World New Zealand Auckland

Matt and Cynthia's Odyssey

Leaving Auckland, NZ (sort of!) - Day 3 6 Mar 2007

We picked up the van first thing this morning and paid, upfront, for 49 days. Hurt a little, as it was a tremendous amount of money, even with the exchange rate. We got about, oh, 15 minutes out of the city on the expressway and the van began to shake violently. Not a gentle shake, not a mis-alignment, a jolting shake-your-bones-until-your-teeth-rattle sort of shake. A little alarmed, we pulled off and called the rental company. They took it all in stride (maybe they get these calls often?!) and said "no, problem, bring it back". So we made our way back into the city, switched out the van and after an hour or so, we were on our way again. This time, we made it a couple hours north of Auckland to a small seaside town, just lovely, called Tairua. We had a nice, leisurely lunch by the water, had an ice cream and were on our way again. We were headed for Hot Water Beach, a famous little place on the coast where you rent a spade, dig a hole and lay in a hot water pool. We were really looking forward to it. We got about 10-15 minutes up the mountain to a prettyish lookout and after a quick stop, got back into our van to continue and then.....nothing. The key simply would not turn - the whole steering column was locked up. At first we thought it was just a safety lock so we tried different things to disengage but....nothing. We were quite anxious to get back on the road so we asked a couple to try and have a go at it. Both the husband and wife tried to turn the key but....nothing. So, Matt went down back to Tairua with the couple while I stayed behind to sulk. To make a long story a bit shorter, the rental company called a mechanic who could not unlock the steering column and eventually, to our dismay, broke about the entire ignition and steering column. By the time he was done, there was no key hole or even a place to put a key. We called the rental company again and they suggested we drive the van with a screw driver acting as the key. Needless to say, we were not happy campers. I had more than a few choice words for the manager and he was actually speechless by the time I was out of breath. So, we informed him that we were bringing the vehicle back and expected a full refund. Finally made it back to Auckland around 9.30, tired, more than a little agitated and with no place to stay. We decided not to be picky and checked into the Kiwi International, an establishment of less than desirable inhabitants (as many residents seemed to live there?) and very dirty carpets. But they had a shower, at this point, my only requirement. Spent a fretful night on the phone with the credit card company trying to halt transaction. Oh, joy.

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