Our new friend, David.

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HEY!!

Things are looking up!! Karlene Jean may be coming out of her coma. The mechanic yesterday gave us much hope. We filled her up with some brand new oil and are keeping a close watch on her. I sure hope she makes it because we were planning to dress her up for the Holidays! Not to mention the fact that we have not even made it to the South Island yet...We will keep you posted, of course. Staying in Taupo for the next few days to see how she does.

Speaking of Taupo...yesterday in my blog, I left out much of what has been going on in Taupo.
We did indeed spend a few nights camping here. On day four we took Karlene in to be checked and got the horrible news. The mechanic at the first place suggested we just try to sell her and chalk it up as a loss. This was a shady proposition, but we were in such a state of shock, we took his suggestion and for the next hour we went around the town putting "For Sale" signs in the local groceries and such. Then we sulked all the way back to the campsite, laid in the grass and pondered (for yet another time) what in the world we were doing. What in the world we are doing in New Zealand, with our lives, just all around confusion. Smith - have I introduced you to Smith? I know MK has written about him. He is a friend of hers from Charleston who has been helping us survive in NZ - suggested that we go to town to get a bite to eat and maybe a drink to drown our sorrows in. We took his car, of course, to town where I had my first fish and chips ever. Fish and Chips stands are everywhere here. At this point, we were trying to decide whether to go back and drink wine or stop into a bar to mix with locals. I suggested we flip a coin (my favorite thing to do!). Heads was bar, tails was home....Heads! We dipped into a local bar, sat down, and started talking about Karlene. While chatting, two older men, who I guess overheard us, asked what was wrong and we told them all about our travels and our plans and how upset we were with Karlene.

Side Note: the Kiwis are super helpful. They are not a jaded group of people as you sometimes find in America. They all seem to walk around in a kind of ignorant happiness. I suppose it is reality to them, however, because they don't seem to be too intent on working hard or moving too quickly. They definfintely take their "Holiday" seriously. I have not quite figured out when Holiday begins or ends, but I am certain that it is always beginning and never ending.

Back to story....so these two men are captains on two of the yachts here in town which people hire to cruise around Lake Taupo. One of them, David, gave us the name of his mechanic (the one we took Karlene to yesterday). It was a Saturday yesterday and the shop was closed, but the mechanic agreed, happily, to meet us at his shop and to let him have a look. Once again, these Kiwis are super helpful. The mechanic would not even accept offering of a little money after looking at our car. Along with his mechanic's contact information, David, after hearing of our time camping (I suppose I was complaining about it a little =)), also offered for us to stay in his extra rooms and make full use of his laundry room and clean warm showers!! What to do?! I wanted a legit, clean shower so much I could taste it. And clean clothes! Oh my!!! We chatted with him for a bit longer. And yes, Mama, Smith, was still with us. When we left, we sat and pondered what to do. Should we take him up on this offer? Is he a werido? Smith said that he had this same thing happen to him 3 previous times in NZ. He still stays with the family he met on the plane over to NZ the first time. They have basically adopted him. MK and I also stayed with them while we were in Auckland. New Zealanders love travelers. Not to seem too desperate, we went back to the dreaded campsite for that night. I slept well this time because it was not such a cold night. We waited until about 2:00 and Smith called David! He was expecting our call (haha) and Smith went to meet him to get his key. We had the best night last night using David's house! He wasn't there because he went to stay with his son...he and his wife separated a few months ago and the kid lives somewhere else. Today, we are meeting him at 5:00 for a cruise around Lake Taupo (I think for free!) and then we are going to cook him an "American dinner" tonight. So, that's where we are....staying with David, captain of the 'Barbary'.

Got to run...literally, we are about to go running around the lake, then SHOWER, then cruise!!

Love you all!

Eliza

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