We stay at Cosy Cottages later than the checkout time waiting for my clothes to dry, fearing the wrath of the grumpy owner.
We get away just before midday to continue our journey onwards to Waitomo Caves. Passing through a town called Te Kuiti we notice a large statue in the central reservation of the roundabout of a man sheering a sheep. This is the self proclaimed sheep shearing capital of the world, and the statue seems to have distracted Caz, who is driving, and she takes the wrong turning taking us up the hill to the west. There is a small cul-de-sac off the main road which she abruptly turns into to turn around. However, then she stops to start the about face, Olive starts rolling back down the hill so Caz slams her back into gear. Olive makes a sound which immediately tells me something is wrong. Caz can’t change gear. We stop in front of a house and I take the helm. I find that I can change gear, but only if the engine is off, which is not terribly useful.
There is a number in our Escape Vans brochure to call in case of breakdown. However, there is no AA or RAC style breakdown service where mechanics come out in their equipped branded vans. The breakdown service here merely phones up the garages local to wherever we are to see if they can come out to help us. We are told that the contact they have in Te Kuiti is out of town, so they phone someone from the next town up the state highway. It only takes about half an hour for him to arrive, but there is nothing he can do. At 278,000 km old, Olive may have to be put down.
The plus side to this is that Escape will cover the cost of our accommodation so, after 259 days, I finally get an upgrade....to the Panorama Motor Inn. Yes, I am at the stage where a motel is the lap of luxury. We are still up the hill from Te Kuiti, so we don’t bother going into the town, making use of the kitchenette in our room to cook dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment