Housetrucks And Housebuses. The Way We Were...

It was the way we were.
There are some who wish life was like this still...

Allie and Kevin, Urban Refugees And Hippies From Wayback...

While Freedom Camping at Te Awanga in the Hawkes Bay in recent months, I've been lucky enough to meet many interesting folk and and a few kindred spirits too, as they pass this way.
Allie and Kevin turned up from Dannevirke, an hour or so south of here, to enjoy the beauty of the area and parking in such close proximity to the sea as they head north.
It's the beach that weeps with deserted waves Allie writes, we sleep there because we know we'll be safe there.
Kevin's been living the dream for about ten years and the property he shares with Allie is back to basics. Off grid living with Solar power, composting toilet and laundry done in a bucket before it's put through an old fashioned wringer and hung out to dry in the breeze.
Their vegetable garden supplements their food supply and life is good.
Living outside the system Kevin says is even better than good.
Allie's been on the road since the seventies in a variety of housetrucks and buses. She's currently got a house on the back of a flatbed truck. She's a writer of poetry with some thirty books having been published and used in the New Zealand school system. She's also an artist and a wonderful craftsperson and for many years worked and travelled with New Zealand's famous Gypsy Fair.
I'm delighted there's now a few of Allie's pieces enhancing my tiny home, adding to my collection of original New Zealand art.
Until we meet again. Love and Peace...

Lance Cryer's Bedford Heaven. The Resting Place Of The Famous Bedford Marque...

This morning, Bedfords from all over the country will start arriving at Lance Cryer's Bedford Heaven at Puriri for the fourth Annual Bedford New Zealand Rally.
Surrounding the arrivals will be the relics seen here and hundreds more old Beddies who've had their day and now watch the world from the sidelines.
It's well to remember that these and many more were the mainstay of New Zealand's transport from the early 1940's and many of us are committed to keeping the marque on the country's roads. Often to the horror of others in their plastic tupperware computerised containers on wheels.
But let's not go there. I hear feathers rustling.
This Labour Weekend, the faithfull will be here to pay their respects to the past, enjoy the present and consider this for the future.
Bedfords Forever...

A Beautiful Bedford Housebus...

It's nearly time for another laid-back Bedford Rally and again this year it'll take place at Lance Cryer's 'Bedford Heaven' at Puriri, just south of Thames on the Coromandel Peninsular.
Once again, Bedford owners will arrive from all corners of New Zealand for the opportunity to talk about and show off their Beddies.
And full-time housebusers Rudy and Els will be there in their wonderful and innovative 1965 Bedford SB3.
It's only eight metres long but every bit of space has been used wisely and creatively. There's a garage cum workshop down the rear that can hold a couple of motorcycles at least.
The rustic woodwork throughout the buses' interior is rich in flavour and texture as only natural wood can be.
Some delightful features include the popout dining area and the popout bedroom with those wonderful double doors opening up on whatever views are fancied.
Don't you wish you owned a Bedford...