So take the wheel and drive...

We are the newest proud owners of a burgendy 1989 Toyota Corona.. Thats right.. Just like the beer! We went to the backpackers car market yesterday to see what we could find and there was nothing really there that interested us so we left with the intentions to hit the other market this morning. On our way out there was a man from the market giving some backpackers hell as they parked on the road with a for sale sign near the market and it wasn't fair to those inside who paid $65 to have their car in the market. So we waited for the guy to leave and took a look at the car which was in very good condition - As Kirby had not driven on the other side of the road we asked the lady to drive it for us and we would feel it out.. Well she drove to a quiter part of Auckland which gave Kirb the chance to drive it around the block. The car runs very well with no strange noises and the reg & wof were active for a long time (Registration here is done differently, the plate always stays with the car and it expires after the term paid for regardless of change of ownership - You just pay to switch the name over which is $9.00 - The car we got registration is valid until Sept 20, 2006.. Woohoo!! WOF is a Warrent of Fitness which is required every 6 months to ensure the vehicle is road worthy, ours doesn't expire until April at which point you pay $25 to get another 6 months of WOF) You are not required by law to carry vehicle insurance here but of course we thought it was unwise not to so we went to one place and they quoted us $450/6mnth pol with Third Party Liability, I asked for some other company numbers and found another pol for $163/6mnth pol.. 4 drivers and $600 deductible which is $100 cheaper then the other place. (The insurance doesn't ask about claims history or convictions.. So Jason is listed on our policy just in case he needs to drive)
They were asking $2000, we got it for $1500, a glove compartment full of candies, new zealand maps, tape cassets featuring some titles like; the best of U2, Village People and Phil Colins and the 2 tents and airmatresses in the trunk.
Sarah and Bob set off today to the other car market and got a Mazda Familia, our vehicles are quite similer (They just dont have the candies and the tents!) :)
So with this new found freedom (And the fact that it is $20/day to park the cars) We have decided that in between our wait for our holiday home in Auckland to be ready on the 20th of Dec we would head down to Rotorua and rent a holiday home there. We have one booked from Dec 4 or 6th (He hasn;t got back to me and since tomorrow is the 4th we may have to go with the original request of booking in on the 6th) to Dec 15th.. Then we will slowly make our way back up to Auckland checking out the small towns along the way (One of which I hear has a huge metal dog and kiwi bigger then any buildings in the town... That may be a must see!)
We also found that since there is 6 of us, it is cheaper to rent a vaction home then to stay in the hostel which has not been terrible but if I dont have to stay there again I will be happy - You see when you have a house you have a kitchen and living room and your own bedroom, in the hostel you share a bathroom with the entire floor (And the showers is a press button that rtuns for 15 seconds then turns off, so you are shaking, cold and wet soaping up as fast as you can so you can press the button again to get water going) you share the kitchen and the living room with all 7 floors of the building. We also have had staff just walk into our dorm (Even though the 6 off us takes up all 6 beds) and tried to give Sarahs bed away while she was out (And the rest of us were all sleeping) we finally had to tell the guy we had the whole room booked, then there are the 18yr olds who take up the entire living room common area drinking and screaming at the tops of their heads, or the girls and guys next door to us that slam thier door about 16 times a night, pages over the intercom that start to go off at 9:00am and the rift raft passing through like the group of 50yr old hells angles that scream as they walk through the halls and unknown people defileing the bathrooms in unmentionable ways.
By renting a house we are not only getting much enjoyed privacy, but also its $10 per person cheaper a night! Which will pay for the groceries!!
Tomorrow we are off to Rotorua and I will write more when we get there, til then...
CHEERS!!