One of our caravan club couples, who wish to remain anonymous, have had more than their fair share of troubles lately. Part way into the journey for last week’s rally, they suffered a flat tyre, luckily before they started climbing up the steep Rimutaka Hill, with all those twists, turns and tight corners. Ok, the husband thought, no problem, I’ll put the spare tyre on. A security guard had kindly stopped to help our couple change the tyre. Out came the spare, but oh, oh, there was a bulge in it! They can’t go far on that. What to do now? The security guard offered to store the caravan overnight in a secure area for our intrepid couple, and they gladly accepted his offer. They would spend the night at home tucked up in their own bed, and return in the morning to purchase two new tyres for the caravan.
And so they did, but that didn’t go to plan either, with the first company not having the correct tyres in stock. Finally the tyres were sourced, and two new tyres were fitted to the caravan, with the repaired tyre relegated to the spare wheel. Happily our couple made their way safely over the hill, to join us all at the rally venue. Everyone was full of commiserations as they related their tale of woe.
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Tyre talk
But wait…..their troubles weren’t over yet. Unknown to us, when driving home from the previous rally weekend, the front window of the caravan blew out in the high winds! This took a while to repair, and the job was done just a few days before their attempted trip over the Rimutakas. But over the weekend the window pane seemed to be slipping down, and coming away from the rubber fittings. Everyone was most concerned – we could see a disaster happening when they drove home. A phone call to the insurance company told them to get in touch with the the glass company. And the glass company’s solution? They would call around and nail boards over the window, through the caravan walls. That offer was firmly rejected.
With a bit of Kiwi ingenuity, a temporary repair was made to get the caravan home. Our caravanner found some lengths of timber, and screwed them top and bottom on the interior of the window. The stone guard was threaded through the top rail, with bungy cords strapping it securely down. And inside, an extra length of timber was wedged tight to hold the temporary repair in place.
Temporary repairs
Off they went, to drive carefully home back over the hill. But as we were waving them goodbye, someone called out, “The door’s open! Stop, stop”. Of course they didn’t hear our calls. Dave jumped into his car in hot pursuit, and found them down town, after they had just lost a hubcap. Oh dear, what else is going wrong. With the hubcap collected, and the caravan door safely locked tight, off they went again. Luckily they made it home safely without any further mishap. And the window pane is due to be fixed again later in the week – with a better job being done this time, we hope.
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