November 12th - Day 4 - (In the voice of Bob Barker) "A NEWWW CARRRR"...not really

Woke up this morning to sad news that Ryan's Grandpa in Ontario passed away peacefully in his sleep earlier that morning.  We spoke with Ryan's family in Mexico for a bit, they were catching flights out pretty quick that day, back to Ontario.  So glad Ryan had the chance to spend some time with his Grandpa a few weeks ago while he was in the hospital. 

May Thomas Roach rest in peace.  :(

 

We will make a charitable donation in his name.

Later that day...
For the bargain price of $2700, we are the proud new owners of a 1992 Toyota Estima Van!!!
Exciting!!

 

This couple we met yesterday named Perry and his gf (can't recall her name) picked us up at the SkyTower in the CBD for a test drive.  I was kind of sketched out at first just hopping in the back seat of a stranger danger's van but it was a little less creepy with his gf there.  (Or maybe it was more creepy because at that moment I was remembering Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka (serial rapist/murderer husband and wife duo from Ontario) not far from my home town in Stoney Creek.) 

But I managed to put aside my fears.  :/   

We were a little nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road in a busy downtown area so Perry took us on the highway, determined to demonstrate how great the van runs at high speeds.  Seriously?!?!  You can imagine how tightly I was holding on to the "Holy Sh'crackers" handle while in the back bench seat that seemed more of a rocker seat than a fixed seat.  He then pulls off to the side of the Highway (which is illegal btw) to let Ryan test drive.  All worked out just fine, and we made the hand-shake deal after a 25 minute drive outside of town, in the parking lot of a repair shop. 
He asked for $2900, we offered $2500, we settled on $2700, which Ryan and I discussed earlier would be our goal.   :)

Ownership was transferred at the post office in a matter of minutes; then the money exchange took place just outside a bank machine right beside the post office, all in $20 dollar bills.  Lol  

License plates always stay with the car here too!  Easy peasy!!!

We drove back home, being cautious that we needed to stay on the left and parked our new love machine that we fittingly named "Jean Claude Damn Van" (JCDV for short) at our hotel.   

Went for a walk through Parnell village for lunch which was $10 each (BLT on ciabbatta w/fries & chicken camembert with raspberry preserves on ciabbatta) and an americano with cream.  (Check out the shovel spoon.)  Super cute!

 

Dropped off JCDV to get detailed and we'll pick it up tomorrow morning before checking out of our hotel.
Since we were downtown, we thought it a good idea to get JCDV insured (it's not mandatory in NZ) and found the AMI insurance place but they only insure permanent residents and therefore recommended we call NAC National Auto Club, where we got insurance over the phone in a matter of minutes, for a whole year, for only $235.00 What?!?!   So cheap!   

Walked around perusing stuff then met up with Alain for $10 steaks at our usual haunt The Bluestone Room.  After a few glasses of cab-sav I promptly left the two boys at the bar and walked up the street a few blocks away to The Civic Center where Wicked the musical was playing.  I found tickets online earlier that day and lucked out because there seemed to a glich on their website.  I couldn't quite understand the seating and so I called a ticket agent and I explained what I was seeing on the screen.  She mentioned that I shouldn't be seeing the Promo options for that price and that I should quickly make my purchase before they updated the site!  So, for $74.90 (regularly $95.00 & up), I scored 3rd Row Balcony Center!  Awesome!  Wicked was totally wickedly awesome!! I loved the show; the cast was phenomenal and I was highly entertained! Missing my girlfriends on this outing! :)
    

While waiting for the boys to pick me up, I had a hankering for these chips that I'd been eying for a couple days now and they didn't disappoint!  Lemon Morroccan Chicken flavor!   Tasted like tangy cumin chicken spice.   Yum!  (That last bit about the chips was for my homegirls Shirley, Gladys & Sabrina)