WHANGAMATA OR BUST...

My family and I have just come off the best holiday we have ever had inNew Zealand, it was one of those holidays where the memories and thelaughs will keep us talking about it well into the winter. I couldright a book about it! An easy two hour drive south from Howick is thelovely seaside town of Whangamata, which in the past has a had a bit ofa bad wrap with hoons and riots at New Years. Well not this year. Ihave seen more hoons down Eastern Beach than I did at 'Whanga', it wasperfect. The sun shone every day, the waves broke every day and all wasright with the world. What made it special was that we where sharingthe holiday with family friends and their children at their family bachthis was a real kiwi holiday and when I say bach, I mean a real bach!Not a home away from home with all the comforts that that may holdwhich seems to be the norm nowadays, all architecturally designed etc.The bach had been in the family for over 25 summers and you could tell,you just had to open the weather beaten door of the garage and feel thememories of those summers come flooding out. Fishing rods of every sizeyou can imagine, snapper rods, beachcasters, long lines, fishing nets,beaten up old surf ski, masks and snorkels, hooks and traces, tackleboxes, weather worn cricket bats, tools and bits and pieces - all sortsof treasure.

The memories of the holiday are too numerous to mention butstandouts where, swingball, freshly smoked kawai, bbq's, cold beer,early morning surfs, walking Oscar our family Sydney Silkie along thebeach before 9am and after 7pm talking with like minded people,surfcasting at dusk and landing a stingray, which had all the kids morethan amused. Fireworks at midnight on New Year's, petanque, tennis inthe afternoon, afternoon surfs, sea bisketing behind the boat, MissWhangamata, surf carnival, power boat racing, ice cream contests whichall the kids entered... even the older ones! Sunbathing at theeastuary, freshly picked mussels, fishing at the wharf as the sun wassetting, walkng back with the kids excited with their catch of kawai.

I got to thinking how good we have it here in New Zealand. I alwaysremember hearing back in the UK how Australia is the lucky country, Ialways say if something is 'Lucky' it means it was by chance, I reckonNew Zealand is 'Blessed' and that my friend is a gift.

So where does the Bust come into it .On the waydown to Whanga the Land Rover got a little bit overheated, limping intothe town I found the water reservior completely dry, but filled up assoon as we reached the bach. Over the coming week I never used the carmuch at all and thought everything was cool, but I had to drive up toAuckland to photograph a wedding on Waiheke and water reservour wasleaking really badly, so took it to Whagamata Service Center, what amistake to make! I explained to the two women at the desk what waswrong, I may as well have been talkng in Martian. I got a call laterthat I should come to pick up my vehicle, the woman told me themechanic couldn't fix the reservior and there it was lying there on thefloor ..What the..? So I don't have water going into my radiator I saidto her "don't you think that's a bit odd? She said the mechanic assuredher it would get me back to Auckland ..AYE RIGHT!! She got the mechanicto talk to me on the phone, he had obvouisly gone for a brainreassesment... SO you are telling me that don't need the reservoir, "Noyou should be fine".

He didn't mention the fact that while he took the reservoir off hebroke one of the small pipes that attached it to the hoses, where wasthe good ol' kiwi inginuity to fix that? It could have easliy beendone, all he did was to block off the end of the hoses.. GET ME BACK TO AUCKLAND?..It didn't get me back to the bach two blocks away, one of the hosesexploded under the bonnet, I thought a roadside bomb had gone off,luckily for me a holidaying mechanic from Tauraunga called Bevan cameto my asstance, he popped the bonnet and could not believe what themoron in the garage had done. Long story short Martyn Road Motors got areplacement reservoir from Tauranga and fixed the Landy. When we weredriving out of Whanga we passed by the Whangamata Service Center, ithad an add in the window for a mechanic.. no kidding! because if brainswhere made of chocolate the mechanic who looked at my car didn't haveenough to fill a jaffa.

Even after that we still laughed all the way home the holiday wasthat good..... as a gesture how much we enjoyed it, I bequeathed mysurfboard to the garage of memories, so we will certainly be goingback...