It's almost as if Stewie was warning us when he failed his W.O.F. (Warrant of Fitness) renewal a week before moving to the South Island...he needed a new ball joint. So $178 later we had a new ball joint, a new W.O.F. and our first big expense spent on Stew.
But we weren't worried; Stewie had been so faithful for the past 5 months,and nothing else could possibly go wrong...then again it's possible that our worries were shadowed by the fact that we got a whole smoked snapper from our mechanic!!
So we set off the next day down South for a little touring around Napier. Unfortunately we were waiting out some bad weather and while at a lookout eating some stinky cheese we had just gotten from a cheese cafe, we happened to get caught in a massive thunderstorm. We decided that it might be a good time to head out of town to our next destination, and so, Jackie turned the key in the ignition and....nothing. Anna braved the storm to ask a neighboring car if they had jumper cables, but no of they didn't. So then we whipped out Jackie's handy dandy AA (equivalent of AAA) card and called up some roadside assistance. Of course, by the time we got off the phone, Stewie had decided that he would start up again.
We headed south to Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island...the trip was uneventful and we made it to the Francis' place just fine. It wasn't till we pulled out later that night and noticed an oil leak on the driveway that we realized Stewie was sick...possibly home sick.
The next day we stopped at a local mechanic to have him check Stewie out for us...what we found out was that his transmission had a crack in one of its seals...and that we would have to go see a transmission specialist. $190 later and Stewie's transmission is crack free, but we are informed that the water pump has a minor leak. Good, Great, Wonderful!!! We decide that this too will need replacement, but we have just planned a weekend trip to Mt. Arthur, and so top Stewie up with water and vow to keep an eye on him until we can make a proper appointment.
The road up the mountain to the Mt.Arthur track is a steep, windy and un-paved one and so upon arrival at the parking lot, steam proceeded to pour from under Stewie's bonnet (hood). We open him up to find our coolant boiling, and so let him sit while we prepare to hike. We safely climb the track at Mt. Arthur, stay a night and climb back out and then head to Tasman National park to camp for the night. The next morning we wake up and start our journey over the mountains to go and visit Farewell Spit. Stewie does a great job and makes it over the mountain just fine...that is until we hit the road out to the spit and he overheats.
Luckily for us, a nice Kiwi gentleman pulled over to help us out, and as we added water to Stewie, and he started spitting it back up at us, the man offered to go get his mechanic friend in town. We ended up topping up with water and coolant, and thus managed to stifle Stewie's fever back to a normal temperature. They said we would be able to make it out to the spit just fine, but to top up the water before we went over the mountain again.
When we checked Stewie's water level before going over the mountain it was where it should be, so we proceeded on our way. Needless to say Stewie did a superb job of climbing that mountain and didn't overheat in the least bit...it was the flat tire at the end of it all that we really weren't expecting.
With yet another dash of luck, we happened to realize the flat tire about 200 metres away from a gas station, and so went to get a jack and put Stewie's spare tire on, and then drive the remaining way home at 60km/hr.
Wrapping up our first week in the South Island, it is easy to see that Stewie has some profound distaste for this island and is for some reason taking it out on his loving owners. Hopefully this is only a phase.
There is a silver lining to this story though; We now know how to check and refill both engine and transmission oil, how to refill coolant, how to refill water, how to un-corrode a battery, and how to change a tire!!
Cheers,
Alissa, Anna & Jackie
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Monday Pick Me Up
Because its Monday here, and Sunday at home we thought we would provide you all with a little pick me up to combat any cases of the Mondays that may arise within the next 12 hours. So here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngycU76wvoQ
If this has already become really big and then faded in the States, we apologize, things take some time to cross the large ocean known as the Pacific. If this is the case (Shout out to Tara Miller for showing this to us a year ago), please enjoy an oldy but a goody.
Either that or go listen to some Lauryn Hill. Its good for the soul.
Also, we saw Carmello Anthony today. The very large, chain smoking, very white, quite short, not tattooed, version of Carmello playing pickup softball against us. We also saw Ray Allen, a very large, very Maori, did we mention large, but still SONICS supporting version of Ray Allen in the supermarket line in Whangamata (pop. 3800).
And if that isn't a little pick me up, I don't know what is. Maybe you all just need to MAN UP and get your tickets and fly out here.
Boom. Roasted.
Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngycU76wvoQ
If this has already become really big and then faded in the States, we apologize, things take some time to cross the large ocean known as the Pacific. If this is the case (Shout out to Tara Miller for showing this to us a year ago), please enjoy an oldy but a goody.
Either that or go listen to some Lauryn Hill. Its good for the soul.
Also, we saw Carmello Anthony today. The very large, chain smoking, very white, quite short, not tattooed, version of Carmello playing pickup softball against us. We also saw Ray Allen, a very large, very Maori, did we mention large, but still SONICS supporting version of Ray Allen in the supermarket line in Whangamata (pop. 3800).
And if that isn't a little pick me up, I don't know what is. Maybe you all just need to MAN UP and get your tickets and fly out here.
Boom. Roasted.
Peace
A Quintessential Kiwi Summer
Kiwi summers are awesome.
For the past month we have been living in Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula, about 2 hours south east of Auckland in the Clements' bach (beach house). Friends and family streamed in and out, Riverhouse style which of course made us feel right at home. Our days were punctuated by a bit of work here and there (Jackie and Alissa at a local cafe and Anna waitressing at a small pizza/pasta place), teaching ourselves how to surf, frolicking in the waves, wandering (and sometimes running) along the beach, intense matches of beach soccer, lots of card games, lots of wine (and port courtesy of Andrew), and lots of sun and laughter.
