Once in a while you realize that it is appropriate to acknowledge someone’s contribution to your life. Well, this post is to acknowledge the immense contribution that Stan made to our time in New Zealand.
Meet Stan, and our incredibly generous cousins who lent us Stan the van for our 3 months in New Zealand.In addition to Stan, the Van, our cousins also lent us camping equipment. This was the perfect compliment to our house sitting. Allowing us to get to many corners of the country we otherwise would not have gotten to. These were at Te Awanga, Ashburton, Duvauchelle, and Greymouth.Some of the other locations Stan took us to are, Ohawe, Kawhia, Hahei Beach, and the final one in Pahi.One of the most scenic sites was at Haruru Falls. With the falls in the background, an amazing rainbow appeared after a short rain shower.In the three months that we were exploring New Zealand I drove Stan 8437kms. He performed nearly perfectly. Unfortunately in Wanaka his starter packed it in and just outside of Murchison the radiator hose ruptured, catastrophically. But with over a quarter of a million kilometres on him, Stan was a real trouper.We did find that Stan did not appreciate the wet weather, which we did get a bit of around the country. We had three brushes with cyclones that affected New Zealand, but Stan still managed to push through the damp. Hesitantly at times, but push through he did.After a spa day for Stan near Culverden, Stan was looking his best.
We were able to get to corners of New Zealand that simply are not accessible without your own vehicle. For that we are eternally grateful. Thank you Stan.
Stan looks wonderful in his native environment – but surely you took him further than 84km in 3 months… NZ is bigger than that!!
Thank you for noticing that. Reads the proper 8437km now.
The dry wit and wry humour you wrote this post with is much appreciated, Dad.