All I can say is: DOH!!

On Sunday, while driving to Rotorua, Sarah and I were talking about our whole trip up to this point and how remarkable it was that in three months of traveling, we haven't had anything go really wrong. Neither one of us has been seriously sick, we haven't had any injuries, no missed planes (although we came THIS close that once...), no lost luggage, nothing has been stolen from either one of us... we were talking about our great fortune in all of these regards. There is apparently a reason that people say you should never say such things out loud.

Monday started off well enough. We'd gotten up in the morning and even (gasp!) made a plan which included spending the day doing cool stuff in Rotorua with Chris before heading back up north to the coast. We checked out of our room, stored our stuff and headed off for our day.

As Rotorua is known for its biothermal activity, sulfuric hot springs and boiling mud baths, we went to its most active geothermal reserve, which also just so happens to hold lots of Maori (the native people) history. This one is unique among reserves in the area in that the heat source is just 1 - 1.25 miles below the surface of the earth whereas others are usually around 6+ miles below. We thought it was odd that it was named Hell's Gate, until we saw it. Picture lake after lake and pool after pool of steaming, oozing, spewing, sulfur-stinking, hissing, bubbling, gurgling, boiling cauldrons of water. That about sums it up. Really makes the idea of going to the adjoining spa with sulfur water and mud treatments sound appealing, doesn't it? Oh, and while the hottest of the pools reaches temps of nearly 325 degrees Fahrenheit, of course I couldn't resist putting my finger in one of the less hot ones. I still have skin on that finger, so that's good.

The day was going well. And then we left Hell's Gate to go look for some nearby waterfalls, which we couldn't find. So we turned around and were heading back down a hill towards town when... our car got rear-ended by a big delivery truck! I was sitting in the back seat on the side where we were hit so it was close, but no one was actually hurt. It was more shocking than anything as none of us saw it coming. One minute you're sitting there, talking and laughing, and the next you hear the sound of crunching metal right next to your head. I wasn't hurt at all but I screamed mostly because I was just so completely startled by it. We were in the process of making a left turn and the truck was speeding and just couldn't slow down in time so ended up taking off the back corner of our car. Fortunately, we were still in motion when he hit us or the impact would have been much worse.

We realized there were also a couple other very fortunate aspects of it all: one was that we had listed Sarah as a second driver. We hadn't done that with the car back in Spain and she ended up driving some; if something had happened back there and she hadn't been on the paperwork, our gooses would have been cooked. The second was that we had taken the additional insurance. In all my years and in all of the cars that I have rented in all of the countries, I have never, EVER taken any additional insurance other than what comes standard with the rental. When we were picking up the car in Auckland, the guy started his obligatory pitch about the extra insurance and I rolled my eyes, prepared to turn it down as always... but then he mentioned that it is not legally mandatory for drivers in NZ to have insurance, and that changed something in my mind. While he was doing the paperwork, Sarah and I actually stood there for about 10 minutes waffling back and forth about if we should or shouldn't bother spending the money on the extra insurance. For whatever reason, despite the fact that I have never done it before, we decided it was probably a good idea. We had no idea at the time just how fortuitous of a decision that was.

Our good fortune with the situation ended there. Suffice it to say that the rest of our day was shot between police reports and phone calls to the rental agency and dealing with insurance issues. It turns out that the extra insurance gets you a replacement car, but does not get you the delivery of said car, the huge bill of which they were trying to stick us with. More phone calls, more annoyance, more lost time. Let's just say that me and Allen at A2B Rental Agency are no longer pals. In the end, the most annoying part wasn't even the money we now have to pay even though the accident wasn't our fault and even though we had the insurance, it was the lost time. I have waited so long to come to New Zealand and we have so precious little time here that the idea of wasting an entire day of it dealing with paperwork and waiting for a replacement car was insanely, infuriatingly frustrating.

.

But, in the end, I had to keep reminding myself that noone was hurt and that it could have been a much, much worse situation. And, although we couldn't go up to the beach where we were supposed to be, we were still in New Zealand and could still make the most of it. So we went to the Pig and Whistle, an awesome pub in town one of the cops recommended to us. We had some beer and we had some serious pub/comfort food (my first good, REAL beef burger in over 3 months, yay!). We cheered being alive. A little poorer, yes, but, mostly, alive.

And then we decided to treat ourselves after such a day and went to a nearby spa to soak our bones in some awesome hot springs overlooking the sea. So not all bad.

Today was, sadly, another loss. We had to wait around all morning for the replacement car, then fill out paperwork, then drive over 4 hours to get to our destination. We finally made it here early this evening, a whole day later than planned. BUT our place is right on the water and we have a room overlooking the sea. Right now I am sitting outside typing this while listening to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore. I'm in New Zealand listening to the sea and I'm alive and well. I have NO complaints.