So at the end of part two it was about 7am. I indulged in a two hour power nap, while others decided sleep was only for the weak. When I rose at about 9am I was handed a glass of champagne. In true kiwi style, Nick and I decided to have a wee drink to celebrate the first day of the new year. The rest of the day was a bit of a write off, really. We sat around listening to music, drinking the left over cocktails and eating.
That evening we got to bed relatively early - as the following day we would be making the long drive back to London.
Mechanic: I'm calling about the Ford Ka. Yeah, it looks like the head of a bolt has sheared off. Good news though, it is an extremely simple fix, it will only take about 10 minutes.
Lindy: Oh perfect! We will head back now.
Mechanic: One problem. The bolt is a special Ford bolt. And we don't have one.
Lindy: OK, so can you get one?
Mechanic: Only from Ford. And they don't open until Tuesday.
Lindy: WTF dude? Is there nothing else we can do? Is there any way you could put another bolt in there or something?
Mechanic: No, unfortunately not. And it is not safe to drive it as is.
Lindy: OK so where else can we get one of these bolts?
Mechanic: Well the problem is that it is a Sunday. Not only that but it is a public holiday Monday, so everywhere is closed.
Lindy: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! *head explode*
So we made our way back to the garage. Within 10 minutes our personal saviour had shown up with the bolt. And it was THE RIGHT BOLT! A further 10 minutes and the car was back on the ground. The mechanic said he couldn't charge us because it took all of five minutes work. Everything was finally working out. So after a three hour delay we were back on the road.
The rest of the trip went by quite smoothly. Well, apart from the fact that about 200 miles out of London one of the wheels started to vibrate. I think we all lost a couple of kilos on that trip (vibration training works!).
All in all; there really is only one word. EPIC.
Hi. Thanks for the blog comment. It looks like your travels put mine to shame!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep an eye on your blog - I'm interested in your trip home.