Just go, C!
I'm Charity, a proud auntie, wine lover, semi-nerd, and dreamer who can't stay in one place for too long.
Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks it's been! My friend Melody flew in from Nashville just over a week ago, and since she's arrived, we've been on the go most of the past several days. We've seen the Marlborough Sounds, part of Abel Tasman National Park, the Franz Josef Glacier, Mount Aspiring National Park, and plenty of other amazing sites along the way. I am proud to announce that I am now able to drive on the wrong... I mean, LEFT... side of the road. Holy shit, you guys. I didn't think I was ever going to muster up the courage to rent a car and go for it, but I'm really glad we did. It was so nice to be able to drive along the INCREDIBLE western coast of New Zealand in a car. Not everything has gone smoothly, however. We had - well, really, *I* had - an incident with the rental car on the first day. Some of you who know me well know that I seem to have a track record of sorts with rental cars. Random snafus and an occasional dent that you hope the dealer never notices, that sort of thing. Well, this was a bit more of a bugger. Mel and I were driving back to Motueka from Abel Tasman just to grab some random food items and coughbeercough that we could bring back to camp with us. If you ever drive in New Zealand, you will see signs everywhere that say something like, "The roads here in New Zealand are different. Take your time." And they are not kidding. As we were driving out of the park on very narrow and winding roads (Mel likened it to Mario Cart), I must have either hugged a curve a little too tightly or hit a pothole (since I had no perception whatsoever of the left side of the vehicle since I'm DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE), and we hear/feel a big BOOM!! on that side. Probably hit a rock or something. It didn't seem to be all that bad but then the car started to wobble and eventually we had a flat. We pulled in to a gas station slash car repair shop which happened to be right there (yay!) but it was after hours and no one was around (awww). I called the rental car company and they basically said I was S.O.L. until the next day unless I could get the spare on the car. I faintly recalled my crappy car days from college and having to change a flat on occasion, so we put on our badass girlpants and put on the spare. *flexes* So that was good but all I could think about was how much it was going to cost since it was more than just a flat tire - I had actually bent the wheel. And of course I didn't purchase any insurance separately since my credit card covers collision, etc. when I'm traveling internationally but I had no idea if it would cover this. On a side note, I've been making more of an intentional effort in recent months to not stress/worry about things that are out of my control. I made a choice that evening that I wasn't going to worry about it, that it was what it was, and whatever it ended up costing, I would pay for it and deal. I wasn't in a situation where fixing it would have put me on the streets or forced me to fly back home or go without eating for a week, so why bother stressing about it? Just deal with it and move on. Fast forward to the next morning - Mel and I headed back to Motueka with our donut car and stopped by the Bridgestone Tyre Center to face the music. A tall, tattooed gentleman named Aaron came over right away and looked at the wheel and gave me the "Yikes" look. I got a little nauseous. Mel decided to egg him on a little and said something like, "You gonna use your muscles to hammer that thing out?" Hey, anything to motivate him at this point, you know. He said he'd see what he can do and we just kinda sat around for a while. Mel took the opportunity to practice her moonwalking "skills." Aaron walked back over about 20 minutes later and said, "You're good to go." ....... What? ....... Yeah. He not only "used his muscles" and hammered the wheel back into shape, but he put it back on the car, put the spare back in the trunk, and DIDN'T CHARGE US **ANYTHING**. Mel and I were in complete ecstatic shock. Aaron then said, "Merry Christmas. Enjoy this great country." You guys, I have goosebumps just typing this out right now. I gave him the biggest hug ever and told him he was my hero. From then on, whenever Mel and I have encountered something awesome, we'll use our newfound kiwi lingo as well as a little something special: "That beach was awesome." "Sweet as." "Choice." "Aaron." It's like we're giving him a little tribute everytime something amazing happens. My goal this week is to send him a postcard from Queenstown and let him know we got here because of him. It's those moments that remind you that there are plenty of good people on this earth. And, it inspires me even more to be one of them. Merry Christmas!
2 Comments
Tina Washington
12/22/2016 07:15:07 pm
What a wonderful story about human compassion and overall goodwill towards others. Wish we saw more of that here. Merry Christmas Charity!
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Charity
12/23/2016 03:08:21 am
Yes, I hate to admit it but the people here have been FAR nicer than the general U.S. population. It's a small country thing maybe? Either way, I'm grateful that there are many out there!
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AuthorHi! I'm Charity. I'm from Omaha, Nebraska, USA. I quit my job in October 2016 to travel the world. Archives
June 2022
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