"Sir, is this a 7-seater?" the auction-master asked. I shrugged and blurted out: "I dunno"

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Let's start this blog with a spoiler: I got a car!

Sorry couldn't restrain myself. So yesterday was an interesting day! Got up early in order to get some money out of the bank, and then we went to the car auction to get me a car! We arrived later than expected, so we didn't have time to check out all the cars. There were basically 3 that had enough space in the back for me to put my bike+backpack in and even potentially sleep in it in the price-range I was looking for (below 1500 dollars aka 900 euros).

Bidding started and it was quite exciting to experience. They start at the high price, go lower until the first bidder, and then work up from there. The first few cars went over my budget quite fast, so it was a bit exciting when the third car came up. Strategy was set: wait till he goes to the lowest amount the auctioneer will go, bid. Bid again if others bid, but only to a pre-set limit. Well the third one went 100 or 200 over my budget, so alas, we vowed to get to the auction sooner next time.

However, there were three auctions (lots) going on at the same time, so we checked out the other ones. One car that looked quite decent and had had a recent vehicle check (WOF) went down to 600, so I bid, and then bid again a couple of times. I bid 1200, and in the end the other bidder went to 1250. My limit was reached, so no go.

Then this Toyota Sceptre with only 188.000 kilometers on the counter and 2 months WOF left came up, and it went all the way down to 1000 dollar. It was so big it was oozing spare space in the back. So I bid. Nobody else bid. The auctioneer asked:

"Noone else? Sir, is this a 7-seater or not?"

Shrugging, I mumbled: "I dunno" (thinking to myself: I didn't really check, it just looks roomy enough for a bike. Also thinking: shit I hope there's nothing really wrong with it..)

Noone bid, so suddenly I was the owner of a new car! And seriously wondering wether I did something terribly wrong or not.

Let me tell you: it's ugly (maroon not my colour). It's scratched. Paint half-way through the peeling off completely proces. Car-radio doesn't work. And they replaced the lock on the driver-side, so my car-keys don't work, I have to open it through the passenger-side, and the automatic locking system keeps making clicking noises untill I manually lock the door on the drivers side. But it's one smoooooooth ride! Automatic, goes fast, goes fast fast, great suspension and new tires (had to get a new second-hand spare tire though, previous owner put too much air into it so he/she literally blew it up).

So far I've almost killed me and Nerida only like once or twice (e.g. by driving on the wrong side of the road). And I'm pretty sure at one point I'll stop turning the windscreen-wipers on instead of indicating direction (everything on the wrong side here in NZ!).

As for the rest of my day? Went out to a comedy club with someone I met online, had a banana/ice-cream pancake in the food court when the fire-alarm went off, so after deliberation I took the pancake outside (plate and all) to some square, vowing to return it...eventually. Oh and when I was waiting for the bus in West-Auckland, 3 absolute wiggers walked past holding their woodstock cans (bourbon+coke). One asked: "You sick of it?"

I was like: "What? Sick of what?" and he replied: "No do you got a cigarette?" (mind you, NZ has some of the highest tariffs on tobacco anywhere basically). I said no of course, and after he asked me where I was from and I replied, he said in the thickest gangsta accent possible: "Welcome to the west-side brou!"

So yeah, that was just one random day in Auckland.

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