Wanaka and Queenstown

The holiday apartment is truly impressive, featuring 4 bedrooms, a huge living area, and a 120m² terrace, making it a very comfortable stay. In the evenings, neighbors come by, and Elisabeth cooks a traditional German pork roast with potatoes and asparagus. The next day, we hike up Mount Iron, which isn’t too high, but still offers a great view of Wanaka and the surrounding mountains. In the afternoon, we ride our bikes to Lake Wanaka, where the famous tree is probably New Zealand’s most photographed fence post. For dinner, we head 20 minutes toward Cardrona, which is also a well-known ski area in winter, and at the pub of the same name, we enjoy delicious burgers and nachos. The following day, we take a trip to Queenstown, stroll along the promenade, and indulge in New Zealand baking. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t suitable for hiking; we had actually planned to go further to Glenorchy at the western end of Lake Wakatipu. So we return via Arrowtown, when suddenly the bus starts to slow down on a hill. The engine is losing power and is stalling when accelerating. I check the temperature and fluids, and at least everything is fine here. We can still drive the flat bypass road, allowing us to return to Wanaka and the holiday apartment. The next morning, the engine only starts with difficulty, constantly stalling or failing to respond to the throttle. I suspect spark plugs or a mass air flow sensor, but it could also be something more serious, so I call the AA, the equivalent of ADAC (I wisely took out a Premium membership). After a while, a breakdown helper arrives; John looks at the car, listens to the explanation of the damage, and appears to be completely puzzled (Okay, it’s not a Toyota, but one of only 17 V-classes in NZ). He calls another mechanic who comes and at least has a diagnostic device to read the error memory. John then leaves; the mechanic tells me he will start with the MAF sensor. He writes down 5 nearby workshops I could check out on my bike and then leaves. That’s it, the service of the AA is really limited. So I remove the MAF sensor and head to one of the workshops to order the spare part. On the way back, I rent a car (Nissan Sylphy, never heard of it…) since we have booked two nights on Stewart Island for tomorrow (...travel...), and then I do some work varnishing the deck and wooden chairs. (...work...)