The mobile electrician

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 31, 22 January 1985, Page 3

The mobile electrician

Mike Anderson is not the usual type of electrician. He lives and works in a 1951 Daimler half-cab bus! The Andersons — Mike and his wife Sky, and their two children Rayne (4), and Crystal (6 months), have been 'on the road' for two years. Mike believes being an electrician is a "good job to be into for this sort of lifestyle — I only work as much as I need to, to make a living — so I can spend time working on the bus, which needs constant maintenance!" The bus has a solar panel

on the side and a wetback on the wood range. The motor of the bus is powered by L.P.G. "It is designed so we can live selfsufficiently for up to ten days at a time," says- Sky. The hot water tank holds 30 gallons of water and waste water goes into a holding tank. Sky has been putting Rayne through a pre-school correspondence course and next year he will be going to school. The Andersons plan to move into a house in Taranaki, so their children can attend school. When they are settled,

Mike hopes to start an electrical business in Taranaki. "I now have a good range of knowledge from doing jobs in so many places." Mike's jobs range from hooking up a computer in Ohakune to wiring up a sound studio in the Coromandel. This is the third summer on the bus for the Andersons — "we have hung in here mainly because of the challenge," says Mike. They estimate that they have put about $12,000 into the bus. "When we bought it, it was already set up inside," says Sky, "but when we buy our next bus, we will

do it all ourselves so we can have it the way we want it." Although they enjoy their life on the road, it is not easy. "It's a lot easier living in a house, doing nine to five — and having a kindergarten to send the kids to." The Andersons find that because they live in a bus, they are looked upon as "tramps and thieves." "So whenever we leave a place, we make an effort to make it tidier than when we arrive — Mike hates litter, so when we stop at a picnic area, Mike always gets out and picks up all the rubbish that other people have left," says Sky. From Ohakune, they will visit Wanganui then plan to attend the Wairoa Gypsy Fair, where Sky will sell the handcrafts she makes.