Vehicle Aucktions
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2007
1
51
97
Trip End
Aug 24, 2008
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Auckland,
North Island,
New Zealand
Thursday, February 7, 2008
As we arrived back in Auckland, we checked into the Queen Street Backpackers in central Auckland, and began making plans for the onward journey. Lots of companies were advertising vehicle hire, and our eyes were caught by various long term rental deals on campervans. There were obviously various buses too, some operating tourist sightseeing packages, some just buses, and we poked around on the net for a while, weighing things up.
Why don't we buy a van?
Umm...OK.
So we did.
The Backpackers' Car Market was advertised in a variety of places, so off we went, both secretly hoping we'd find an old pop-top VW Kombi...although Kirsty didn't know that's what it was called. She just knew she wanted one. As well as a mixture of cars, the place was full of the ubiquitous Toyota Hiaces, LiteAces and TownAces, the occasional Ford Econovan (same thing really but with a Ford badge), Nissan Urvans and Homys (same thing but made by Nissan), and the occasional Mazda Bongo and Mitsubishi L300...but no VWs. The small, indestructible, usually Japanese van is very much a feature of New Zealand motoring, and, given their all being much of a muchness, we looked at pretty much the cheapest things there. We had been advised that price doesn't necessarily reflect quality in these places, so much as the urgency with which the backpacking owner needs to shift it before their onward flight.
A lot of vans were accompanied by their owners, and we tried a bit of haggling, but our expectations of finding something for around $2000 was a bit optimistic. The cheapest thing of a sensible (ish) size was a 1993 Mitsubishi L300, with chunky looking bull bars and a front half which had been painted black, seemingly with blackboard paint. As we were looking around, a very nice looking Nissan pulled in, and we set about haggling with its owners. A Dutch guy with more money than us snapped it up from under our noses, pending the mechanical check which he was prepared to pay for. The owner, although she seemed to prefer the idea of us having it, fairly sensibly preferred the idea of having his larger cheque in her pocket, so our attentions were turned back to the Mitsubishi/blackboard hybrid, which, according to its sales poster, was called 'Chunk'.
We phoned the number on the poster, and the owner said we could get the keys from the market staff and take it for a spin. The staff seemed a little reluctant for us to drive but took us for a spin in it, telling us what they thought of it as we went. A bit pointless really, as we had no intention of buying anything without driving it. At least we knew it moved.
We arranged with the owner to meet after he finished work, and went off to have a nosey at the brewery tour we hadn't been able to take last time we were in town, it having been a Sunday. Arriving at the brewery in Newmarket, we realised we didn't really have enough time to get in a tour, so went to catch a bus back to the car market. Upon walking past a computer store, Kirsty spotted a deal in the window.
Why don't we buy a laptop?
Umm...OK.
So we did.
Nothing special, but it was cheap, came with a case and a memory stick, and as we were clearly travellers, the sales bloke threw in a headset so we could use web based phone software for cheapo calls. A series of expensive whims seem to be characterising the day so far.
Back at the market, the Nissan we had liked the look of had just passed its mechanical check and was being signed over to the Dutchman. A shame, but of course we already had our Plan B: we made ourselves known to Nick and Sabrina, the owners of the Mitsubishi, and took it out for a spin round the block. Neither of us are mechanics, but neither of us were prepared to pay a three figure fee for a mechanical inspection either - we were happy enough to take the plunge and shell out a bit for AA membership. The van had been priced at $3200 but by the time we saw it, it was up for $2900 as Nick and Sabrina's departure was fairly imminent. A bit of bargaining later, we shook on $2600 and made arrangements to meet tomorrow morning at our hostel to exchange documents, keys and money.
Having panicked a bit when we realised late that night that we didn't have $2600 in cash, we didn't have chequebooks and we couldn't get that much out of a cash machine, we hit upon the idea of offering to transfer the money online, and hoped they'd go for it. They did, and the next morning, after a bit of argy bargy with not being able to transfer funds from a British account to a Kiwi one, resolved by Nick phoning his Dad in the UK to get a British account number, all was OK. During all this Jacob had to keep popping out to feed the parking meter - any fines incurred would have been ours!
Another bit of argy bargy came about at the Post Office when we had to supply a valid New Zealand address for the Land Transport Office to put down as our residence. Bugger. As far as the New Zealand Land Transport Office are concerned, Jacob and Kirsty Thrall reside at Queen Street Backpackers, Auckland, and their mail goes to Poste Restante, Wellington. It can't be all that uncommon, given the number of campervans which constantly change hands.
So, that was it. We were now owners of a van, of no fixed abode, itinerant vagrants of New Zealand. Nick and Sabrina had been a little silly and precious about their van, refusing (apparently) to sell it to a bloke who was going to strip it out and use it for his painting and decorating business; they wanted their 'Chunk' to carry on having a life of adventure. Our fingers metaphorically crossed, we promised never to sell her to a tradesman, and agreed to keep her name.
"Bollocks," said Jacob as they walked away, "I'm not calling a van Chunk."
So it came to be that she was called Lucy, and that was the story of how Jacob met the other woman.
Sorry about that.
