This blog is a follow on from our previous posts about the progress we are making on converting a bus into our home, office, school and mobile billboard for our mission to Transform Children’s Health, One Lunch Box At A Time. If you haven’t had a chance to see what we’ve been up to, you can read about it here.
Progress on Bus Conversion
Since our last post, Israel has made two visits to Newcastle to document the progress of the conversion.
On the first of these 2 visits, it didn’t look like a lot of progress had been made. The heart sinks. Then once you start talking to the crew who are working on the build, you actually realise a lot of little structural things which aren’t really visible have been happening. So looks really can be deceiving. Here’s a few pics of the things that had happened from the last post to this first visit.
Monday 29th September
As well as what you see in these pictures, the team had also
- started to grind out the curved edges for each window
- map out where our water tanks, battery and generator would go underneath the bus
- finished cutting out all the metal that housed the old heating and air conditioner lines.
Monday 13th October
This visit was considerably more exciting. Much more has happened. Israel also took my dad up to see the bus. He was so excited and gobsmacked when he saw how big the bus was that he let a 4 letter word drop not just once, but several times.
Take a look at how it’s now shaping up as of today.
In addition to what you see in these pictures, this is what else has been happening since the last visit:
- styrofoam has been installed in the walls and in the roof for insulation
- the wiring has been run under the floor
- side doors to make accessing the boot easier have been sketched out, ready for cutting
- an additional step has been put in up the front to cater for our 4 year old
Overall, the project is still running late on the original plans but good progress is being made. The more we’ve started to understand the process, the more comfortable we are becoming. We now realise there is a lot more to building this home than we thought. There is a lot of little structural items that you can’t see that have to get done before the big items that will make it a home, office, school and mobile billboard.
We are off to Las Vegas, Disneyland & Hawaii with the kids for 3 weeks tomorrow. Brett the project manager has told Israel that by the time we get back (31st October), all the walls for each of the different rooms and the kitchen shell should be installed. Now that will be one visit that I will have to see if I can fit in. Can’t wait to share that with you.
Equipment Purchases
This last month we haven’t purchased a great deal but we have purchased one of our last big ticket items. We paid a deposit for the build of our trailer. We will towing the trailer behind the bus and it will house our Nissan Xtrail 4WD, surfboards, bikes etc.
Decluttering
The great purge continues. This month we’ve given away our swing set, books, toys and puzzles. We have earmarked which furniture we’re going to keep, which has to go. When we return in November, we will undertake the task of photographing all the ‘stuff’ we have decided to sell, and start to advertise it. We’re still to decide what to do with our white goods because we have been told it is unlikely they will start up when we return. The dilemma – sell them so someone gets cheap white goods that work but means we have to buy new ones when we get back, or take the punt they will start up when we return and store them for 18 months. That is the question. What do you think?
Our photography business has been running for 10 years and as you can appreciate, we have amassed a huge amount of samples and digital files. So last month we worked out which samples we’ll keep for when we return, and which ones we’d like to give away to the people in them. Dorothy, our Customer Courtesy Angel will be calling those people soon.
We’ve also started the process of migrating all our archived digital files for the photography business to portable external hard drives so they will be accessible and safe whilst we travel around. This is no small tasks – there’s about 4000 discs to be copied. Dorothy is doing an amazing job at working through this mountain.
This declutter task is still huge. I think in the end, Vinnies will be getting a lot of ‘stuff’ because it may well be easier to give it away than try to sell it. We’ll wait and see what November and December holds.
Mad Food Science™ Program Sponsorship
As you are aware, we are on a mission to Transform Children’s Health, One Lunch Box At A Time and to take this mission around Australia.
One of my goals is to find sponsors to help fund The Mad Food Science™ Program so I can take it to as many schools as possible, at the least possible cost.
I am ecstatic to share the news that last week Bendigo Bank, Clovelly Branch confirmed they would provide $3,000 sponsorship to fund the entire Mad Food Science™ Program for all the students at Chifley Public School. This means 220 children will become educated – at no cost to the school or their parents – in how their body works, why it’s important to eat wholefoods, how to read packet labels and that healthy food really can taste yummy. In addition to the children, their parents will also receive this education. I am grateful to the dedication of Bendigo Bank to serving the community and their belief in the need to Transform Children’s Health.
On a personal note, Israel & I do ALL our banking – both our businesses and our personal accounts (including the kids accounts) with Bendigo Bank, Clovelly Branch and we can not talk highly enough of how brilliant their service is. You call them and there is no IVR. The phone is answered by a real live person who knows who you are. Nothing is too much a problem. Do yourself and your finances a favour, and check out your own local Bendigo Bank Branch.
Distance Education
This is still a source of angst for me. I am still investigating Distance Education. My mission should I choose to accept it (and I do) is to have this sorted by mid November so I can ensure the application is lodged and accepted before the end of the year.
If you have any experience in Distance Education or know of someone who does, please email me at belinda@therootcause.com.au
Other Items
There are many…
I need to get my heavy vehicle licence so I can share the load of driving with Israel. Ok, so share the load is probably not the correct term because I can’t see us splitting the driving 50-50%, but at least being in a position to drive when he’s tired or in an emergency. This is a task for November.
Finding more sponsors to help fund taking the mission and The Mad Food Science™ Program around Australia. Our biggest costs are going to be sign-writing the bus and trailer, connectivity (phones, internet), the trailer, and solar panels/inverters/batteries etc. I would also like to get a national sponsor for The Mad Food Science™ Program so I can take it to as many schools as possible at minimal cost.
Then of course, there is the whole migrating of our life from a house into a bus. Giving notice on the place we’ve called home for 8 years, that has seen all our kids birthday parties and both their naming days. Oh and the task of saying goodbye to friends and family…
Life is an adventure.
It’s meant to have challenges, else it would be boring.
This is a trip of a lifetime for us all.
It’s a trip with a mission that we hope can send a ripple affect across the children of Australia, and transform their health, one lunch box at a time.
Thank you for being along for the ride. We are very grateful to have you following our mission and journey.