The Car!!

With nearly 3 months in New Zealand we made the decision to buy a car (and hopefully sell it when we leave). Rental in New Zealand in peak season is very expensive, so this is hopefully a cheaper option (unless your car doesn’t make it).

Tim had be scouring the websites for weeks prior to coming out. That made life a lot easier as there wasn’t a lot of choice in our budget for the size of the car we wanted – a big one!

So after a test drive we hedged our bets on a Volvo XC 70. With a mere 251,000kms on the clock, it looks mint on the outside, has a super shiny engine, a massive boot and very scratched by dogs on the inside. It’s a vast car that we have managed to fill to the brim!

It even has an internal telephone!

Having gone to register it at the post office and driving to the airport to drop the hire car, Tim noticed a couple of problems.

Luckily though there is a 3 month warrantee, so the next morning we were back and it was taken to the garage for fixing, at no cost to us (or our money back in full).

A few hours later with breakdown cover and insurance in place, we are driving off crossing our fingers that the mighty Volvo will fulfil its roll as our adventuring mobile.

Work on the car

9th Jan, one month and 4600km in and the car is squealing around every corner! New tyres required! And whilst we are at it New oil and oil filter to keep our 17 year old cars engine in tip top condition.

10th Jan, car doesn’t start!! After borrowing jump leads from a friendly neighbour, and still failing to start the car, Tim walks back to the garage and they come and jump start it!

We are back on the road…..

The Volvo lives on

Developing a significant judder in the standing traffic around Auckland, we had our stop in the botanical gardens in the hope that the system would reset, but it didn’t.

We crossed our fingers and hoped that it would get us to Whangarei. Tim put it into manual and teased it up there keeping the rev’s high. And it got us there!

After garage tests the problem was down to spark plugs and coil packs. Parts ordered in and fitted and the Volvo is back on the road, heading up towards Cape Reigna.

It feels better than ever!

The Loper lives on

Coming towards the end of our trip the Volvo passes 260,000km on a gravel road.

It’s doing so well now that we will be very sad to see it go

Enjoying the Fords

Goodbye to the Loper

The car made it! And not only did it make it, it left us feeling better than when we got it.

With the luck of having friends in Christchurch who were prepared to sell our car if we couldn’t, we got an advert on ‘trade me’ and advertised it for a good price.

And within a few hours The Loper was sold. Someone was prepared to fly up from Dunedin and pick the car up.

Sad to see it go

But very pleased it is going to someone who was going to enjoy it. They continued on The Lopers road trip, driving the long way home along the road we had just driven up, via Mt Cook.