Wotae: 26.10.2018
That was really exciting again! And at my age. I don't need that more often.
First of all, it was fate, inspiration, guardian angel or whatever you want to call it. Yesterday I saw the leaking roof, bought a black box to cover it if it should rain. A suitable store is right on the way. It hadn't rained yet. Then we arrived here in Nelson, parked the car in a parking lot, and I tried out the box right away. It works perfectly, but it doesn't look like rain at first. We go out to eat, by foot. On the way back it starts to rain. It continues all night. In the morning: it worked. Everything stayed dry inside. But of course, that only works when the car is parked. The loosely laid box won't hold during driving. So I contact the rental company. By email, because understanding on the phone is difficult. Only a few New Zealanders speak understandable English, at least in my perception. In short: communication eventually works, even on the phone in the end. We get an address of a workshop in Nelson, drive there, and a young man immediately takes care of our problem. One hour later he has it temporarily covered. The spare part delivery would have taken until Monday at least. I give him a tip, which he commented on: 'you don't need to do that!' But I insisted, and he resigned to his fate and wished us a nice vacation in New Zealand. I didn't have to pay anything. I assume it will be billed directly. Now we can drive along the west coast towards the south with peace of mind, as it is supposed to rain very often and very heavily there.
With all this excitement and organization, today's photo yield is of course not abundant. But see for yourself (uploading the photos is currently not working, so please check again from time to time if it finally worked!)