig added a top glossy coat of clear material to the vinyl which gave it an added sparkle and the extra benefit of double the thickness. The colour is quite deceptive in these photos and in real life, under different lights and from different angles.

The vinyl is laid out on the work table and cut to length and then- this is where the expertise and skill comes into it- stuck on the van side, sealed, window holes cut and everything maneuvered into place. It's just about impossible to see the edge and no masking is required!

Once both sides had been wrapped and the pièce de résistance applied- Craig was crafty, we didn't see him add that, it was there in all its glory when we arrived the next morning- 'Out There' was put outside so the slide-out sides and graphics could be done.

The most amazing part of the whole job, for me anyway, was how the graphics were done. Craig had taken a couple of photos on his phone of the rig outside on the road before we delivered it to the workshop. And from just these non-descript photos he was able to reproduce the exact same graphics (give or take a couple of minor details we decided to leave off) and then place them on the rig with no measurements whatsoever. Just a keen eye and some pretty awesome talent. 

This section of wrap was replaced after a small imperfection was spotted. How's this? The graphics were peeled back, the section removed, the new piece stuck on and then the graphics went back over it like nothing had happened! Is that amazing or what (can you tell I'm impressed?) I know how much fiddling and worry goes into sticking the flamin' red NZMCA Wings on the van let alone all these dashes & swirls!

David had suggested we could put a photo on the back of the 5th-wheeler when he was originally looking at the wrapping process and we had toyed with the idea but had pushed it to the back of our minds as we couldn't decide what photo and how big to have it, amongst other things. But once the job was on track and we'd spoken to Craig we thought we'd re-visit the option.

Initially I was thinking of just having it over half the wall, down to the bottom of the window, or 100mm or so further on but Craig suggested filling the whole space as the window edge would detract from the photo and the box on the back was going to cover a lot of it anyway. So that is why we now have a larger than life 'muriel' on the back of our house!

But how to decide on what photo to use? Well David had one in mind and I had several so over an evening (while Craig patiently waited for the file), I put together a few very basic mock-ups.

1) Whangarei Falls- (Craig was most impressed, he's from Whangarei & he'd never seen them looking so spectacular) but we decided it was a bit too busy and imagine that driving down the road in front of you, it would be like someone stole half the bush.

2) Poolburn Dam- Nearly my favourite, I just love the ruggedness, the fishing cribs and the two tone ice and the fact that it's not a part of NZ you usually see. But let's face it, I just love Poolburn full stop.

3) Aoraki/Mt Cook & the Hooker Valley- again very busy and hey, most of New Zealand has seen a photo of Mt Cook.

4) Kea, our cheeky endemic mountain parrot- David was keen to see the mock up of this one although it wasn't his favourite. We dismissed it straight away; it would be quite scary with Big Bird looking down on you as we drove along.

And the winner was-

5) Ahuriri Valley, MacKenzie Country- where it was minus 16c and I had myself a mini hoar frost this particular morning. This was both our favourite photo and family also picked it when I sent out an SOS. It was the only photo that had our van in it too, and I liked the way the river leads your eye into the scene.

The photo just happens to have appeared on the TV weather back when I took it and also was a NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine cover, now it'll be forever famous travelling around New Zealand on the back of our van! Here's the blog I did on our visit to the remote Ahuriri Valley.

The photo above & below are comparison shots; above with no storage box on the back and the slide-out side still to be wrapped. And below with the box on and side wrapped.

All finished and ready to go...

...and just in time as a heavy rain storm swept in.

Then it was just a matter of turning the rig around, pausing for some photos and heading out. Job well done. We thoroughly enjoyed dealing with Craig and would highly recommend Wrap It for any job you may want done (and don't worry if your rig is bigger than ours, Craig has access to another larger workshop)

Here are another couple of comparison shots of before & after. Click the photo to see a larger version and then scroll back & forward to see them side by side.

The only visual difference I can see, compared with paint, is a slightly raised join where the vinyl overlaps the next drop. In the photo below there's one down the right hand side of the window on the left and another at the bottom of the awning arm. Nothing to write home about. 

And I know some of you will be thinking how about the cost compared with painting. While we didn't have an exact quote on painting, all indications were that wrapping would be approximately half to two-thirds the cost of painting. Then there is the time factor, which can be an issue when you live in your van fulltime and need to vacate it while work is being carried out. Our job was completed in three & half days so accommodation costs were kept to a minimum, and we had a mini-holiday! Well I did anyway, David worked his butt off.

Oh, and by the way, did I tell you we are absolutely wrapped?

Update- we returned to have the front wrapped too, here's the blog post.

Into The Future with Netspeed

We've joined a revolution. The Netspeed revolution; fast broadband on the road, for minimal cost and no fixed plan. This has to be the best thing since sliced bread, a change to life on the road as we know it.

One major issue we have had with living on the road is the very expensive data we require to access the internet, no matter the supplier or the package, whatever way you look at it, mobile data is expensive. We've lived with it and put the expense into the 'must have, use prudently' box.

We're both heavy internet users although I use more data than most because of my blog and Flickr photo uploads. My average monthly data usage was a carefully managed (measly) 8GB (David's slightly less), and at $20 a GB this soon adds up. Of course we had phone plans that are a little cheaper and include other services but still, those home dwellers with a landline and huge or unlimited gigabytes have no idea how much you were envied- if only we could have access to a tiny portion of your surplus data, we'd have been in seventh heaven.

Then along came Netspeed, first a trickle of information with a very good recommendation and then an avalanche of delighted customers. It was time to join the revolution.

We now have access to 130gb of data a month at a cost of  $100- 80gb peak period and 50gb off peak (10pm-6am) (ETA Jan2017- this has now been increased to 120gb peak & 50gb off-peak at no extra charge). This is after the one-off expense of purchasing a 3/4G Wifi router which comes with a 240/12v power adapter (rr$350). Because we spend a lot of our time in the back country, we have gone for a more powerful antenna which was around $150, this should give us better reception in low coverage areas (if your time is spent in mostly urban areas then an antenna is not necessary). We're under no allusion that there will still be some places we have no reception, Netspeed uses Vodafone's network of towers so the coverage will be similar. But hey, we can live with that, we still need some of that no-gadget time.

And, it was so easy to install; out of the box, plug it in, set up the account and away it went, with a row of flashing lights welcoming us to the other side. David will be wiring it into the 12v power supply and it'll sit behind our satellite TV box sharing the shelf and out of the way.

So, no more data watching, no more mad scrambles to click out of automatic playing newspaper clips that chew through valuable data, no more missing out on a funny YouTube clip that's had everyone laughing, no more sitting outside pink boxes in the dead of the night or the cold of a winter's day with people looking sideways at you as they pass, no more cafe stops to get free wifi (I'm not so sure that's a good thing), no more backload of app updates waiting for free wifi to update, no more parking on family's lawns and plugging into their network for free (well, ok, that'll still happen) and no more clicking in and out of our phone hotspots to access the internet.

Instant, continuous, fast and cheap mobile broadband! Oh the joy, we are finally free from the shackles of expensive mobile data. Netflix here we come!

Obviously, we'll still have a Spark plan on our mobile phones but it'll be nowhere near the cost we're paying now. Just enough data to cover a little surfing when we're away from the mother ship.

Netspeed can be contacted on 0800 Netspeed or 0800 638773 and if you are in the Canterbury/Marlborough area you'll have the pleasure of dealing with David Gabites, who we highly recommend.

Handy Accessories

I've been meaning to do this blog for a very long while but haven't found the chance, I'm always writing current blogs or catching up on past ones (which I still have plenty, waiting in the wings) but with a little bit of time up my sleeve while we're here at the canals, I thought I'll do it now. I've had some of the photos in a file since 2014!

Here are four great accessories that have made life a little easier while living on the road, perhaps they'll appeal to some of you with RVs too.

