This weeks mission is to get the slab ready to be poured. There is sand to level everything perfectly, this is called blinding. Then the polythene (black plastic) for a moisture barrier. Next polystyrene for insulation. Then metal mesh to be tied all together. Finally bar chairs (plastic props) to hold the mesh up at the right level for strength. The day is horrifically warm 32 degrees with a hot norwester wind. Rowan and I are really suffering. There is not enough sand so we head out to Skevingtons and they have a yard we can grab some from. Three trailer loads done by shovel and wheelbarrow we are spent! One day was not enough time to do both so Murray will be back tomorrow to finish the job off.

We get it all done and end up being able to finish early. The day is not as hot but at 26 and very windy we struggled to keep all the polystyrene from flying away. It just made the job a lot harder but we got it done!

On Friday we spent the day getting jobs done around Herbert. We are aiming to head away on Monday after the council inspection. Rowan built a cage for the trailer using IBC container cages he got for free. Chris came over in the afternoon and dug out the area for the Bedford to sit in and he positioned our rocks. We gave him some beer and cookies and I later get a text to say that is payment. I am chuffed! I think we have spent more than $50k with him this year.

We spent the weekend getting organised to head north. We took a little interlude to the famous Fishwife where you can get half a cray and chips for $33.

Inspection day! We plan to head off as soon as we can. We make sure we are ready to go. Tony comes to do the inspection and he can’t pass it. The levels have been done too high on one of the houses. Which means the metal mesh would sit above the concrete. Once he pointed it out I could see how obvious it is. The other site passed just fine.

Now to have a conversation with Tama. We expressed our displeasure. Tony said it has been years since he didn’t pass one of these and Murray should have seen the issue. I am really pissed off. This just puts the whole thing out of sorts. Tama says he will send Murray tomorrow to fix it and we won’t be paying. That just means Tama will be paying for his stuff up.

Rowan and I decide to stay so we can be there tomorrow. Luckily we booked flexible ferry tickets!