The Junior Wilhoits took an adventure out onto the streets of Wellington last weekend. Adam did the legwork in seeking out an affordable car rental company - and we were happy to embark out into the world on our own four wheels. We picked up our "new" people mover bright and early Saturday morning - only to be thrilled to discover that our rental was practically a member of our family already.
Pause here for an interlude about our unusual love affair with a certain brand of automobiles. The Wilhoit/Andrus clan has a tall family tree with the RAV4 line. The legacy began when Callie's dad, Kay, first acquired a 1996 4 door RAV4. Callie was then gifted a 2 door RAV4 named Beijos from her Grandpa Wells for her 21st birthday, which made a trip all the way from Florida to Washington State. Meanwhile, Adam replaced his VW with a new 4 door Rav4 before moving to PLU. In the next 4 years, Adam's dad Steve would purchase a beautiful new 4 door RAV4 and Callie's dad replaced his old Rav with 200,000+ miles on it with a newer one. How's that for brand loyalty! Needless to say, we were all smiles to see a cute, well-worn, little 2 door RAV waiting for us in the parking lot. The smiles might have been cheers if it had been a 4 door...but we were just hugely relieved that it was an automatic and wouldn't be learning to shift with our left hands just yet.
A brief brag on my amazing hubby. While I was on pins and needles the entire day as we weaved in and out of traffic - Adam was AMAZINGLY natural at staying on the correct side of the road. He easily manuevered his way around a bazillion round-a-bouts and even stopped turning on the windshield wipers instead of the turn signals by the afternoon.
We started our drive with a jaunt around the coastline discovering new beaches that have since been put on our list for places to visit in the future. We pulled off along the beach just in time to see the Saturday morning fishermen pull into dock and sell their fresh catches. Apparently you get the best service if you come by boat to get your fish :)
The highway to the interior of the country was quite easy to access. Adam figured out early on that you sit in the left lane if you're a little slower so that people can pass you on the right - it felt weird - but it worked. We headed North towards the suburbs of the Hutt River Valley. It was a gorgeous day, so it felt wonderful just to wind our way somewhat aimlessly around the different neighborhoods people watching and house spotting.
We stopped for a while at a big mall in Lower Hutt (Westfield owned, by the way) looking for interesting bargains on furniture. We just "happened" to walk up to the movie level, and a movie Adam has been wanting to see for a while just "happened" to be starting in 5 minutes...so we took a breather away from our road rage and saw The Sorcerer's Apprentice. We actually lucked out doubly because not only were we able to use our Entertainment Book coupon - but the movie was being shown in the "Deluxe Theater". Quite posh appointments for a kiddie flick, but we certainly enjoyed the luxury of the lounge, big recliners and wide armrests.
Having enjoyed our movie break and completed our couch assignment, we headed back towards Wellington to actually purchase the winning sofa. About a week after moving into our apartment Adam and I made a deal that the first thing we would do with our first NZ paycheck would be to purchase a cheap 2-seater bench so that we wouldn't need to race to our one and only armchair lounger that came with the apartment. We actually one-upped ourselves and went ahead with a decent sofa/bed combo that will double beautiful as our second bedroom when visitors come to stay the night...hint hint! Added bonus: no hyperventilating on a blow-up mattress each morning!
When I write it that way - it sounds like it was so simple. Step 1: Rent a car Step 2: Buy the couch Step 3: Bring the couch home in the car. EXCEPT. Except we had received that very adoreable, yet very SMALL car. Except the couch we found for a good price was larger than a 2 seater. Except the couch only fit on TOP of the Rav...which didn't have roof rack bars. So it was with only a bit of twine, many knots, and many more prayers that we slowly wound our way home with the couch. Adam expertly managed to avoid all tunnels or fast roads and we kept our cool as we observed the furniture piece slowly lilting towards the passenger side. Note to the Junior Wilhoits: practice many more tying and lashing exercises since we sold the truck and can't use our tie-downs anymore!
Miraculously, we made it to the apartment safely, somehow managed to haul the couch up from the James Cook Hotel parking garage, fit it into the elevator, and squeezed it through our front door. No sooner had we dropped the couch box and scarfed a PB&J, than were we heading back out to go hard core grocery shopping. What a luxury it was to be able to purchase more than we could hand carry back to the apartment!
Towards the end of the evening we made the final decision to actually leave the RAV back at its rental agency home instead of trying to park it overnight near to us. We knew we'd need to have it returned before we left for church, so it seemed the most economical approach. Dinner was Heaven...no, really - we ate at a pizza place that opened less than a month ago named Heaven.
I believe it is directly in competition with another pizza chain down the road named:
Seeing as it was General Conference weekend, it felt only right to give our business to the former rather than the latter...plus, we got to use another coupon!
Safely home and exhausted in our PJs, we did our best to re-interior decorate our furniture to incorporate our newest arrival. It's amazing what can be accomplished with some imagination and a bit of Teacher's Tack. It was with great pleasure that we finished our "homework" for the evening...completing another disc of West Wing from the library. And yes, we cuddled the whole time on our new couch.
So glad that your four wheeling adventures were fun and life-sustaining. I guess you've become expert lashers. :) Great move with the sofa/bed combo. We're looking for something similar to enhance our downstairs living space here in Saint George... So once you're back in the land up over, hopefully you won't have to hyperventilate either. Hint hint wink. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post ... I have fond memories of the old, smaller RAV4 style. It also looks like yours came equipped with a heavier duty front bumper ... In Australia it is common to see "Kangaroo (Roo) Bars" on the front of cars ... Do you have kangaroo's in New Zealand? They are curious animals, but every bit the roadway nuisance deer are here in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I read your blog, I get more and more tempted at the thought of flying over for a visit (and now the sofa-bed's making it an even more irresistible possibility). :) Thanks for always sharing pictures! I can completely sympathize with trying to get way too much accomplished when you have a car at your disposal.
ReplyDelete