When you are pottering about the house you sometimes don’t even notice that it’s raining. In the caravan you hear every drop on the roof. TV becomes impossible to hear and if it goes on for too long you start to get cabin fever and pray that nothing leaks.

In a tent it’s a different story altogether. Shovels are at the ready to dig trenches to drain the water away. Extra tarps are hung from the trees to give more shelter and it’s out with the garbage bag raincoats.

For those of you who have been following this blog for a while will know that we’ve had a pesky but minor leak in our van for some time. And anyone who has a van would know that tiny pin hole leaks are common and bloody infuriating!

We recently had our front running lights replaced and we’d thought that had been the cause of the leak. Until we went to the Snowy Mountains and it started again. This time the problem was suggested to be caused by water getting into the overlapping panels on the front of the van and we booked it in to be repaired, which would require removing and refitting the panels, a big job…next September.

Three weeks ago it rained heavily for 24 hours and everything stayed as dry as a chip. Except of course for outside when our site flooded and turned our annexe into a wading pool.

Yesterday it rained all day and once more the van was cosy and dry. Last night we crawled into bed, a little sad because we’d heard the news that rescuers had not been able to save the young whale beached at nearby Sawtell. It rained all night (90mm) and this morning we woke to a soggy bed. The headboard, mattress, pillows and sheets were damp and as the rain continued to fall the water continued to dribble in.

Woody threw the bedding into the dryer and I set to mopping. With such constant rain we were eventually able to track the leak to its source and mark the front window with a marker pen while we continued to mop (for 5 hours) and wait for a break in the weather. Good Lord if it ever rained like this in Melbourne we’d talk about it for a decade.

Thankfully the rain stopped for an hour or so and Woody was able to see that a clip on the front window was a tiny bit loose. Now all siliconed up and with plenty of gaffer tape for good measure and ugliness we wait to see if :

1. We actually found the blighter
2. Our handiwork holds