Anita DeSoto and her 14-year-old tabby cat Maizey are the proud owners of a 1981 Bristol double-decker bus which, in a previous life, transported tourists around the sights of Dunedin.
The 49-year-old artist said the decision to buy the $14,000 double-decker in April last year was helped by her partner saying " he would leave me if I didn't buy it".
"So here we are."
After selling her Northeast Valley home and acquiring the bus, she parked the double-decker permanently in her partner's Waitati driveway, with a cat-flap for Maizey installed under the left front wheel.
Most of the 74 seats - bar the rear seats on the lower deck and the front seats on the upper - have been removed to clear space for the kitchen, bedroom and living area.
New carpet has been added as "I didn't really want all the old chewing gum".
A fire and gas cooker have been installed on the lower floor, water is pumped from outside, and solar panels installed on the roof as part of an $8000 makeover have enabled the home to be self-sufficient, she said.
And the bathroom? An outdoor bath and compost toilet (bucket) complete the self-sufficient lifestyle.
There are no mortgage repayments, no rates and no electricity bills to worry about.
"It did feel like I was camping for a while, but it has been really good to live a sustainable lifestyle."
Apart from winter, when the lack of insulation and prevalence of uncovered windows had proved a real test, life on the bus was a slice of paradise - despite her being 8cm taller than the 170cm ceiling, she said.
Although her friends and family were reluctant to stay, her grandson loved sitting in the driver's seat, an area which doubles as her utility cupboard.
Ms DeSoto, a lecturer in life drawing at the Dunedin School of Art at the Otago Polytechnic, said moving into the bus had given her more time to concentrate on her art.
But there were no plans to paint the double decker, which had been stripped of most of its external advertising, apart from an image of Robbie Burns and First Church.
"I want to keep it bus-like."
Do you live in an unusual home? Then contact hamish.mcneilly@odt.co.nz
