Coromandel in the Rain
Trip Start
Sep 05, 2007
1
42
71
Trip End
May 01, 2008
Coromandel Town,
New Zealand
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I finished work on Friday, though I don't think I put in a ful day all week. Contracting is bitter-sweet. I get paid more and can turn down work, but on slow days I can't really charge my time.
I am looking forwards to selling my bloody car. I picked up new tyres for it. The old ones were bald and I woud not have passed my warrent of fitness test. I figured that was the only thing wrong with it until I took it to get tested. That old electrical problem popped up again halfway through the warrant test
1 - Whangamata Surf
. Then the "mechanic" couldn't withdraw on of my seatbelts. He was going to fail me based on the "dummy light" going off. He said it meant that my master cylinder reservoir was low. I disagreed. He could have popped the hood and looked, but I don't think he know how to. I told him I had it looked at and it was a minor ground fault (true, plus it used multi-sylabic words and confused him). Even then he had trouble believeing me. Then he trieed to fail me because he couldn't pul my seatbelt out. So I pulled it out for him (no, not that, you sicko). I passed.I bought some parts for the car afterward that should hopefully solve my brake-light problem. I still need to find a heater-knob for the thing though. The guy at the wreckers aughed at me. Apparently they are almost always gone by the time he gets the cars, and even then they are gone almost right away. I wil have to try Auckland for a "pick a part".
Seling my car means several things; I don't have access to some parts of New Zealand, and I will have to carry everything (downsize!!). I have driven to most parts of the North Island where a vehicle is necessary, so after this coromandel trip I shoud be good on travel.
My car is still loaded down with way too much shit though
2 - Bay
. Downsizing is in order, as expensive as it may be. You can sel things for 40 cents on the dollar, or you can purchase "light" things that cost a fortune. I sold my surfboard for 40 cents on the dollar, as painful as that was, it freed up a little bit of space. And perhaps saved one of the disks in my back. I was unwilling to give away my wet-suit for pocket change however. It's a good wet-suit, so I decided to post it home.The next source of a potential hernia was my super-heavey-duty rain coat. I wrestled with the Idea of deown-sizing in Canada and decided to bring it along. I was thankful and delighted by my decision when working in the rain in Tauranga, however, packing it is going to suck. I've also been avoiding bringing it along on day trips because it takes up so much space, so neeless to say, IU've been getting wet, and cold and sick. This had to stop. A solution was found when I spotted a goretex jacket on sale in Kathmandu (New Zealand's version of MEC). The jacket is normally $500 (holy #$%&!!), but was marked down to $200. The colour wasn't horrible either! So on a whim, and to my bank account's dismay, I bought it. Now the old jacket goes home with the wet-suit and 3 cds of pictures (all from January).
Harbourside didn't treat me well. It stunk. Horribly. Like someone soiled themselves on one of the beds. That may or may not have been infested with ghonorrheic bedbugs. And the dude that soiled the bed had been eating fish tacos the day before.
