A Concerning Hiccup

Driving down the highway I notice the air conditioning isn't very cold. I look over at the engine temperature gauge, the needle pushing past the highest marking. Crap. Pulling over as fast as possible, Basak and I found ourselves in Mangamuka. Really just a few shops along the highway, but with enough space to pull over and diagnose. I pop the hood, immediately noticing coolant overflow at the reservoir. Clog? I thought maybe that or a thermostat stuck shut. The radiator was quite new and both fans worked, no weird sounds from the water pump. It dawned on me that the coolant over pressurization could be caused by a blown head gasket. If that was the case, the car was scrap. Either way, I couldn’t do anything about it. I am very happy to have purchased an AA membership. That $78 was about to pay for a $300 tow.

And so we were towed into Kaikohe on a Saturday afternoon. A farming town on the decline, but they had affordable backpacker accommodation. Without anyone else saying there it was actually an incredible deal, we basically had a small house to ourselves for $30 each per night. Facilities for a dozen guests, all to ourselves. Without other options we spent Saturday evening and all of Sunday just lounging, waiting for a mechanic to open on Monday morning.

The full extent of Kaikohe

When Monday did arrive, I was at the mechanic before they opened. Sympathizing with my situation they agreed to take a quick look. It's quite something to have the next three months of your life hang in a moment. Job interviews, university grades, and relationship arguments can have a similar feeling. But it's been a long time since I felt so unable to influence the outcome. It wasn't the end of the world, I had backup plans. That didn’t stop it from being a very tense 45 minutes.

It actually stumped the mechanic for a little while. After some inconclusive initial tests we noticed excessive bubbling in the reservoir. That seemed to tip him off, and he grabbed a new radiator cap. Simply as that the problem was solved. A few days later I got the coolant replaced just to be safe, and there haven’t been any problems since. It wasn't a particularly fun detour, but I think I’ll remember it well. The time a $25 piece of metal and rubber tricked me into thinking my road trip was over.