WE'VE NEARLY FINISHED THE 4X4 EXPEDITION VEHICLE OF OUR DREAMS! Well, nearly - we have to say making the Defender 130 into a pop top would be the absolute dream, but hey! Second best dream!

We're absolutely exhausted. It's the end of term and my brave, resolute and determined husband has not only held down a full time job but has worked incredibly hard to build this one of a kind expedition vehicle. Some days he looks 87, especially with bloodshot eyes from hayfever and lack of sleep. Yet he persists, stoically, admirably. Some days I think he'll collapse - he very nearly does - but a good feed and a good cuddle and he's back on it again.

I'm not sure we would have started this project had we known how arduous it would be. But it's looking pretty awesome, so I guess we can live with the grey hairs. When we're on the road, it won't matter. But goodness me, we are now at the point we're feeling damn good about what we've achieved.

The drop down side table has been installed. This is actually from the 130 as we are getting a new one made for that. It's an essential bit of kit - it makes for a lot more space to cook dinner and takes up no room inside. WE didn't want to carry a folding table!

We decided to clad the left hand side interior wall in cedar. This is nice and lightweight. We used the ridged side that would normally be glued to the floor or wall - it adds some interest.

The interior frame was my brainwave - we found it hard to find anything to line it with for the circular window so I thought we could put in a square frame instead! I think it looks good.

I wanted to break up the wall a little with a couple of shots from our coast, something from home to take with us. One is my shot of Bells Beach on a big swell, and the other is Dad's. Jamie wouldn't let me as he likes the lines. But I have plans...

Jamie came up with a genius idea for the diesel heater which sits now under the chassis near the petrol tank. It's on a hinged platform that drops down when we need to fill it. That amount of diesel would last about two weeks with it running often. We'll need it in the cooler weather.

I finally found the right doona cover to have both downstairs (the single one for me) and upstairs (double). They were on sale and cheap, and the colours work perfectly.