In Australia and New Zealand, April 25th is observed as ANZAC Day, a day of remembrance for fallen heroes of World War I. This ANZAC Day, a new hero fell. At approximately 9am this morning, our beloved Cavalier joined the many other brave used cars in car heaven. She fought a good fight, but in the end, the hill on Route 47 between National Park and Turangi, proved to be too much for her already steaming hot engine. As she sputtered out, we could only hope that she would be revived, so we waited while her engine cooled, sick with worry. We immediately gave her some oil, as she looked quite parched, and then the waiting began. The only way to soothe our distressed souls was through the distraction of some Mad Libs and Travel Scrabble. After hours of heart-wrenching game playing, we tried and tried again to get her to start, but just as she sounded like she’d kick in, there was nothing. It killed us to do it, but we finally called a service station in the nearest town, only 15km away, to ask for a tow. This was no easy task, though. As it was a national holiday, most places were closed, but we were lucky enough to find one kind soul willing to help us out in our time of need. When our tow truck driver arrived, he delivered the bad news. The Cavalier’s engine was cooked. She had suffered from dehydration and heat stroke resulting in fatal engine failure.
We didn’t have much time to mourn, as we found out that our “tow truck” was in fact a pick up truck with a tow bar on the back. The driver hooked us up to the tow bar with what appeared to be a fire hose and told us that he’d pull us to the top of the hill and then let us go. When we reached the crest of the hill, he hopped out, untied the “hose”, gave us a push, and exclaimed, “Meet you at the bottom!” And just like that, the Cavalier took her final journey down the 3km of road. It was a farewell ride of sorts, enjoying those final moments with our month long friend, the Cavalier. When we made it to town, the driver was kind enough to offer to take care of the “funeral arrangements” for our automotive friend. She will be “cremated” and stuffed into a box.
Please take a moment to respectfully enjoy a fitting tribute to the car that served us well.
5 comments:
my condolences
if it's any consolation, she had a good run. 12 in Australian car years has got to be, like, 80, right?
mark, you know that we're in New Zealand, right? thanks, anyway though
what? oh- yeah, of course I know you're in New Zealand. I meant Australian cars as in from the continent of Australia- you know, like people talk about European cars. But I can see how you'd make that mistake.
Just want to say thanks to Jen and Chris and Sue for letting me tag along, it has been an awesome three weeks. Returning to the real world seems so boring, but at least I have all these great memories to take back with me.
And AC, yes I feel naked without my notebook. But sometimes it feels good to walk around naked for a while.
You guys are killing me. I haven't laughed this hard since Tom Cruise jumped on Oprah's couch.
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