Here tis April and we’re about to head off again. Hopefully the re-repair of the Hovel will be completed in time for us to take it with us. It’d be a bastard having to sleep in the Suzuki every night for the next 6 months.

Wait, what are you on about?………..

Well I’m sure those of you who read this sh… will remember that we damaged a tree (the one and only) on the Nullarbor way back in 2013. As a consequence the roof on the Hovel and a few other bits had to be replaced. The job was ultimately assigned to the dealers, Roberts RV in Campbellfield, and they f….ed it up. Took them 8 weeks to do it too. Problem was we didn’t observe the deficiencies until we were well underway in 2014. Roberts decided that their workmanship and care and attention was beyond reproach and only warrantied for 3 months so they f…ed us off. However, the insurance company CIL agreed with us, that Roberts were incapable of doing the job properly, and referred us to another repairer in Shepparton to get the whole job re-done. The Hovel is now in Shepparton having another $10K refit at CIL’s expense. I have to say that, whilst all a bit behind schedule, CIL have been fantastic in guaranteeing the repair and now committing to having it all redone. But, we’re now somewhat behind schedule to get away as the plan called for us to depart on 30 April.

What CIL can’t do is recover our costs incurred as a result of Roberts further incompetence in destroying our toilet , the trucks start batteries and the electric brake controller, a total of over $1500.00.  You really do have to wonder about the long term viability of Winnebago/Avida and its dealership network when you look at the litany of failures experienced by us and other disgruntled owners. We could not in all conscience recommend anyone buy a Winnebago/Avida product or deal with any of their dealers in future. It is more than a little disappointing after having spent so much money.

However, we will persevere and I’ll learn the necessary skills to maintain and repair the body bits. Luckily it is built on a Isuzu truck chassis so that part at least should be reliable, even though the body overloads its supposed load rating.

In the meantime we’ve been to Swan Hill (in the Hovel) for a couple of weeks to primarily visit bro-in-law Graeme who has been recently diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer from which there is no prospect of recovery. Doctors suggest a few months at most, a prognosis which I find most distressing. We’ve been mates for a very long time.

Then, over Easter and some days before and after we moved dear daughter into her new house. Won’t publicise where for reasons most of you will probably understand. We’re too old for this hard yakka stuff. We’ve had to rest up for days afterwards, although most things are now back to a sort of normal status.

Jude got called up for jury duty in Wangaratta, appeared yesterday, got dismissed and is now back home no worse for wear.

Oh its a busy life some of us lead.

I do sort of have a job still, working as a salesman for Civic Guides but I’m not very good at it. Spent 8 days in Swan Hill selling whilst visiting Graeme, 7 days in and around Bright and 3 or 4 days in home town but home town result has been dismal. The rest was OK but not where I thought it should be. Anyway, I’m on holidays now.

Soon we’ll restart the Tales from the Novel Hovel. Right now we’re just hibernating in the immoveable Hovel, I’ve had the computer repaired and I can now type at a more acceptable pace (for me anyway) so please wait with baited breath for a new travel instalment.