For future reference, a new acquisition of the summer has been nicknames. Clem was quick to square these away within our first couple nights there:
Anna - BJ: In continuing with the Wheatley/Weet-Bix nickname tradition, I became Bix Jr. after my loving mother, or shortened to BJ. This nickname was especially exciting when yelled across crowded restaurants or introduced to strangers so that they believe my actual name was BJ
Jackie - Cat or The Cat: Apparently there is a kid's song that goes along the lines of "Oh Miller Catepillar..." Which was subsequently shortened to Cat. I find this nickname particularly hilarious, especially when "The" proceeds the nickname.
Alissa - Stick: The nickname process went a little like this, Alissa's last name is Hays. Hays like a Haystack. Haystack is shortened to Stack. We had to give the nickname a couple days to see if Stack would Stick. Stick stuck instead... Plus Alissa's tall...
Summer Highlights from BJ, The Cat, and Stick:
-Raggamuffin: A day-long Reggae festival in Rotorua where Alissa and I became the legal guardians of Jamie (from now on referred to by her true name, Jim Jam) and Conner so that they could a. go Zorbing on our way to the concert, and b. so we could get in with the family price. The highlight of this day as far as I am concerned is seeing Lauryn Hill perform live. It was pure heaven on earth. I can now die happy... -BJ
- Gigi/Steph Visit: When one of my dearest high school friends Gigi came to NZ on a "research and development" trip with her friend Steph (who is opening a wine bar in Napa, CA)...Anna, Kyle, and I jumped into the car with Gi and Steph for a wine tour of the country... we headed down toward the south island for a 11 day whirlwind of wining, adventuring, zorbing, crossing the Cook Strait, karaoking, and making our way to Christchurch. Unforgettable memories. - The Cat
- I suppose the highlight I would mention (especially considering the rest of my summer was consumed with cafe work), would have to be a lifeguard related one. We had a visit from our good friend Sebas at the end of the summer in which he and Kyle decided to go on a kayak out to the doughnut island where you can kayak in through a cave. I have to mention that this day was particularly stormy and not fit for kayaking, so when two hours after they left, we still had no idea where the boys were, we alerted the surf lifeguards who sent out an IRB (rescue boat) and ended up having to swim into the cave entrance of the island to find the boys perched on a rock...They were returned safely and subsequently made it into the local newspaper. - Stick
January was an amazing month. Good friends, good food, good wine, good surf, plenty of sunshine, and plenty of amazing memories. We are so luck to have had this opportunity. Now we are off on our next big wander, ending up eventually in the South Island for some more adventures down there.
Wish us luck!
BJ, The Cat, and Stick
For the past month we have been living in Whangamata on the Coromandel Peninsula, about 2 hours south east of Auckland in the Clements' bach (beach house). Friends and family streamed in and out, Riverhouse style which of course made us feel right at home. Our days were punctuated by a bit of work here and there (Jackie and Alissa at a local cafe and Anna waitressing at a small pizza/pasta place), teaching ourselves how to surf, frolicking in the waves, wandering (and sometimes running) along the beach, intense matches of beach soccer, lots of card games, lots of wine (and port courtesy of Andrew), and lots of sun and laughter.
For future reference, a new acquisition of the summer has been nicknames. Clem was quick to square these away within our first couple nights there:
Anna - BJ: In continuing with the Wheatley/Weet-Bix nickname tradition, I became Bix Jr. after my loving mother, or shortened to BJ. This nickname was especially exciting when yelled across crowded restaurants or introduced to strangers so that they believe my actual name was BJ
Jackie - Cat or The Cat: Apparently there is a kid's song that goes along the lines of "Oh Miller Catepillar..." Which was subsequently shortened to Cat. I find this nickname particularly hilarious, especially when "The" proceeds the nickname.
Alissa - Stick: The nickname process went a little like this, Alissa's last name is Hays. Hays like a Haystack. Haystack is shortened to Stack. We had to give the nickname a couple days to see if Stack would Stick. Stick stuck instead... Plus Alissa's tall...
Summer Highlights from BJ, The Cat, and Stick:
-Raggamuffin: A day-long Reggae festival in Rotorua where Alissa and I became the legal guardians of Jamie (from now on referred to by her true name, Jim Jam) and Conner so that they could a. go Zorbing on our way to the concert, and b. so we could get in with the family price. The highlight of this day as far as I am concerned is seeing Lauryn Hill perform live. It was pure heaven on earth. I can now die happy... -BJ
- Gigi/Steph Visit: When one of my dearest high school friends Gigi came to NZ on a "research and development" trip with her friend Steph (who is opening a wine bar in Napa, CA)...Anna, Kyle, and I jumped into the car with Gi and Steph for a wine tour of the country... we headed down toward the south island for a 11 day whirlwind of wining, adventuring, zorbing, crossing the Cook Strait, karaoking, and making our way to Christchurch. Unforgettable memories. - The Cat
- I suppose the highlight I would mention (especially considering the rest of my summer was consumed with cafe work), would have to be a lifeguard related one. We had a visit from our good friend Sebas at the end of the summer in which he and Kyle decided to go on a kayak out to the doughnut island where you can kayak in through a cave. I have to mention that this day was particularly stormy and not fit for kayaking, so when two hours after they left, we still had no idea where the boys were, we alerted the surf lifeguards who sent out an IRB (rescue boat) and ended up having to swim into the cave entrance of the island to find the boys perched on a rock...They were returned safely and subsequently made it into the local newspaper. - Stick
January was an amazing month. Good friends, good food, good wine, good surf, plenty of sunshine, and plenty of amazing memories. We are so luck to have had this opportunity. Now we are off on our next big wander, ending up eventually in the South Island for some more adventures down there.
Wish us luck!
BJ, The Cat, and Stick
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