My first car in NZ

In Malaysia, I could not afford to buy a Honda Accord because it was too expensive. The only other way to get to drive my dream car, was to make JG2 in Shell. The company car provided for all JG2's was a Honda Accord in the 90's. Both ways were out for me. I was at JG6 and will never get to JG2. So I would never get assigned a company car.

However, my first car in NZ in 1995 was a Honda Accord. I was finally able to drive one in Hamilton. I bought it from a used car yard for 7K to replace the rental car in 1996.

My second car

My second car in NZ was a Mercedes (280SE). I was at a car auction and scratched my ear. The man said "sold!" Actually, my dream has become bigger and I also needed the extra power to tow my 19-foot yacht (Kestrel) over the Kaimai to Tauranga harbour.

Then, for a while I own two dream cars. I used the Honda for 2 years and gave it to Kevin; but he refused to drive it. Finally, I gave it away for $500. Used cars are difficult to sell in NZ. Many back packers buy their cars at Auckland or Christchurch airports on arrival. They also arranged to sell them there on departure. The internet is great. All you need is an iphone to connect to the web and you are set to buy or sell anything; including sim cards or sleeping bags. Don't throw any thing away.

My third car in NZ

Volvo 760 GLE

My third car was a Volvo (760GLE). The Merc was just too old and did not have the power required to tow the new 22-foot yacht, a Noelex 22 at 760 kg which weighs slightly more than the 19 foot Kestrel. This Volvo was very quiet. On long trips, I can hear only the wind brushing past the mirrors and some noise from the tyres. In NZ the roads are chip seals, very rough surface but great road holding properties.

towing Noelex 22

First tow, bringing home the Noelex from Papakura.

My 4th car

Desert road

After using the Volvo for about three years I traded it for a 4x4 because I needed more oomph for towing the boat over the hills to the Bay of Islands! This 1999 model, 2.8 litre automatic Mitsubishi Challenger has a turbo diesel engine. It is easy to drive and performs really well. In NZ a kiwi changes 4 possessions every 3 years. He changes his job, car, house and partner. I am almost a kiwi now!

Are you curious what vehicle I am going to buy next? 

Tauranga harbour

Quite often I sailed at Tauranga harbour. Although the water is not very deep at low tide, it does not bother me because I can raise my centre board (keel) by turning a manual wheel. This is a feature common to all trailer yachts, otherwise the keel would make the boat too unstable for towing, sitting too high on the trailer.

Mum's Sprinter

Christine bought this 4 year old Toyota Sprinter when she first arrived in NZ. She is still using it today. I do not think that she will ever adapt to the kiwi way of changing 4 things every 3 years.

Pearl's Cerres

Pearl and Eugene shared one car in Christchurch when they were attending Canterbury U. When she started work in Wellington she left the car there for Eugene. He is still using this Toyota Cerres today. Meanwhile he is building a car from scratch as a hobby in Auckland.

Kevin's Magma

Kevin has just bought a Mitsubishi Magma in Australia. He was riding a motor scooter and paying rent for a year at the Gold Coast. He has finally seen the light and bought a new car and stopped paying rent last month!

Eugene's Toyota Levin AE86

This is the car that Eugene is rebuilding from the rims up. If you are interested to know more about the sport of drifting, please click here 

This little car has a large engine! Eugene flew to Dunedin  and drove this car back to Auckland. He stopped by at Hamilton to show me this car.