"Glass Act"

Recently, I've had some time between jobs and I've wondered about setting up a business that we could do while living on the road.

I played around with hand painting wine glasses.

You maybe wondering where this idea came from????
Years ago, I was Christmas shopping, and I was trying to find a present for someone who just seemed to have 'everything'. I went to 'The Great Escape' complex in Richmond and I saw two hand painted wine glasses, along with a bottle of wine in a gift box. But...I've never seen anything like it since.
Also, while living in Nelson and visiting the 'Flea Market', I've seen many crafty businesses. I admire that lifestyle and I've always wanted to try my hand at it.

Which is why I've tried my hand at hand painted wine glasses.

I made a website...and a Face Book page..

http://kmread.wix.com/glass-act-1

It's the little things!

Like the title of this post says, 'It's the little things"... 

We seem to be discovering lots of new things .. just small things and probably obvious to most people.
Like today....we went for a drive in the truck and needed to get some diesel. 
Easy...or so we thought. 
Until we realised we might not fit into some of the service stations!
Problem solved...after a few texts... we were sorted!

"Truck Stop"

The dogs keeping an eye on things!

First ride in the truck for the dogs. No complaints.

The Trailer

Today we picked up the trailer and it's made us feel as though we are 'that' much closer to getting on the road. Super excited!
That's 2 ticks...
1). 1st tick = We've got the truck.
2). 2nd tick = We've got the trailer.

Now, we are waiting for the rig to arrive, which will be next month. Hopefully, some photos will be emailed to us soon, so we can see it....it's hard waiting!

Starting our 'On The Road Library"

The other day I got home from work and there was a present for me on the table. It was shaped like chocolate! It was from Bernie. As I was unwrapping it he said "don't eat it all tonight!".
But...even better than chocolate (yes, there is a thing!)...were some books. Books on my new obsessions....
One was on "Native Birds in New Zealand" and the other book was" Native trees in N.Z"

Yay!

Then on TradeMe I found another book on short walks around the South Island, which I had seen in the Information Centre at Lake Rotoiti and I'd wanted to buy it, but it was a tad expensive!). I was so excited when I won it for $9!

Lots of short walks and all the information and history that goes along with each walk.

This was the first book to intiate our library...it has all the places to stay and all the information needed....where the dump stations are, are dogs allowed?, access suitability, power?, water?, etc

My surprise, chocolate shaped, pressie from Bernie. 

Got the Truck!

Today we picked up the truck. Thanks to Rob (Bernie's nephew) he knew someone (his boss) who had a yard in Richmond that was empty and ideal for us to park the truck and the rig. It has an easy access and we can sweep around and park up on level hard gravel. Ideal. Lucky us :-) It's good knowing we have a place we can park them in.

Nelson to Lake Rotoiti to Picton

Last weekend we drove to lake Rotoiti to check out the DOC site for camping. It was perfect. Close to the Lake and close to lots of native walks. Unfortunately because it's a DOC site we can't take the dogs. I'm not sure who will miss who more...the dogs missing us or us missing the dogs???
After lake Rotoiti we drove through the Wairau Valley towards Blenheim. We were surprised by the amount of vineyards. They are everywhere!
Where do they get all their workers from?
And, the work involved in putting in all those posts! There were SO many and there were acres and acres of them!
We found another good camping spot in Blenheim. It was beside the river and this one allowed dogs.
Next, we drove to Picton and then drove through Queen Charlotte Drive back home. Unfortunately we ran out of daylight so we didn't get to see the sights while driving through Queen Charlotte....(note to self: must get up earlier when doing these day trips!).

FR-Freezing!

The fur-babies waiting in the warm while we were braving the cold!
NO DOGS ALLOWED! 

Looking towards the Lake from the Information Centre (worth a visit)

"Wairau Valley".
Sunshine, vineyards, vineyards and more vineyards...

We recommend this cafe as a place to stop...
It's in Renwick, opposite Woodbourne.

The burger that Bernie ordered from a choice of about 12 different burgers. And yes he did eat it all, along with chips, a beer and a hot chocolate. The chef was obviously impressed because he came out and shook Bernie's hand!

This is the Bristol Freighter that used to fly to The Chatham Islands.

Picton

"Momorangi Bay"
We arrived too late to admire the view, but took a walk to the jetty and discovered a seal (huge) asleep at the end!

Queen Charlotte Drive

Luckily we drove through Queen Charlotte Drive because I was keen to stay over at Momorangi Bay. But as it turns out from Linkwater through to Shakespeare Bay, which is very close to Picton,(so basically all of Queen Charlotte Drive)is not recommended for any vehicles over 12.6 metres. We will be about 14metres. So, that's a shame, but worth knowing before turning up thinking we could stay at Momorangi Bay.

Potential Camping Spots!

For the past few weekends we have been taking day trips around the area to check out places where we can stay once we get our rig. It's been a worthwhile exercise because there are so many amazing spots. Also, we've discovered that while some spots sound ideal ... when we've visited them, we've realised our rig would be too long to fit in.
When we ordered and bought our rig we were aware that the size may at times restrict us as to where we could park. However, we decided as we plan to live permanently in this rig, we knew if we compromised on the size, we may find it too challenging to live full time on the road. So we opted for a bigger rig knowing we will also have a separate vehicle to explore areas where we can't park up in.
These day trips have been awesome! There are so many amazing places that we can't wait to go and explore in more depth.

Looking down on Okiwi Bay.

Okiwi Bay

Bernie looking towards Durville Island 

The drive going to French Pass.

French Pass

Tides out at Marahau

Marahua

Split Apple Rock

Gorgeous golden sand!

Looking over Marahau

Compass Fruit

I've resigned from Compass Fruits (already!). I know...there seems to be a pattern occurring here with me. However, these are the reasons why I finished earlier than I thought...

1). When I applied for the job it was advertised as a "Phytosanitary Inspector" which involved inspecting fruit for export and gaining a phytosanitary certificate. But...98% of the time I was just packing fruit and only 2% doing Q.C, plus it wasn't lab work like I had done in the past. The QC part was collecting 50 rejected apples every run and categorising the rejected fruit as to why it had been rejected. I didn't realise that apples could have so many defects... blemishes, blush, over size, undersize, pit, puncture, dirty, sun burn, scuff, shrivel, russett, rot, eye rot, stem tear, new bruises, old bruises... just to name a few! 
So I felt a bit ripped off not being able to get into lab work again.

2). And then....the hourly rate!!!!!!!!! It was $16 an hour, which meant about $12.90 in the hand after tax. That sucked! It was a big wake up call for me learning there were lots of people on this hourly rate and it wasn't even the lowest rate!
How can you live off that?

Despite all the rambling above, it was a good experience. I felt muscles that I didn't know I even had. I met a whole new bunch of people and it's made me much more cautious with my spending. 

Here are some sneaky photos (cos we weren't allowed our phones in the factory!).

The entrance to Line 3

The Graders

Apples being washed before being graded.

This is where I collected the 50 reject apples from.

Fruit being put into water to be washed.

My area. I have sorted the fruit into their default groups.

Records of the rejected apples.

Packer checking and placing apples onto the trays to be packed.

Packing the apples.

A sneaky 'selfie' modeling the latest in head fashion. Lol

My wee QC area.