Well it was even hotter in the end! 41C!! Inside the van got to38C, uncomfortably hot. It was gusty also, but horrid hot wind so it didn't cool us down at all. We spent a fair bit of the day swimming in the cold river, our saviour. We managed to get our toddler asleep in the pram for a short time, but even in the shade she woke up very sweaty and hot. That night was also very hot, but finally cooled down around 11pm.
The van went well. Didn't find too many issues, although the awning is not installed correctly and as a result has already started to rip a little. It is not installed centrally on the roller and this has made it pull diagonally when rolled out. It also means we can't use the anti-flap bars as on one side there is a huge gap and the other side the awning is too close to the bar. So that. Means we cant put up the annexe either. We only had the awning up on day as we didn't dare have it up in the slightest of breezes in case it ripped further.
Also found that there is a big gap at the top of the toilet/shower door that I had already pointed out to be fixed when we collected the van. It's due to the wall with the door hinge on it being warped towards the top. But I noticed when the temperatures were hot the gap grew considerably (to the extent that you had to lock the door just to keep it shut) and when it cooled down the gap lessened although still there.
We weren't near any of the bush fires thankfully. In a weeks time we are meant to be taking the expanda down to Port Arthur, but not sure if that will happen. The road to the Tasman Peninsula is closed and has been since Friday due to the still-raging fires and I believe there is no power on the peninsula at all. It may be a week or more untul power is restored as many power poles have been burnt down. People are being rescued by boat off beaches. I'm very glad we didn't head there to this trip or to the other affected areas. I really feel for all those that have lost property due to the fires, including my husbands relatives. Awful.
