I have a new enemy, it's name is rust (nothing to do with Nicola Rust)

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This one is a bit long but needed explaining I thought!

Here I am in New Zealand, 3 weeks in. I am the proud owner of a camper van and ready to leave Auckland and begin discovering this wondrous country that I hope one day to call home. Suddenly my complete lack of consideration and irrational head has landed me in the shit.

When I bought the camper I was in a very sorry state of mind, the search had been fairly tough. I had a definite idea of what I wanted and was convinced that I would find it within my budget. Searching through classified ads was a fruitless exercise and a lot less appealing than the internet these days, especially with the advent of websites such as trademe.co.nz (like a kiwi ebay). After having been to the backpacker’s car market and seen one end of the scale, I trawled the camper sales lots of Auckland with help from my long suffering but very patient friends Sherylee and Jason. These proved to be equally as fruitless. The other end of the scale is very, very expensive. To cut what could be a very long story short, I found a camper that looked to be exactly what I was looking for and went to see it. This is where I failed myself.

Driving to what I was to discover was a beautiful town called Orewa , about 30 minutes drive north of Central Auckland (which I shall definitely be visiting again), I was in a fantastic mood. I had found my wagon of destiny that was going to carry me on my adventure. It was this blind enthusiasm which was to be my downfall, as it has been so many times before. I arrived to see the beast parked in the car park and the joyous feeling inside me swelled, I was so thrilled to see it and my cursory glance elated me even further to the point where all rational thought falls out of my less than water tight noodle.

I met the owner (a very nice older lady) and she handed me the key so I could go and inspect it. She couldn’t accompany me as her cover at work had not turned up and she could not leave the shop unattended! This suited me as I could poke, pull and prod whatever I wanted without prying eyes! So I jumped straight in and got on with it. My Dad had sent me a list of things to look out for so I thought I was set. I drove it and loved it, so I march straight in and made an offer. What a fool! I should have said thanks, gone home and thought everything out in my head and called her back. In my euphoric state of mind I was not going to do myself any good but blinded by the giddy feeling I had, I ploughed on regardless, gave the lady a deposit and headed to the bakery for a well deserved sandwich!

I took my prize to the beautiful Orewa beach, where for only the 2nd time since arriving had I thought, ‘this is what I came to NZ for’. Looking out and the vista my warm inner glow intensified, it was just a beach but for some unfathomable reason, they are just prettier here! I had a flock of troublesome looking seagulls for company as I sat on the rocks, all desperate for me to drop a crumb to fight over. The shells washed up on the beach all look magical, just like the ones that you see all polished up and on sale in tacky seaside tat shops in English seaside towns. Lots of them in perfectly in tact, some of the completely foreign like the enormous horse mussel.

So in the days since I have been purchasing the essential equipment and foodstuffs, preparing for Thursday 9th my planned departure date. Yet here I am sitting here on this day writing this entry, still in Auckland!

The van failed its warrant of fitness (MOT equivalent). I should make the point that the van has a valid WOF until October (I was not daft enough to buy a vehicle without one). I wanted to get it done so that I was not having to worry about repairs whilst on my travels, and away from potential help. Thank God I did.

There is a hole in the exhaust pipe, no biggy and easily fixed. The headlights need adjusting, again not a major problem, the radiator pipe has rusted, oh dear, not a WOF issue but it will need addressing. The major issue is the rust in what are deemed to be structural areas, ooh bugger! Thankfully, I have a welder now in my extended Kiwi family who has agreed to look at the problem and see what he can do. Best case scenario it can be sorted in a weekend with no major effort and damage to my wallet, worst, the roof needs to come off, major work needs to be done taking weeks and running into thousands of dollars! Why oh why didn’t I get it inspected or ask them for a more recent WOF?

So I have cancelled all immediate departure plans, will not be meeting up with Rachel in Dunedin for my birthday and may be getting some temp work for a week or two to help cover the cost of repairs.

Still, let me say that I am still in high spirits, am loving doing nothing and enjoying life in Auckland!!

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Comments

[chloe]

ah
Hey Uncle Eeyore, sorry about the probs with the car, don't be too down on yourself. At least you had the good sense to get it checked before leaving. This kind of thing always happens, at least you didn't end up stranded somewhere remote. Loving the blog :-) Chloe xx

[stef]

What a bugger!
Hope it's the best case scenario. Hope you have a lovely birthday. xx