The Way to Wellington

Auckland was old news really - the kind of place a person looks at and says, "is that all?"

It was for the boys. They rounded up and headed out Saturday morning, the day after their arrival. Their van, "Delilah," was their proud ship. They planned to get to Wellington that night.

Delilah broke.

A few hours south of Auckland, in less time than it took to buy the van, she'd already blown a fuel pump a few klicks outside Hamilton, NZ. The boys were heartbroken, and Delilah dropped to 7 in the power rankings.

On a Saturday in NZ, no one works, especially mechanics. Hamilton looked even less exciting than Auckland, and the boys faced holding over there till Monday to wait for repairs. Low on $$ and morale after calling through the Hamilton phone book for what felt like hours, they tried one...last...mechanic.



Enter Sid Hampton, a man eating lunch at home after doing some overtime at the shop. His phone rung. The boys, on the other end, pleaded their case. Sid answered the call. Arriving in a half hour in an old station wagon, he found the problem and towed Delilah back to Hamilton with a seatbelt. In 5 hours, after tracking down the part from other off-work kiwis, Delilah was purring again. The boys high-fived, and Sid refused to charge time-and-a-half. For this, Sid Hampton, you've jumped to #1 in our first week's power rankings. You're a champion.




Wellington was a bust for Saturday, so the boys set a course for Lake Taupo instead, a spot sitting basically in the center of the North Island, and having an eerie resemblence to Lake Tahoe, the boys' former home. They arrived at sunset, and there was much rejoicing.
So ended their second day in New Zealand.