Can’t make this stuff up.

So after being in New Zealand for about a month now I can honestly say it has been quite the ride. As I mentioned early in the blog I was fortunate enough to have a buddy living in Auckland and I wouldn’t know just how valuable this was. Over the past 4 weeks I have been scouring the Internet looking for a campervan. From all accounts I have read online this seemed to be a pretty easy task so I didn’t put much thought into it. Fast forward to my arrival and I was in for a rude awakening. After settling in the first week and getting my barring’s, I went to work hunting down a camper. I found several that looked promising and sent out messages all to no avail, so I continued. I stumbled upon an ad for an old ambulance up for auction that seemed like a really good deal. I decided to rent a car and do a little mini trip with the intention of looking at this ambulance on the way back home. The trip went well met some really nice people and caught my first New Zealand trout. Things were good!

So I arrive at the auctioneer and see her there in all her glory. I get the keys and take a step in side and think this could be the one. So I take some measurements and get to thinking about the interior. A lady comes over and asks me if I was interested in the ambulance I said I was and explained my aspirations of turning it into a camper. She said that’s a really cool idea and mentioned I should have a pre auction check done. I asked her how much it was and she told me so I said why not. Could save me a lot of money. This all happened on a Thursday. The Auction for the ambulance was scheduled the following Tuesday. I asked her if the check would be done in time and she assured me it was so I said ok lets do it. I drove the 2 hours back home thinking about all the cool things I could do with it. I was excited and from what I could tell, seemed like a really good deal. There was plenty of room in the price where I could cover any major mechanical issue. I got home and awaited the mechanics report. Friday came and went, as did Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So Tuesday morning I called down and asked them what the issue was and they assured me they would have it done before the auction. I had asked what time Tuesday if would be done and they said it would be done by lunch which was fine as it gave me enough time to determine if I was making the 2 hour journey down or not. Again lunch came and went I called again and she said the mechanic was coming over as we spoke to take a look at it. I told her that’s great but please call me as soon as you can with the results as I have to start driving now to make the auction. She agreed and said no problem and apologized for the inconvenience. I didn’t think much of it so I rented a car and headed down. I didn’t hear from her for two hours and luckily I arrived a bit early, however when I did I saw a few of the employees standing around the back of the ambulance pointing at something. So I wandered over and say that the whole back door was messed up. Confused I went over to the lady at the desk and asked what happened. She explained to me that someone had come taken a look at it and locked the keys in the car while running. I said that’s fine but what happened to the door. She then proceeded to tell me that instead of breaking a window they thought it would be better to use a crowbar to pry open the back door. Brilliant. So I asked for the mechanic report I ordered and immediately she turned bright red. She started apologizing and I knew she hadn’t done it but assured me there was enough time before the auction started. At this point I was on fire and just said ok. A mechanic came rushing over took the ambulance away and returned about an hour later. At this point I wasn’t expecting anything good and the mechanics report confirmed my suspicion. I walked out of there, without ever making a bid. Little did I know this was the start of a rough road!

This is what if looked like before.

This is what it looked like when I arrived.

I start driving back and just start laughing about how crazy that was and felt a bit of frustration regarding the complete waste of time it was but hey, it’s a good story. So I get back to Dale’s house and start looking again for camper vans. That night I find what looks to be the perfect one. It’s insulated, and lined with nice wood paneling so I shoot the guy a quick text expecting it to be gone. He texts back instantly and says its still for sale. I make him an offer and he accepts it. I’m pumped I feel like the day hasn’t been a complete waste and things are finally falling into place. He notes that he didn’t expect the van to sell so quickly and asks if I would mind picking it up the next Monday as they are still traveling back up from the South Island. I let him know it was no big deal and I looked forward to seeing him. I show it to Dale and he agrees it’s a good buy so we have a glass of whiskey to celebrate. As a thank you for their amazing generosity I offer to take them out to dinner on Saturday night. The whole week I am buzzing it finally feels like my journey is going to start. We head out on Saturday night have an amazing meal from one of the better steak houses in Auckland and some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had for desert. Sunday rolls around and I still feel like I’m in a food coma but I couldn’t be happier. Now over the week I have had a few brief conversations with the van owner and I shoot him a txt on Sunday letting him know I am excited to pick up the van tomorrow. He says he is too. Sunday night I’m laying in bed and my phone rings. Immediately my heart sinks I already know what’s happening. I look at the message and its from him. It says something to the extent of sorry man we got offered an extra 200 over what you did I wanted to come to you first and see if you would match it before we took it. I wasn’t happy but said that’s fine but please don’t take any more texts regarding the van. At this point I was already pissed because he gave me his word and we had agreed on everything. I was even nice enough to allow for the trip extension; regardless I was still excited about the van. I told him I would call him in the morning and we would discuss where to meet he said ok. I finally get to sleep as I was still a bit pissed but excited nonetheless. I wake up, give him a ring and he doesn’t answer. After our conversation the night before I am uneasy and about an hour later I get a call confirming my thoughts. He said he ended up selling the van to someone for more money and said I would do the same thing. At this point I’m pissed not only because he went back on his word but more importantly assumed that I would have as weak a backbone as he did. I text him back saying whatever helps you sleep at night and he explains how sorry he is and blah blah blah. Needless to say I deleted his number and again was back on the hunt.

