On Wednesday Glynn & Jayne very very kindly drove me out to Weka Pass (an hours drive from ChCh) to collect my car.. and to see if the AA could fix it (Jayne being a member). When we arrived we saw this:
I did kinda 1/2 expect it.. but at the same time.. had hoped that NZ would once again surprise me!. Still, if it had been Ireland it would have been torched probably!! hehe. The really irritating thing is that these were obviously virgins when it came to car thieving. They smashed open the ignition system (when a gentle touch would have done it) to try to hot wire the engine.
I don’t suppose the thought that there was probably a good reason why the car had been left at the side of the road entered their vacuous minds. I mean fair enough trying to nick the car, but at least do it properly. A decent thief could have opened the door without smashing the window, and attempted a hot wire without requiring a new ignition. I dunno, thieves these days, just not what they used to be.
So.. we towed the car to Amberly (AA would no longer help as it was now a damaged car). Towing a car is totally scary. Really. Just in case anyone has to do it.. drive slowly, and understand that your brakes will be far more inefficient than usual. Still, I’m getting a quote for the work required to put it all back together again… Mightn’t be too bad really.
Lesson learned: $65 for a years AA roadside assistance would be $65 well spent.
So off for a fun, short, easy tramp to Lake Daniels… followed by a lazy in maruia hot springs. Good times. There were some oldies in the hut – Ian, Bruce and Bill. Ian was an excellent chef! cooked scones ‘n everything.
And taught us how to play Euka – a younger brother of 500, and a distant not so smart cousin of bridge! (I need to find a foursome ;)
On the way back to ChCh the sky was blue, the birds were singing, the motor was purring silently. And then stopped. Oh yes, I knew something was up when pressing the accelerator produced no increase in forward momentum.
It was time to pull over. Oh, and curse, did some of that too. AA Roadside assistance put me on hold for 3 mins (while my battery and credit diminished rapidly) and then wouldn’t let me sign up on the spot. Damn them to hell! Hehe. So, tried to hitch – with remarkable success (this is NZ after all). A nice man came and checked out the car for us. We tried to jump it but no joy. The battery is fine, but it’s just not causing a spark.. no idea why. It might be a quick fix though. Fingers crossed.
So then it was back to hitching again. Got a lift with a nice 70+ year old to Amberly, and then picked up by an English snowboarder (Dave) who dropped us all the way back home. Most kind.
Yeah, so that was really kind of him. Amazing though, didn’t have to wait more than 10 mins for a ride… love this place!
And then! Joy of Joys Graham and Myra arrived… really great to have them in the country. They are off to check out Wellington as a place to live.. It’s a cool city, but it’ll never match ChCh for the outdoors.
My body has been frustrating me lately! The back is still too sore to run / play squash with. I have been given intensive gluteus maximus (bottom) Strengthening exercises.. but it is still taking time.
So went climbing on Tuesday, and pulled a tendon on my right ring finger! gah. Of course it’s a good thing really.. it isn’t torn (thankfully) so will take a few weeks to get back up to strength.. but I will now be religious in my stretching exercises before and after climbing. Lucky in a way it wasn’t worse.
So that was the bad part to the week.. the good stuff – well that was heading up snowboarding at Mt. Cheeseman. Quite a small club field – but good times. Headed up in the oldest looking Bedford Van. Was a bit of a relief to get to the top!
Good times boarding. No nut-crackers this time – it’s all t-bars at Cheeseman. I wrapped a towel around my thigh for a bit of cushioning! (I’m so weak ;) but that’s ok!)
So a lovely day up there with Aroha, Tim, Michelle, Mark, Stefan, Kate, and Bevan. Most of them were telemarking (an even more purist? tricky? form of skiing).. but I’m sticking to the snowboarding for this season. Though, if I am still here next year I hope to get into skiing – so that I can get into some backcountry touring.
Then back with a short stop by this frozen lake on the way home. Yup, a good way to end a bad week.
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