Dish Drying Mat- of course those with dishwashers need read no further. This is a God send, especially if you're not quite level when parked up. You know, when all the water that's drained off your dishes disappears down to the corner underneath things that shouldn't get wet or worse over the front and onto the floor. It's a good thick absorbent mat, also for those extra dishes that don't fit in the dish rack either. It drys quickly outside or I hang it over the back of the hob's glass lid. I store it as a 'packer' between the hob lid and the gas rings when in transit. Makes a pretty red colour behind the glass decal.

The rubber draining mat under the rack is also from Briscoes, it tends to 'hold' the drained water underneath until you wipe it up after the dishes are dried (or drained). It sits, and fits, perfectly with the rack, in the sink when not in use.

The drying mat was bought from Briscoes for as little as $10, I'm onto my second one which I purchased in their sale for $6!

Door Mat- I had a regular door mat but during the winter it would get very dirty, especially if it was raining when you're trying to remove shoes and keep dry at the same time. So I purchased a couple of dark coloured bath mats from the Warehouse. I rotate and regularly wash them, something you can't easily do with a door mat. They're also soft and absorbent, and dry your feet or slippers when you've stepped out for a moment.

Collapsible crate (Payless Plastics approx $25-30)- we're onto our third one (you do have to remember to move it before your darling hubby moves the rig off the blocks!) While parked up, we store the box under the rig just to the side of the steps (no longer behind the wheel). It has our outside shoes in it- Crocs, gumboots, Tevas(here) and it's also good for keeping odds and sods in while parked up; funnel, mat ties, bug spray etc. 

When not in use, it folds down flat for easy storage, although ours is always up. I just lift it inside before we move- it sits on the spare door mat so as not to mark the floor- and out again when we arrive at the next site. Oh, and I do keep a large rugby ball sized rock in it, first it was a place to store the rock after I found it, then it became the weight to hold the bin in place during high winds. 

Though it wasn't heavy enough when we at Moke Lake, I heard an almighty clatter while the wind was shaking the van something tremendous. I looked out to see a half collapsed crate tumbling across the ground heading for the lake, with shoes, stone etc scattered in its wake. As it disappeared over the edge of the bank I thought we were soon going to be buying crate #4. I grabbed my dressing gown and in the pouring rain, raced to the lake edge, careful not to slip over in my retrieved Crocs, to, thankfully, find the crate hooked up in the only matagouri bush on the lake edge for miles! 

And last but not least another purchase from Payless Plastics (or similar store) for about $4 each, the very handy, multiple use, plastic white hook. We have half a dozen or so of these and they suit our van very well. We have a number of areas where we can hook them over; all along the the top of the slide-out and the top of the shower, amongst others. Here two have been used, one at each end, as rod holders off the slide out while we're parked up (that's part of the ceiling joining strip above the hook- bad photo composition). 

We can hang multiple coathangers with drying washing on them, the coathangers can be stacked across the bottom, sometimes we hang out jackets on them in the corner, and they're used as towel holders inside the shower when the shower is not in use and then they hold the towels on the outside of the shower, when we are in the shower. Not the most elegant of accessories but they suit us down to the ground.

Hopefully some of these may be of interest to some of you too.

What Does The Sign Say?

We went tiki-touring today, to the DOC campground at Totaranui on the coast. Twenty kilometres on a narrow winding gravel road up and over a range through the Abel Tasman National Park. On our way back from Totaranui (I’ll post on that soon) we took a side road to visit Awaroa.

Awaroa is across a large estuary at the end of a extremely narrow road. There’s not much to see there, just a grass parking area, a few DOC signs directing people walking the Abel Tasman Great Walk and a huge mudflat. There’s a lodge & a few baches but they’re far across the estuary and only accessible by dinghy at high tide or walking at low tide.

The warning sign at the beginning of Awaroa Road says it all. We would never attempt to take our fifth-wheeler down this road but these roads are great to explore when we’re out in the Ranger.

