19. Add-on room

18. Baby Zachary arrives

15th November 2015 - Emma's view from bed.

4th December - with the addition of the latest family member people were asking "Where on earth are you going to put the new baby?" Zachary Amos Hill fits in very well!

Blessed with this little healthy human

Emma has decorated the office space how she likes it!

The Following 4 images are some shots from a photo shoot we did with a friend of ours who is a photographer.  https://www.facebook.com/laurenmckinnonphotography

17. Bus Walk thru, party, Office Space & bench tops

Bus walk through using a GoPro. Not quite finished yet.

17th October - We had a bus warming party with family and friends. It was a great opportunity for everyone to have a look through the bus and enjoy some nice food and company.

Working on the kitchen bench tops. This is a solid acacia laminated panel that is finished with linseed oil. I screwed on a splash back using the same material ripped down to 100mm.

9th November - The same material was used for the office space. This is where the driver would have sat in the bus. The steering wheel has been removed and the windscreen has been insulated and covered.

View looking in from the front door up the entrance stairs. We can still access the ignition key to start the bus every once and a while!

Macrocarpa Slabs were purchased to do the natural edge bench tops in the bathroom/bedroom area.

16. Bendy section, Plumbing & Gas hot water

16th July - 2 weeks in and living in the bus has been great so far. We still have a lot to do to finish off! It is unbelievable just how much stuff we have had to sort through, its a good challenge to sort through our possessions and determine what stays and what goes

We are very comfortable in our bus house. Everything seems to function so much better than in our 'normal' house. We have a good sized kitchen with plenty of bench space, a full sized oven and cooktop, a larger shower than we had (900 x 900), a King Sized Bed AND its warmer thanks to our wood heater. The narrow space has its pros and cons but i really like the proximity of everything. You do have to be tidy and organised but that's a good thing.

29th July - Using 8mm insulation that is normally used for large steel sheds to insulate the bendy section of the bus. This will be skun on the outside of the bendy section as well. Having it on the inside has already made a huge difference to the heat retention. Previously we were loosing a lot of heat out of this section.

1st August - Bendy section couch framing begins. Izzy (our cat) joins us for the first time too! Also I built a shelf for our computer tower and bought a moveable LCD screen bracket so we can swing it around etc.

Bendy couch taking shape but it needs a few design refinements! It will be deeper and more organic in shape etc.

Plumbing - I used a plumbing system called SharkBite which has 16mm plastic pipe with brass connections that simply push in with no need for crimping or flanging etc. The hot water lines have been insulated.

5th August - Instant LPG gas hot water system was the choice in the end. We looked into Solar Tubes and Heat Pump Hot water Cylinders. Instant gas made the most sense when weighing up cost and movability! We went with a Bosch 26E. So far, so good. Nice to have hot water finally!!!!

Looking from the back. Hudson loves hanging out on the ledges next to our bed!

The couch for the bendy section framed up.

Sanding the natural edged macrocarpa shelves.

Some beautiful fiddle back feature in the shelves. These have been oiled with the Livos Kunos clear oil also.

Shelving in Hudson's room.

We are trying to have as much usable, accessible storage as possible without it feeling to crowded.

Shelves in our Bedroom.

Shelves above the toilet

The bendy section has been clad using strips of plywood slightly overlapped and screwed to the 3 frames within the bendy section.

There was even room for a shelf in the bendy section. Hudson showing off the Upholstery.

A view looking up at the bendy section cladding.

Em sitting where the drivers seat was. This is becoming the office space. The front windscreen has been blacked out, insulated and clad using the VJ lining like the ceiling.

Paul digging the bathroom grey water pipes in.

Washing the bus for the first time. Funny what having a bus warming party will make you do...

15. Moving in, Composting Toilet, Pantry

2nd of July - Flue casing done, heater pumping, its time to move in!!!!! There is still a lot to do. But we've got a comfy bed and heat so we are in.

3rd July - Starting to get visitors already! Nobbie chillin with Em. Temporary kitchen bench tops. No drawer fronts but it will be functional soon!

More drawer fronts and stainless handles. Bench tops to come. This is sort of a hallway section but Hudsons room spills into this area with the curtain open. We didn't want to waste space having a separate hallway section walled off from the rooms.

Hudsons cosy little room.

7th July - Digging a line trench for the composting toilet. This leads to an absorption trench about 25m away from the bus and is a shallow grave sized trench with gravel, ag pipe and hessian cloth. The excess liquid from the toilet ends up here.