Modifications and extras

There actually wasn't allot that needed to be done.
On the outside I shortened the exhaust & the grey water dump pipe, they were just waiting to be wiped of they stuck put so far. I made the mounting for the grey pipe more substantial. I also fitted a reversing camera with dash mounted monitor. We'd had a tow bar fitted prior to delivery.

Dash mounted rear camera screen.

The camera mounted just under the top brake light.

Inside my main concerns were, no where for a bottle of wine to travel standing up & no where for the little espresso machine to live. Also bench space was at a premium. There is a half wardrobe which we would never use so I made up two sliding shelves the lower one for the espresso machine & grinder the top one a mini pantry with a specific place for the wine bottle as well as a small bottle of cooking oil & soya sauce. I do most of the cooking when we're not at home. For extra bench space I made a sliding bench that slide put from under the wardrobe.

The half wardrobe converted to a pantry with wine holder
 and somewhere for the espresso machine to live. Don't forget
the slide out shelf.

Here it is all closed up. 

Collection time.

We take delivery.

Our lovely friend Mary drove us up to Auckland & dropped us off at AMH & carried on to visit her son, Scott. We began the intensive introduction to Belinda, which took a good 2 hrs, by Oscar. The do it all young man at AMH. Kylie the lovely young manager was insistent we stayed some where close by for the night & used everything that Beulinda had. We had planned for this, so on her advice, drove to a nice camping ground overlooking the Manaku harbour. We just couldn't believe that this lovely apartment on wheels was ours. On arriving we just swung the front seats around, plugged in the power & we were set. I played with all the controls & we did have one problem the heater wouldn't go. The fan wasn't able to turn. Apart from that everything went well. We even used the shower, very nice it is too. Now to try out the lovely looking bed.

We start to make our way slowly home.

Time for morning coffee in bed.
 

On waking in these plush surroundings, it took a moment or two for it to sink in, that it belonged to us. I made us a hot drink reach & Sue looked quite the lady sitting up in bed having hers.

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed back to AMH, where that very clever young man, Oscar had sorted in no time at all. Our preferred roads to travel on are the small back roads, if we're not in a hurry. Consequently we went down the west side of the Waikato river joining various small rds together to take us down to the very nice picnic spot, by the Huntly power station. Here we joined SHW 1 to Ngarwhatia, where we turned onto SHW 39 heading for Whatawhata. A company there sold plastic tunnel houses that Sue was interested in for the garden. From there we skirted around Hamilton joining SHW 1 again at Cambridge following it Sth to Horahora Rd & onto Little Waipa recreation reserve, where we could park up for the night. The Waikato river trail runs thru here & this was the reason we were here, with the MTBs, on the rack we'd taken with us on Mary's car. It's a lovely spot right on the banks of the Waikato river it even has nice toilets. By the time we got there it was dark, but not a problem, I found a reasonably level place to park, not too close to anyone else, we pivoted the seats around & we were set up for the night. How easy is that, we don't even have to go outside! A nice glass of red wine for me, Sue doesn't drink alcohol & a hot water for Sue before I started getting dinner. I generally tend to cook the meals when we are away from home. I'm normally cooking over a single camp stove while we're cycle touring. Even in our old Toyota van, I only had one element, now I have 3, what will I use the other 2 for? With the heater keeping Belinda, (I must point out she hadn't been named yet & wasn't for quite some time.) at a very pleasant 20'C, we had a nice evening before using that nice shower & retiring to bed.

 A lovely little, if steep in places, ride.

When I woke it was quite cool, so I turned the heater in & went back to bed for a few minutes to allow it to warm things up. I then made a coffee & did the emails etc until Sue woke, when I made her a hot water. While we were having breakfast a couple of cars arrived loaded up with ladies & a couple of bikes, they all headed up the trail. The great thing about this section of the trail is it's only 8 km to Arapuni & the Rubarb cafe, which has great coffee & food. After another leisurely breakfast we followed them. The trail is lovely mostly within a few meters of the river . There is a nice section thru some rocks & ah yes I mustn't forget a couple of steep hills, Sue walked part of one. We had passed most of the ladies from the cars having a good time at one of the many picnic tables along the way. We met the 2 on bikes by the big swing bridge. It was their after lunch at the cafe to go back & get the cars. At the cafe I ordered my usual flat white coffee & carrot cake, both of which they do really well. Sue had her hot water & a slice. The cafe was filling up fast as more people arrived from the track & motorists passing by. As you can imagine, with the hills & going up stream on the way, it didn't take very long to get back to Little Waipa & Belinda. We had lunch then drove the rest of the way home. That's our first 3 nights away in Belinda, if this is how it's going to be, roll on many more. It's as comfortable as being at home yet waking up too a different view when ever you want to.

Introduction

Introduction.
I suppose for those of you who don't know Belinda I should make an introduction. Belinda is a 2010 Autotrail Excel motorhome built on a Fiat Ducato cab & chassis. She is small at only 5.9 metres but has it all, permanent double bed, usable shower & toilet, ducted heating system, swivel front seats plus all the normal things like fridge/freezer,3 burner hob & oven with grill. She was lacking somewhere to keep the espresso machine & grinder as well as a pantry. I converted the wardrobe to take care of that. On the outside she looks very smart, other people must think so as well from the number of positive comments we've had. I did a couple of things on the outside, a drawbar was fitted prior to delivery & I made a stone guard for the diesel heater. She came into our family from Auckland Motor homes, a nicer group of people to deal with you couldn't find anywhere. Their service up to & including delivery was fantastic as it has been in the 18 months we've owned Belinda. Why Belinda you're thinking? Monique our eldest granddaughter thought she looked like a beetle & everyone knows Belinda & beetle go together in our family. This blog/diary what ever you want to call it is an account of our trips away short & long with Belinda. I will have to rack my brains for the early ones but there are plenty of photos to jog my memory. Most of our trips away revolve around bikes with out a motor to start with, then with a motor later on. Kayaking & fishing also feature highly. I'm writing Belinda's travels so in years to come we can look back when we can no longer do the things we can do now & maybe relive the moment. You never know our great grandchildren may read it one day & get a greater appreciation of who we are. Time to start the journey.