A few days passed and I saw a nice van pop up again so I sent her a message and asked her if she would be willing to end the auction early if the price was right. She noted she could be persuaded so I made her an offer. At first she declined so I offered her a bit more to which she accepted under the condition that I would give her the money before the auction ended. Which was in about two days. Great, I was excited and again had finally found a van. I stared to look into transferring the money and it became clear that I wouldn’t meet the deadline. So I informed her and she said hey maybe you will get the van for cheaper via auction. I agreed and got ready for a bidding war. I watched the bids blow past the price she had accepted and ended up getting beat by 1 dollar. I was pissed but figured hey what’s meant to be will be.

So once again I get back on the hunt and find a van a couple days later. This one however is located in Wellington, which is to far to drive to. I ask the seller a bunch of questions regarding its mechanical and cosmetic well-being. She assures me its all good and after explaining to her my previous campervan experiences she says this will be a great find. I get excited again and figure out the logistics of getting down there. I realize I can get a plane ticket for pretty cheap so I pick one up and head down. I meet the lady at the Airport and we go through the logistics the van is a bit dirty but again its also pretty old so I say screw it. After sorting out all the legal stuff she asks if I can drop her off at the train station. It’s no big deal so she hops in and goes to put it in reverse and I hear the gears grind a bit but chalk it up to quirks. I drop her off of the sunset and get my first taste of being up in the open road. It feels good, it’s a gorgeous day and the sun is shinning. I’m driving up the coast and again I have that feeling of euphoria set in. Everything is finally falling into place. I get to driving the van and everything seems ok, it’s a bit hard to get into gear but nothing out of the ordinary. Fast-forward about an hour and maybe 60Km’s and I go to shift and can’t get it into gear. Luckily I pull over in a town just in time. When I arrived in New Zealand I went to grab a New Zealand license and the lady asked if I wanted to sign up for the equivalent of AAA. I said eh why not it never hurts. Thank god I did. So as I’m sitting there I start to work through all the things it could be. I have a feeling it’s the clutch but don’t want to admit it to myself. After exhausting everything I can think of I call a tow truck. They end up towing me to a town and putting me up in a hotel. I go into the garage the next morning and it’s like the scene form the ambulance. All the mechanics are standing around it, but this time they are all pointing at different things. I think to myself, ah shit here we go. So I walk over an introduce myself. He confirms my fears and says I need a new clutch, but stops, he then proceeds to tell me that’s the least of my worries. My stomach hits the floor and I ask what do you mean. He then goes on to tell me that van is in such bad shape rust wise it should have never passed its inspection. After 2 days, a long txt battle and a few phone calls I end up splitting the cost of the clutch with the previous owners and deliver it back to them to get my money back. At this point I am just devastated, tired, and a bit down. Just to ad insult to injury the cost of a ticket is 3x as much as it cost me to get down there.

At this point I got home and had to laugh, because if I didn’t laugh I would have cried. So once again I was on the hunt and at this point I knew I needed a new van and once again after some searching found one. It was a bit out of the budget but at this point I didn’t care. I just needed something reliable so I got a ride down, looked it over and determined I wanted to buy it. When going over the final price they asked if I wanted a yearlong mechanical breakdown warranty. With everything that had happened I couldn’t sign the thing soon enough. Drove it home and around town for the past week and it seems great. I headed out for my journey yesterday and about three hours into it I pulled of to hit the bathroom. When I got back in and tried to start it, it just wouldn’t. So once again I am sitting here waiting for my van to get out of the shop fortunately this time I have some insurance. Needless to say its been a tough ride so far but my Journey still awaits.