It's getting to the stage in the rally when our elderly cars are starting to get a few niggles. Brakes need adjusting, oil needs changing, sumps are repaired (on a certain Mercedes anyway) nuts and bolts need tightening after some rough roads and some general fettling is required. I am, however, pleased to tell you that car 10 is running like a dream - so far well, that's not intirely true, we have had a little tragedy. The minute hand has fallen off the beautiful, fully functioning clock on the dash. It must be inside the dash somewhere and so, hopefully, it can be repaired. Also, the driver's door needed a one minute adjustment form Charle. Actually, that's not strictly true. What Charlie actually had to do was instruct me on the exact amount of strength to use when shutting it in order to make it close properly. Apart from those two 'problems' not a thing has needed doing - she said, fingers crossed.
Our dear friends Gerd and Birgit had a slip on the gravel and ended up in small ditch and needed a pull out. Their gorgeous BMW will need a little cosmetic surgery when it gets home to Germany. But there was no mechanical damage, thank goodness.
Nelson is a reasonably large town on the north coast of South Island and is a centre of quite an art scene. The town itself is averagely ramshackle although ther are a few lovely early settler buildings near our hotel.
We had what should have been a gorgeous 250kms drive over a mountain yesterday, but the rain was fairly relentless. It was a fun, but challenging, twisty drive up and down Tekaka, and the odd glimpses that we had through the mist and rain allowed us to see how spectacular it would be on a clear day.
I have just one request New Zealand: please, please stop raining.
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