Now for a Bath

Finished!

Almost Done

All that remains for me to do is to replace the window sashes. Tracy and her dad are going to tile the shower area.

Walls Up

The walls are up and plastered. After a lick of paint this project will be on the home straight.

Plumbing and Insulation Done

Insulating the walls should make this room much warmer in the winter.

The plumbing is done (I got a professional to do that!) so things are progressing nicely.

As you can see from the time of this post, I am doing some late nights to get this finished before xmas.

...and New Floor Goes Down

I bought some second hand floor boards from Musgroves reclamation yards. They are made from rimu like the rest of our house and so they should fit in well.

Tracy's dad helped me lay this floor which only took a morning. Once it is sanded and varnished it should look great.

Old Floor Comes Up...

I had hoped to save the old floor but it was rotten in many places so up it comes. At least it makes it easier to route the plumbing.

New Ceiling

The new ceiling is up and the heat/extractor fan unit installed.

Good Riddance

This is our old bath. It is actually a shub (short for shower-tub). I really hate it and can't wait to rip it out. Unfortunately it was quite difficult. In the end I had to use a circular saw to chop around the plug hole.

Sink Gone

Everything must go. Not just the sink, toilet and bath. We are replacing the walls, floor and ceiling as well. This is a messy job but fun. I used a crowbar and claw hammer to remove the walls and ceiling.

World's Ugliest Bathroom

When the electric shower died, it spurred us on to do something we should have done a long time ago: replace the bathroom. This is the existing one. It is cold, damp, mouldy and the colour scheme is hideous.

Little Gardener

The new veggie patch is a hit with James. He likes to help Mummy water the tomatos and potatoes.

East

To the east is a view of the Canterbury plains and the Pacific Ocean. The patch of clouds in the distance to the left is Banks Peninsula.

West

From the top the view to the west is dominated by the southern alps. Mt Cook can be seen if you know where to look.

Skiing

Before Sarah leaves I had to go skiing so we spent the afternoon at Mt Hutt.

Bath Time

Back home and we have no hot water in the bathroom. Until this is fixed we are enduring cold showers and James is loving his 'special' bath.

Dinosaur Egg

At least that's what we told James it was. This is one of the Moeraki Boulders.

Engage Low Gear Now

Lucky we have 4WD.

Another Gratuitous Tourist Shot

On the way through Dunedin I couldn't resist taking Sarah to Baldwin St, the steepest street in the world. The gradient is 1 in 2.86 (35%)!

Purakaunui Falls

The Catlins were beautiful, I just wished we had longer to explore them. James enjoyed this short walk in the bush to a waterfall.

Petrified Wood

At Curio Bay is a petrified forest, this log is 180 million years old!

Yellow Eyed Penguin

As part of our flying tour of the south coast we visited a petrified forest on the coast where we saw this very rare yellow eyed penguin.

Gratuitous Tourist Shot

At Bluff, near Invercargill is the start of SH1. It is mandatory to have your photo taken next to this sign post.

Giant Paua Shell

Just outside Riveron is this large sculpture of a paua shell. The interior is actually coated with real Paua shell.

Stewart Island

The whole south coast drive was great, the beaches were fantastic. We saw lots of surfers at this spot and Stewart Island in the distance.

Gemstone Beach

We are travelling back via the south coast on the 'southern scenic route'. We found this great spot called gemstone beach. It is a lovely spot with wild waves and the mountains of fiordland in the distance. The beach is made up of tiny gemestones, just a couple of millimetres across. Amongst them are jasper, garnets and sapphires!