Other than one vehicle that arrived at Totaranui while we were having lunch we hadn’t seen another car on the roads all day.

That was until we rounded a bend about a kilometre down Awaroa Road to come across this…

What you can’t see are the eight, yes that’s right, eight people standing on the road further on. A family from overseas; elderly Mum & Dad, a son who has just graduated from Dunedin University & was driving, plus sons & daughters & two partners, all in their teens & twenties who were visiting NZ. The son from Dunedin was taking the family on a South Island tour, they’d left Christchurch two days ago.

We have no idea why the guy decided to ignore the sign but once he had committed himself to the road there was no turning around. We also don’t know why he cut the corner, it was actually one of the wider corners on the road. And eight people? We’re sure this would be a six berth van and only have seatbelts for six people.

They were extremely lucky the van didn’t tip over, the ground was very soft & the boulders loose & there was a very steep gully below the culvert. Knowing that there was no way we could haul it out with the ute, we took the son back up the road to see first, if we could get phone reception & if not, take him down to Totaranui where there was a phone box located.

As luck would have it, a DOC Ranger was waiting at the road junction for a mate to arrive. He resides at the Awaroa Hut but had been at Totaranui to do a check as that ranger was away. He was able to call Head Office on his CB and they called Apollo who then arranged a tow truck. And although the family had insurance we have the feeling that it may not help in this situation as they were on a gravel road that had a clear warning sign about not driving it in a motorhome.

The tow truck was going to take about two hours to arrive. By now it was about 3pm and getting quite cold. The family had managed to get their jackets and a rug out of the van and were sitting on it further down the road. We left them with the DOC guy while we drove past and down to the estuary to check it out before returning up the road.

We had to be quite forceful when the son told us the family thought they’d walk down to the “beach”. We told them it was 3kms downhill with two “rivers” (fords) to cross and there was no way he’d be able to drive the van down there to collect them once it was free (if in fact the tow truck managed to pull it free). The DOC ranger thought he might need to bring the tractor back to use as an anchor as winching from behind would have dragged the front over.

There was no more we could do for them so we left the son at the top of the road waiting for the tow truck and we headed back over the range for home. An extra careful drive, inching our way around every blind corner expecting to come across the tow truck at any moment. We finally saw it ahead of us, just starting to climb, at the beginning of the road. We gave him a quick update and wished him luck. I have a feeling it was going to be a long evening.

Live from Warbirds

I'm jumping the queue to post this one while it's hot off the press.

Yesterday morning we were up at 5:30am ready to leave our site in Wanaka having hitched up and prepared for an early departure the night before. This was so we could queue with a couple of hundred other Movanners waiting to gain access to the "plateau", a high terrace above the Wanaka Airfield in preparation for the long weekend watching "Warbirds Over Wanaka". We are on a private farm and the gates were open from 7-10am only, we all had to be parked up by 10 and can not leave here for 3 days.

You can see the track up to the plateau above the third (from the right) motorhome.

While the weather has raged right around us and over most of New Zealand for the last couple of days, we have had it relatively good. Just a few passing showers the night before last and a couple of sprinkles yesterday afternoon with a cold breeze blowing in late afternoon. 

There are over 220 mobile homes of every description parked in two paddocks up to four vans deep in some places. We were lucky enough to find ourselves beside a number of fifth-wheelers including two other Ultimas. There are also another two Ultimas parked in the other paddock.

Ring side seats-

A very dusty, rocky & steep descent gets us access to the airfield. The climb back up is a killer!

Dress circle-

There's an amazing array of gourmet food stalls, Friday was practice day but today this area will be wall to wall people.

Some of the aircraft on display & airborne-

This will be my last post for a few days, the local cellular network is under extreme pressure caused by the 60,000 plus visitors to Wanaka over Easter. I'm having great trouble connecting & uploading photos.

Happy Easter everyone, I hope the weather has settled in your area and you can relax a little for the remainder of the long weekend. Keep safe.

PS- Apologies for any errors in this post, I can't see the photos!