02/07/2018 - Rugby Museum & Wheel Bearing Replacement in Palmy

We used the day before the scheduled workshop appointment to take a closer look at "Palmerston North". According to "John Cleese" (British comedian, actor), the city doesn't have much to offer: "If you want to kill yourself, but simply can't muster the courage, you should go to Palmerston North. It's a sure thing." "Palmy" took it with humor and named a landfill after him. ;)
At the information center, we inquired about Sunday markets in the nearby area. However, in the cold season, it wouldn't be profitable for the farmers, so these markets are not held. So, we simply strolled through the city center instead.

Like many other cities in New Zealand, it is built according to a certain pattern. The green center ("The Square") is surrounded by straight main streets. From above, the road system resembles a grid.

We passed a beautiful bell tower and a lovely park landscape with a duck pond. Besides the many adult specimens, it was especially the one tiny chick that entertained us well.
Around noon, we visited the national Rugby Museum. The sport is New Zealand's national sport and therefore a must-visit. We were greeted by a friendly elderly gentleman who listed the various theme areas for us and sent us off to start. The museum is almost exclusively devoted to the history of rugby and the incredible development it took in New Zealand. The Kiwis still unquestionably top the world rankings! Out of a total of 569 games, the All Blacks won 440 matches. They only lost 109 times. An impressive record!
We were fascinated by the many original exhibits. We saw the first uniforms, the previous forms of a rugby ball (e.g. the bladder of a pig), and the team photos of the first New Zealand national teams. The museum is modern and vividly designed, albeit very history-heavy. We found some variety in a small, fenced sports area in the middle of the room. Here, every visitor can try out classic rugby exercises. For example, pushing/tackling another player or shooting the ball through a rugby goal. We had fun doing these exercises.
In the evening, we drove to the only campsite that Palmy has to offer. It definitely enjoys its monopoly status and impresses with high prices and little equipment.
We couldn't sleep well that night. Heavy rain showers pelted our roof. But the bad weather reached its peak when lightning struck nearby! We saw a bright light through the rear window and heard a loud bang like never before ... It didn't surprise us that a few minutes later, the fire truck sirens sounded ... Hopefully, no one was harmed.

The next morning, we went to the workshop very early. At 8:30 a.m., we handed our Sam over for treatment and hoped for a complete recovery. With the knowledge that we wouldn't have a fixed retreat for the next few hours and couldn't rely on clothes or anything else, we walked with all the electronics on our backs across the city. The first goal was a bakery to get breakfast. The next goal was the shopping center, where it was warm and we could have our breakfast in peace. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. We hid in the library, worked on the blog, planned the upcoming travel route, and charged our camera batteries. Meanwhile, another heavy rain shower passed over Palmerston North.
Time passed and dragged on. It was already 3:30 p.m., and we were still waiting for the mechanic's relieving call. We were getting more and more restless. Our car had already been in the workshop for seven hours... - We decided to contact them. To our delight, the car was almost ready, and we could pick it up in the next few minutes. So, we packed everything up, left the city center, and walked to the workshop. Luckily, the rain had stopped by then. ;)
From a distance, we could already see Sam standing on the street - at least he made it this far. After paying, we got into the car and drove off. The noise that the various mechanics had drawn our attention to was completely gone! We never consciously noticed it, and yet it had accompanied us constantly in the past (!) months. Before the wheel bearing replacement, the rattling and clattering were almost inevitable. Now our Sam purrs again just as we got to know him. :)
We drove along the streets with gentle hums, enjoying it, and being thrilled. But where should we actually go? Since the evening dusk had already set in, and we didn't want to sleep once again at the overpriced campsite near the city center, we headed to the "Cemetery Campsite" again. However, since appropriate payment is required here, we made a stop at the supermarket. We stood in line at the checkout with a chocolate bar and paid with a $20 bill. Now we had the necessary change.
20 minutes later, we reached the campsite in "Ashhurst". In close proximity to the cemetery, we enjoyed absolute peace. Only for cooking, we were visited by the cemetery cat. When the food was cooked in the small, sheltered cubicle, which had a sink and running water, we crawled into the car and had dinner.