Wow! So much has happened since our last post!!
We picked up our beautiful RV (took a while to learn all the “ins and outs”, literally, there’s important stuff to know all over this thing!). Then, we went to the mall (yes, the mall) and visited the grocery store and a discount warehouse store for extra supplies. A bunch of stuff happened, but the main lesson here is: malls in NZ close at 6pm. Yes, crazy, right?!?!
Since we still had business in Christchurch (and the mall was now closed), we found a place to “park” for the night. It was a cozy little spot in Lyttleton Harbour, in a near-abandoned parking lot, sandwiched between a cliff (“falling rocks!” signs all over), and a row of old shipping containers. The place was buzzing with old salts and younger guys in well-worn peacoats, and had that charming “seaside harbour / industrial port/ scary movie / scooby-doo episode” feel to it. It was worth it in the AM, though, with spectacular views!
After a picture-taking session with my new lens, we packed up and “shipped out” for another trip to the mall for a few returns, a quick alteration on my skirt, and to pick up some forget-me-not items, and then (due to a happy GPS mis-direct) a drive to a recommended “produce place/cafe”, a stop at the registrar to fill out some preliminary paperwork, and then back to the RV rental place to exchange our wonky GPS.
We decided to head to Lake Tekapo for the night, which was about 2.5 hours away – we would just make it in before dark, perfect. About 3 kilometres into the trip, we decided to stop at a dump station and um, evacuate the tanks, just so we wouldn’t be carrying any extra crap (sorry, had to).
Here’s where it gets good: michael, amazing guy that he is, has agreed to do all the dumping / water filling for us while on the trip (I’m doing all the driving and logistics). He’s just about done, when I hear him yell in disbelief. I poke my head out the window, expecting him to be covered in excrement, and was happy to see he wasn’t! But, then he told me that his “wallet” slipped out of his pocket and down the drain. yep, License, credit cards, debit, etc. all down the crapper. I moved to action and made a few calls and got a variety of answers from, reportedly, the same office (“no one can help you”; “someone can help you, for $500”, etc). As an aside, this is further proof that when calling customer service, and your fist person won’t/can’t help you, talk to someone else. Keep going until you’re satisfied with the answer. Ok, I’m going off-topic. We (and a very kind and helpful stranger), tried our best to retrieve it, to no avail. So, after much deliberation, we decided to leave it and move on with the trip. We still had his passport and cash, and the cards are all replaceable (maria has the originals, anyway), so no use crying over spilled milk, when there’s so much more to see, right?
We then drove to Lake Tekapo, found a spot to “park”, briefly met our neighbors, ate some leftover pasta and yummy toast, maria took a bunch of pictures (the area is renowned for their night sky!), and off to bed we went.
Well, except for maria who stayed up a bit to post this blog.
Oh, and check the weather. Maria found out that it’s going to be a night of snow-showers. We’re parked on a slope, near a river bed. Looking forward to waking up to beautiful scenery!
(edited for grammatical errors and clarification – was nodding off when written, so not quite perfect)
Oh My!!! Does this mean the wallet is like seriously gone for ever???
yep, like, SERIOUSLY! no worries, tho, was just the cards in an organic broccoli rubber band. they can be replaced and I have copies of everything, myself. he still has his passport and cash, that’s the IMPORTANT stuff! more of an inconvenience, really.