First breakdown of a car that is. Today we had planned to go out to the very end of the Banks Peninsula and do a barbeque at a beach, but the green car didn’t cooperate. We got almost to the top of the last mountain on a one lane dirt road when steam started wisping out from under the hood. We stopped, hear a “poof” followed by more steam, and Jeremiah’s underhanded comment, “that’s not good.” We poured water into the radiator, waited a few minutes, and started her up again. She stalled soon after. Not good at all. We made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, gave the car more water to drink, and called the mechanic in Akaroa.  “Why Daddy sad?” Milo kept asking.  “Because the green car is broken, honey,” we kept answering him.  Amazingly, we had cell reception, and even more surprisingly, there was someone at the garage on Saturday on a holiday weekend.  After a good rest the car did restart and make it back down the hill to Akaroa town, a much better scenario than I had envisioned, carrying two children and some water back down the hill in the baking sun. 

Milo had been all geared up to go to the beach, but thankfully there was a beach in Akaroa too. We broke out the sand toys and got grit in every orifice while we waited for the mechanic to assess the car.

Not only was there a beach in Akaroa, but there was also a nice little playground, and a willing Omi to play with. What more could a kid want?

Ice cream of course! That wasn’t even in the day’s plans, it was a break-down bonus.  Notice that he has bitten the tip off the cone–tactical error on his part.  I guess we haven’t given him enough ice cream cones for him to figure that out yet.

Jeremiah got bus tickets on the Akaroa shuttle back to Christchurch, so Milo’s trip ended in an exciting bus ride…even though he was zonked out for most of it.

Here’s the amazing thing: Our car broke down at the TOP of the hill, at a rare location where we could just about coast back down into town, when the weather was gorgeous, and where bus transport was available back to not only Christchurch, but right to Halswell where we live. Thank you Jesus! Milo had a great day, all a two year old could ask for, including the adventure of riding a bus back home and taking a bath in the sink.  Most of our destinations wouldn’t have worked out nearly so well. 

Rub a dub dub. We didn’t quite get the sand out of Milo’s and Naomi’s ears, but the rest of their bodies got cleaned up.  A happy day after all. The mechanic thinks the car engine is probably ok, no cracked heads as far as he can tell, but we had a hole in a radiator hose and in the radiator itself, so the green car has stayed on extended vacation in Akaroa until repairs can be made.