Tag Archives: Car

Hoorah!

September 16, 2009 11:45 | Leave a Comment |

My car is all fixed!

fixed car

They even washed it for me so it’s all shiny.

I’m very pleased to know it’s fixed. My insurance company was so easy to work with. I did all the things they asked and they got it fixed super quick. No hassle at all. However, I don’t think it hurt at all that my dad knows the owner of the repair shop it got taken to.

I’m home, obviously…

We had to get up obscenely early to get the airport – as in 3am early. Bleugh. Definitely not a fan of early flights. Still the airport was busier than I thought it would be and it took us nearly half an hour to check in. Kim and I cut it extremely fine. We got to the front of the line at 5.30 which should’ve been the 90 minute cut-off. However, it apparently worked in our favour as we ended up sitting in premium economy. There really is more legroom!

As usual, Melbourne Airport turned on all its charms and made us wait about half an hour for our bags. For whatever reason, three luggage containers got left on the plane so we waited. And waited. And waited. Then we got the slowest taxi driver in Melbourne who just wouldn’t do the speed limit. He consistently sat 10ks under the limit and I wanted to strangle him.

Still, nice to be home. Being in my own bed was wonderful as was the first decent shower in a week. It was very weird to come home to a 30°C day when just a few days ago we’d been all rugged up for the snow.

So… things I learnt on this trip.

  1. I can’t ski. But I haven’t spent enough time doing it to totally dismiss it as an activity.
  2. New Zealand wines are great but their beer is apparently meh.
  3. Sliding down small snow covered slopes is awesome.
  4. The water in Methven makes me feel decidedly ill – too much chlorine.
  5. Single beds suck.
  6. A decent shower is a blessing.
  7. New Zealand really is a remarkably beautiful place.
  8. Jet-boating is awesome fun.
  9. As is a scenic helicopter flight.
  10. I can still scream.
  11. There really are a lot of sheep in New Zealand.
  12. Seeing rugby pitches everywhere fills me with joy.
  13. The guy who works at the ski shop was really cute.
  14. I missed my bike.
  15. Sharing a hotel suite with three people who cough all the time is extremely irritating.
  16. I like snow.
  17. Automatic Ford Mondeos are shit to drive.
Posted in: Blatherings, Travel | Tagged: , , ,

Is it that time already?

September 4, 2009 23:47 | Leave a Comment |

I have to be up in a few hours. Strange to think I’m heading to New Zealand tomorrow. The time has passed so quickly and I can’t quite it’s already time.

It’s going to be strange – this whole traveling with other people. Gee, that makes it sound like I travel all the time but it’s only been two trips overseas. It will be different though. I haven’t put anywhere near the energy into this as I have for my other trips. I haven’t really done anything at all. It feels more like I’m just going along for the ride.

It has been nice to hand over all the organising and to not have to think that much. All I really wanted was a nice place to stay on the first night when we’re still in Christchurch and I got that. Still, I feel detached from it. There’s not the sense of excitement and anticipation that I have when I’ve done all the planning myself. It just doesn’t feel real and it’s happening tomorrow.

Still, New Zealand!! I’m going to see yet another part of the world and do things I’ve never done before like skiing.

Things seem to be progressing with the car. It’s at the repairers now and hopefully a quote has been prepared and sent off along with photos of the damage. It’s not something I want to have to try to follow up on when I’m in another country. Optimistically, it could be fixed by the end of the next week. Whether or not that’s realistic is another story. Dad thinks maybe the week after. That’s still really quick considering I thought it’d take at least a month to jump through all the hoops. I’m expecting my premium to go up after this. Hopefully I’ll get to keep my rating one.

Posted in: Blatherings, Travel | Tagged: , , ,

I done broke it

August 30, 2009 18:39 | Leave a Comment |

I never realised how attached I am to my car until I smacked it into someone else’s.

car-damage

I mean, it’s just a car right? It’s little, girly, get me from A to B sort of car. But I am utterly crushed. I’ve had it for six years now and it’s been an awesome little car. It’s easy to drive, easy to park and not too expensive to run. It’s also the only asset I actually own.

Sigh.

I was leaving my parents’ place after spending the weekend there and I rear-ended someone. I don’t even have the small salve of having it be someone else’s fault. It was totally my fault. I was at the lights waiting for the lights to change and I looked away for a second but I must’ve eased my foot of the clutch and the next thing I know – WHAM!! Lots of crunching noises and my car is definitely worse for wear. The car I hit came out of it with a few scratches while mine looks devastated.

It’s totally my fault though. I should’ve either not glanced away or left my foot on the clutch. I think my brain went: “Hey, the light is gree…. Ooohh… what’s that over there?” but the message had already been sent to my feet to ease off the clutch and push the accelerator. Mostly, I just feel so freaken stupid it’s not funny. What a dumb-arse thing to do. At least the impact wasn’t hard enough to deploy my airbag as a broken nose and two black eyes wouldn’t have improved things. So yes, now I have the fun job of making a claim with my insurance company. That’ll be interesting.

I’ve never hit any one before, I’ve been in several accidents (nothing major) but this is the first time I’ve caused one. What shocks me the most is how quickly it happened. I really only glanced away for a second but that suggests I’d stopped too close to the car in front. See, totally my fault. However, I must admit I’m more than a little cranky with the first car who simply didn’t move when the lights changed – so I’m blaming them just a little bit.

It’s drivable but I opted to leave it at my parents’ place as a two hour drive didn’t exactly thrill me. I managed to crumple the bonnet and demolish the front grill whilst pushing it back into the radiator. The radiator isn’t leaking but it definitely looks bent. You can’t see it in the photo but the strut on the left that comes out of the Hyundai logo has been snapped clean through. Yeah, nothing half-arsed about my efforts!!

Posted in: Blatherings | Tagged: ,