In my last entry I told about my little car rental/driving situation in New Zealand. I guess our trip just seemed to be based around the theme of cars. We ended up going through 3 cars during the trip (just got home today).
The week of work went well with record numbers for Todd's team, hopefully it will continue to work out that way with the follow-up team and after the paperwork is all finished. We saw over 2000 people in 6 days of sessions. Obtaining more than just a tourist view of the country was fabulous. The people were all so amazing and it was very difficult to have a desire to come home. During this time we traveled into a few of the bigger towns/cities, ending up in Auckland. We didn't have time to really see much during this time, driving several hours through the windy roads after dark and getting up to work in the morning.
After the work week, however, was when the vacation began. We had made plans previously to go to the beach Saturday night, but Todd surprised me with fantastic seats to Phantom of the Opera. I wasn't about to complain. Sunday we headed up North to the Bay of Islands. The day was a slow start due to entering paperwork and then we were off to a scenic drive to Russell. We had a day cruise booked for Monday, so Sunday was free to drive slowly and stop in small towns, scenic views, etc. We had brunch at a tea shoppe, hiked through forest to the top of a small waterfall, viewed beaches and more. After that, it was decided that we better get a bit more distance behind us, so we drove to Wharangei (said Fahng-a-rhey) to their falls.
The falls were GORGEOUS and there was a small pond at the top with local kids swimming and swinging into it on a rope swing. One kid even climbed clear up in a tree and jumped in. Yeah, we don't get away with that sort of stuff anymore in the States. sigh. On our way up, Todd decided that he wanted to join the kids so stripped down to his shorts and hopped on the rope, swinging into the lake. The kids all loved it and he got out and swung on the rope again.
It wasn't until we got to the car, Todd in wet shorts, that we realized we didn't have the car keys. Ummm...oops. Not sure where we had left them, we searched all the trails we had walked down, and any tree or rock we had sat on to no avail. Best we could figure was that Todd had the keys in his pocket when he swung into the pond. Fabulous, eh? especially since nobody can even get down to the bottom of the pond AND it flows into the waterfall.
To make a short story even shorter, a group of people let us use their cell phones so that it was local, the kids we offered a hundred bucks to couldn't swim down far enough to find keys, we couldn't get a hold of the rental company, but Ford Roadside Assistance towed us to a Ford dealership, the tow truck man actually rang a different car rental shoppe manager at their home and they came and rented us an additional car. The next day we finally were able to get a hold of the original car rental place, who was not at all helpful (I'm now boycotting Europcar for their horrible customer service and leaving us in the lurch) and found out we had to have new keys made for the car. We did make it to Russell just in time to catch the last ferry over and made our cruise around the islands (my new life goal is now to buy and island down there). It was BEAUTIFUL and I will have some pics up later. Of course we had to spend our last day driving around to fix up everything with the car and switch out vehicles, which meant we didn't get to go to the black beach. Sigh...next year.
So now I am home with some new jewelry, a cheap guitar (random, I know), a sweater made out of Possum fur, and a $700 NZD bill for keys that I will never again use. Thank Heavens for the exchange rate. Oh, and the possum fur is super soft. I flew back into the states, am shocked at their horrible customer service (so spoiled in New Zealand), check our bags a few times...all 7 bags checked and 4 carry-ons, watching as the guitar gets thrown onto the luggage ramp regardless of the fragile sticker and then sit alone on the plane because Todd and I don't have seats together. We picked up our luggage in SLC and Todd waited for me to go get the truck out of parking. I get into the truck, oh blessed normal-sized truck, back out, pull onto the wrong lane of traffic while turning on my blinker...doh! stupid windshield wipers!
1 comment:
Glad you're back and safe. Sounds like you were able to do and see much despite the crazy car problems. Thanks for adding the bit at the end about wrong lane and windshield wipers. First, it made me laugh. Second, I was worried that you were driving around down there without using your signal!
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