Changing Car, Changing Place

There's usually a rush at the end of any big project it seems, but it's rarely pleasant. In the midst of doing revisions of my thesis draft, I also had to get another car and move house again, so things have been busy.

I took the Toyota Camry that we had had only since the start of last year to the wreckers at the end of last year -- it was overheating constantly and the repairpeople said a blown head gasket wasn't worth fixing on an older car. This left me worrying that it would stop working when I needed to get to work, and I was also worried about insurance issues. So I found another Subaru Legacy, like the first car we had here, which is newer and only needs to have a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) check once a year instead of twice. The seller was nice and seemed to have taken good care of it. My friend helped me pick it up and take the old one to the wrecking place, where I just got a pittance for it. But it was better than nothing.

Finding a new place was another hassle. There's not much affordable in the Christchurch area and they just don't have studio and 1-bedroom apartments like in the U.S. One place I saw was literally a shoebox size room that had been carved out of an existing building. The bed was up a ladder in a little loft area with a huge skylight, so the sun would be blasting in the morning. There was no oven or stove, just a hotplate, and a tiny bathroom squeezed in. And that place was almost as much as getting a regular small house. I decided it was time to find a place with other people to bring down the price, so I happened to find a house with a separate sleepout building in the backyard that was a decent size with two medium-size rooms that I could keep the cat in. I have full use of the main house but have my own space as well. It's not ideal and has taken some getting used to, but it will work for now as I finish things up and make a decision about where I want to go.

I've been participating in a business course over the summer at the university and it has been a great learning experience. I wish I would have learned this stuff earlier, and I really think it should be required for everyone to learn a little about business whether or not they think they want to be their own boss someday or disagree with the whole system. It's part of the world we live in, and it's hard to change something you don't understand. I've found it encouraging how often I've heard other students talk about sustainability and the environment -- it seems like a trend that has staying power.

Buying a Car

Yes, we've only lasted 2 weeks before buying a car. But we bought a car! First one we've bought on our own. Fingers crossed that it turns out okay.

It was one of those butterfly effect things - we went to New World yesterday to pick up milk and I spotted an ad/posting board by the front door and checked it out. There was an ad for a Subaru station wagon for sale from someone who was leaving NZ soon. The price had been crossed out with another price hand-written in and then (negotiable) written next to that. So I smelled some desperation. I thought it wouldn't hurt to look at it, so I texted the number and we set up a time for her to drive it by in the morning. 

I did some research online for tips on buying and made sure it was priced around its Kelley Blue Book value and would suit our needs. Then I had three nightmares about meeting three different weird people selling their car, so woke up feeling like I'd already lived through the ordeal three times. Not so fun. She drove up and we asked questions about its history and test-drove it around the block. New Zealand requires a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) every 6 months for older vehicles so there's less of a chance that it could be a complete mess since it just had its WOF done. I haggled her down a little on the price which made me happy and we were off to the bank to get the cash and then the post office to change the registration. That's right - you just pop into the local post office, fill out 2 simple forms, send one off to the national vehicle licensing office, and the other is processed right there. Luckily I thought to bring my passport with me which they needed for ID. 

New Zealand doesn't require you to buy car insurance since it has a national insurance policy of sorts, but it is recommended that you buy third-party insurance which covers damage to the other person's car if you hit them or in uninsured driver scenarios. After driving the seller out aways back to the farm where she was staying/working(?) and driving to the cattery to check on our cat, we went to the AA office (just two A's here!) and purchased third-party insurance. It was only $137 since the car is pretty old and it's not covering replacement of it. We found out we can use our foreign driver's licenses for a year, so no need to buy a local license as of yet. We bought a membership as well (similar to AAA again) in case the car breaks down and we need some help. Nice to have in a pinch.

D did a good job of driving it all around for the first part of the day. Then I drove it out to an apartment viewing...and while turning right onto a side street from the main road accidentally went into the right lane!! There were a lot of pedestrians on the street corner and lots of traffic, so I was a bit under pressure, as well as a lone pedestrian in the median on the side street, and boy was he surprised to see me going the wrong way! D was raising his voice in exasperation and I hurriedly pulled back into the left lane shortly. Man, with no cars there, it felt so natural. Hopefully I will get the hang of it with practice - it definitely is strange having most of the car to the left of you while you're driving.

Ultimately, we decided to get a car for the reasons cited by other travelers online - New Zealand is really best explored with a car because otherwise you are stuck to buses and trains which restrict your travel to the places you want to go significantly. The Metro bus is limited to the main parts of the city and not super cheap - $2.50 per trip with a Metro card. While gas is around $8/gallon, now we can drive to some of the nearby natural attractions at our own pace and eventually go around the island when the summer comes. Let's hope this Subaru lives up to its brand and lasts.