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Published: August 7th 2007
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18th Today we got up extremely early and made our way to Picton for the ferry back to the North Island. Louise took up the duvet, and set up camp on the sofa, sleeping through the entire crossing. David ate the biggest breakfast he could find in the cafe. We left Wellington and headed for Taupo for what was to become a memorable 48hrs of bad luck (or good luck - depending on how you look at it). First, Louise got a speeding ticket, oops - very nice police woman though. Then she bumped into somebody's car, pulling right out into the road. This was terrible. It was entirely her fault and we apologised lots before exchanging insurance details and heading on our way. We got to Taupo and had the vehicle checked by one of the 'wicked' mechanics. The door was bust on the drivers side but he said it was good to go, nevertheless! Great! Tommorow Rotorua - lets hope bad luck doesn't come in three's after all!
19th A few miles out of town, the most incredible turn of events took place, resulting in a sad goodbye to the van, but with both of us, unharmed, continuing
on our journey. We will tell our readers what happened but insist that no worrying must take place and encourage you to sit down and remain calm.
After accelerating into the overtaking lane to pass a slow camper, Louise lifted her foot off the gas pedal, only to find that it was stuck down. She pummeled it with her foot, but to no avail. Stepping on the brakes sent the automatic van into a noise of burning rubber. Unsure what she could do, and how much more safe road was ahead of us, Louise grabbed the gear control and shoved it into neutral. We skidded this way and that, nearly sailing off the edge of the road, as Louise controlled the skid with amazing skill. However, next the vehicle spins on the road and 'flip', over it goes as it slides into the hard shoulder, out of the way of the oncoming traffic.
We checked each other and were both fine. A kind voice guided us up, out of the van; we had to climb over the side to get out. We were both shaken but unharmed. (Louise had a slight graze on her shoulder).
A few
hours later, we had got all our stuff out of the trashed camper, hired ourselves a nice car to take us to Auckland, and had a MacDonalds - all with the kind help of our Victim Support Councillor, who ferried us around in her car and helped us make the relevant phone calls. With a strange feeling of invincibility, we floated through the rest of the day in a relaxed manner, getting to Rotorua before collapsing in an aching heap and sleeping like logs.
20th The next day we finally got around to doing what we had been looking forward to for ages - ZORBING!! We dived inside a large plastic ball at the top of a long, steep hill while spa-warm water was poured inside with a hose-pipe. We rolled ourselves down to the bottom, giggling and shrieking all the way. Excellent fun! We later got on the road back to Auckland to see out the rest of our tour. We phoned ahead and booked a double room back at Bamber house to catch up with Dan and the gang. We saw the evening out with our old(ish) friends. Importantly, we also called Joseph this evening to arrange
to meet up the following day!
21st Road trip at an end today; took back hire car. Joseph picked us up from the depot, took us back to see his house, and then treated us to a sumptuous meal at a classy restaurant. We ended up staying up most of the night and sleeping over as well, as Joseph delivered a slice of home comfort just like at David's dad's.
22nd Joseph dropped us in town to do post and stuff. We went on the bungee catapult thing and made our way back to Bamber to chill with the guys for a while. Joseph collected us later and took us to his for a delicious steak dinner, with wine. We slept there again, and the next day he dropped us at the airport and had coffee with us before saying our goodbyes. We were sad to be saying farewell to Joseph when we had only just got to meet him, but our trip always has to move on. We were also a little sad to be leaving New Zealand, where we have had a really memorable month; same goes for that.
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june&graham
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omigod! -again
Thanks for sparing us the phone call about your motoring mishaps. Nevertheless, reading this entry involved several sharp intakes of breath. You have really had some extreme moments in NZ. Keep going and TAKE CARE!