!@#$%^&*(*&^%$#@!@#$%^&!@#$%&*!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sandy’s stuffed. No kidding. She lasted 23 days. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! With the $1200 we paid for her (plus dead Lu) and the $100 for towing at her death and the mechanic’s time for exploring the extent of the problem, it works out to $56 per day for Sandy (not including diesel). We could’ve rented a car for less than that. We felt like Lu’s time had really come when she conked out and we hold no grudge against her for dying. But Sandy, c’mon. You were a diesel engine with only 250,000 km which means you were supposed to last a lot longer.

Here’s how it happened. While couch surfing in Nelson with a cool guy named Steve, we met a French couple, Emilie and Jerome, who were also staying at Steve’s place. They just got to New Zealand a week or so before and were having a bit of bad luck (they bought a van from another French couple in Christchurch for $2000 and less than an hour outside of Christchurch on the SAME DAY the thing kicked the bucket and they had to hitchhike back). We really liked them and wanted to help them out, so we offered to give them a ride on Wednesday to where they were headed next. It was right on our way anyways. We were headed to Golden Bay (west of Nelson) to stay with some Quakers.

Sandy was really full with four people and accessories but we made it work. We even fit in Jerome’s guitar. We dropped them off in Takaka and wished them better luck for the rest of their travels. About 20 km from Takaka the engine just shut off as Matt was driving along. He didn’t notice until he tried to give it gas and nothing happened at all. We rolled over to the shoulder of the road and tried to restart the car. Nada. It sounded like the battery was dead. We popped the hood and there was some smoke (not steam) coming off the engine (we didn’t think that was a very good sign). We couldn’t check the water in the radiator until the engine cooled down quite a bit, so we left the hood up and got back in the car just as it started to pour rain. Wednesday’s weather was pretty crazy and fierce. It was alternating wind, sun, drizzle, and driving rain.

When it cooled enough to get the radiator open, we added about 2 liters of water. After a few minutes a whole bunch of steam came out which seemed like a terrible sign to me because that suggested that it had been empty. We noticed that the little piece of cooling system pipe that Colin replaced for us (see Optimist’s Week and Pessimist’s Week ***Colin- we want to you know that our car did not break because of the hose you put in! Sandy's problems were unfortunately larger than that.***) right after we bought Sandy had now completely burst, so water was pouring out of it. We still couldn’t start the car.

I called the Quakers we were going to stay with because it looked like we would be late for dinner. Jude gave me the number of the Collingwood mechanic and told me to call them straight away because it was 5:05. We caught them just as they were about to leave for the day and they came out with a truck about 15 minutes later. It turns out we’d nearly made it to Collingwood; it was just about 2 km down the road around a bend where we couldn’t see it.

Craig, the mechanic, added more water to the radiator and jumped the car (the battery was dead). Much to our relief, it started up. He told us to follow him back to the garage but pull over if the heat gauge goes above halfway. After about 400 m of driving the gauge rapidly went up so we pulled over and Craig towed us with a rope the rest of the way while we steered the car. We left Sandy at the garage and they gave us a courtesy car! We were completely amazed that this mechanic in a tiny town had courtesy cars, but that was great. So we continued on our way to the Quakers (and proceeded to go the wrong way because I thought they were in the wrong town…) and we eventually made it.

We were hopeful that Sandy was ok (except for a burst hose and maybe a worn-out battery or something). We called on Thursday and the news wasn’t good. From what they could tell without taking the engine apart, she at least had a cracked head gasket (minimum $1200). But it could cost up to $3500 if it was a cracked head. Obviously not worth it. AHHHHHHHHH!

We couldn’t afford another $1200 lemon. So we mentally prepared ourselves to go carless. It would mean sending a lot of things home or to Christchurch where we could then fly them home. It also means less independence for the rest of our travels. We could rent a car for short periods of time when we want to go off the beaten track. But it would change our trip somewhat.

When we went to the mechanic to collect our small library and the rest of our things from Sandy, Craig (the great mechanic) said he’d already looked around for another car. Lo and behold, there was a little red Nissan Sentra hatchback for $500. We’re now a bit gunshy, but the cost of bus and train tickets for the rest of our trip would probably add up to more than $500. So after a test drive to the nearest ATM to withdraw the cash for our THIRD car in New Zealand, we decided to go for it.

So, welcome Susie the Nissan Sentra. Coincidentally, all three of our cars now have been Nissans. This is probably the least risky car we’ve purchased in NZ since the same mechanics have worked on it for the past 3 years and the garage has a great reputation as being good and honest. We were lucky with Lu and unlucky with Sandy. We’re really hopeful that this will be our last car on this trip. If this one fails us, I think we’ll hitchhike or buy bikes.



Craig said that Sandy’s fatal overheating wasn’t our fault and the cooling system was probably already damaged when we got her. He also said that these particular diesel engines are total crap and it probably went further than most. So Sandy’s not worth anything for parts but she is going to a good cause. The Collingwood Volunteer Fire Department recently purchased The Jaws of Life and Sandy is going to be practice fodder for training their firemen. A fitting end, I think.

All this car madness has put us waaaaaay over budget so we’ve got some lean times ahead. We can’t sleep in this car (the mattress definitely didn’t fit), but we are presently benefiting from the wonderful hospitality of Quakers in the Golden Bay area.

Carrie