Many many thanks Chris Robinson, I owe you one
Trip Start
Dec 06, 2006
1
44
188
Trip End
Ongoing
Lees Valley,
New Zealand
Friday, February 16, 2007
It was another cracking place with amazing views which is quite a dangerous thing on a gravel road without any barriers between the road on the side of the valley and certain death at the bottom of it. I took my time and some photos and the only other living creatures I saw were a group of cows being chased the other way by a farmer in a truck and one of his dogs. As I passed I smiled to say hello but all I got in return was a bit of a glare. Miserable sod. Little did I know I'd be seeing him again....
001 ooooooh yes!
I continued along the road and it levelled out in to the valley floor to a fairly dull section. Being a gravel road my car received the odd thump and bump but I didn't really think much about it at the time. The biggest bump was when I drove through a ford which was a bigger dip than I anticipated. Not long after I noticed the oil warning light was on so I pulled over and just thought that it needed topping up as I'd not checked it in a few days. I knew I had some oil leaks so I wasn't too worried, I'd just bung some in and then get some more back in Christchurch. I poured in the oil I had, but little did I know that I might as well have missed out the middle man and poured it straight on the ground. It turned out that's what I was doing anyway.
I jumped back in and started the car up and the oil light was still there so I thought I'd try and hobble back to the farm I'd driven past. I didn't get very far before a cough, a splutter and a dead car. I walked back to the farm to get some help. It was about an hours walk but when I got there I was greeted by a friendly face called Kristan who put out a call on the radio to a fella called Chris Robinson who worked on the farm and could give me a tow to check the car over and see if he could get me back on the road. I rang the insurance company and arranged to get a tow as I had breakdown cover included
002 beware of joyriders
. Chris turned up and it was the not so friendly face I'd met earlier on the drive in! He towed me to Wharfdale where the workshop for the farms in the valley was. All but a couple of farms are owned by LandCo and this was their main base which also had a conference centre. We had a look underneath and the problem was fairly obvious. During the bumps, probably the one in the ford I'd managed to smash my sump in, ripping a hole about 3cm by 0.5cm. It wasn't likely to hold any oil in it's current state so I definitely needed a tow. The local tow firm didn't have a truck suitable so a company from Christchurch was due to come out which was perfect as that's where I wanted to head BUT since speaking to them at the farm they had rang back and cancelled as the external event (rock) wasn't classified as a mechanical breakdown. I rang back and was told that I'd have to make a claim through my insurance and with a hefty excess of 750 buckarooneys it was basically going to come out of my pocket anyway. They said on the farm they could have a go at welding it for 50 so I thought it was worth a go, if it worked it would mean I could get back to Christchurch and the sump replaced probably for less than a tow would cost.
They tried to get the sump off however thanks to the finest Japanese engineering it's impossible without removing half the engine or steering depending on the direction you tried to go at it. After a failed attempt they just welded it where it was and then chucked some oil in. Time for the moment of truth....
The noise of lumps of metal scraping against eachother wasn't exactly music to my ears
003 more modern art
. The engine had dried out and seized so I was stuffed. Not only would I be looking at the cost of a tow but potentially a hefty repair bill. It now rests in the hands of an assessor who has to come out and judge if it was a claimable event. Hmmm, I was driving, hit something, now my car is knackered, that sounds like a claim to me but I'm not an assesor. Fingers and toes crossed for this one. I could either end up with a repaired car, a write off and a nice cheque or a piece of scrap metal and a bill for the tow.First things first though I was stranded in a valley with a car that wasn't going anywhere, so several hours after they'd originally arranged a tow I had to ring back and arrange another one, this time from a local salvage yard as it'd be cheaper in case I end up having to pay. The insurance said I could include transport to the city as part of the claim so it was then a case of sitting it out. Chris gave me a lift back to his and said I could join him at a BBQ they were having and wait for the tow to arrive.
When I got there I was greeted by Kristan who was quite surprised to see me having said goodbye earlier on. Along with a few others they were busy loaded copious amounts of meat on the bbq. A few others turned up with cuts that they sliced using a homemade bandsaw that was powered by a washing machine motor
004 view in lees valley
! It wasn't too long before there was a fine selection of sausages, burgers, pork chops and cuts of venison waiting to be munched on and as I'd only eaten a bowl of Coco Pops that day it was just what I needed along with a bottle of beer from their 'pub'. Obviously it's not a pub, it's a barn and they've not a licence so no money changes hands, don't know what you're on about your honour. At this point Chris was looking for some cash from me for beer (shhhh, not really, don't tell!) so I emptied my pocket of 60 dollars as I'd not paid up for the attempted repair. His boss had said to charge me for the repair, but I'm hoping that the money stays with Chris so he can get some beers in for the crowd as a thank you. So I experienced some NZ hospitality and met some of the local farmers who were all very friendly and very keen to take the mick out of the hilarious predicament I was in. Hilarious to them, oh how I laughed... I should have made use of that bandsaw. Just kidding, you either laugh or cry and I'd already chosen the laugh option as there was sod all I could do about it. Chris ended every sentence in eh, eh? Which is a typical new zealand thing eh? Every other word in his sentences was a swear word eh? He was a good bloke though and looked after me well, so I'd not say anything bad about him, unless I took his lead. A few times he was chatting about blokes he knew and called them good bastards eh? It's a compliment apparently
005 another view
. The tow didn't turn up and we guessed about 10pm that he wasn't coming as the weather had closed in and it's not the sort of drive you want to be doing in the dark and mist due to the sheer drops. Chris was kind enough to let me kip at his and made me up a travel bed on the living room floor. The next morning he spoke to his boss and he had the day off and said he'd drive me in to Christchurch. He'd done a fair bit of travelling himself in his time, about 15 years around Europe, America and Canada so said that he'd always help out a traveller in case he ever got stuck himself and he said he knew what it was like to get stuck somewhere. I'm sure the original Chris Robinson of MVA fame is reading this, your namesake is a good bloke ( / bastard?!) you'll be pleased to know!
It also meant I'd met some of the readership of Pig Hunter, that magazine that made me laugh so much. In the morning another lad that lived in the house came in and was talking about a pig that he'd been chasing with his gun. Country life is a bit different, it's not quite like popping to Tesco for some chops, but to be fair, it means that they can put on a cracking barbie.
After watching Super Troopers, a daft film I'd never heard of, we went back to the centre where my car was and I finished the emergency salvage operation from my boot & crammed as much of my stuff as I could in to some bags. Chris then drove me in and dropped me off in Christchurch main square. I've left him my UK number so that if by any chance he's ever needing a bed I could help him out. I'm not sure I'd take him out in public though as I'm not sure how well his swearing would go down eh?
