Maintenance and Whatnot

Taking a bit of a detour, we drove up the hills above Palmerston North to Tararua wind farm.  Located on a working farm, there are plenty of sheep and cattle roaming about between the towers.   Supposedly the largest single wind farm in the southern hemisphere, it boasts over 130 turbines between 660 and 3,000kw.








With a little time on our hands, we visited a local museum/gallery called Te Manawa at Palmerston North.  

Some hyper realistic (if a bit large) insect sculptures greeted us at the door.






Some interesting exhibits discussed human changes to the region, the environmental impacts.

NZ is home to several species of gecko.  Can you spot the Auckland Brown gecko?


These are the green and yellow varieties.   Like some geckos, they can change their skin color some to blend in.


At this point we were able to get our last package (finally) from the local courier's office.  What kind of courier doesn’t deliver to the post office?  So we headed northeast towards Tauranga.  Some friends had offered to let us park in their warehouse near there for a few days to work on the van.  About 10 minutes after leaving Palmerston North, we turned around because we had forgotten to get transmission oil!  After calling a few places, we finally found one that listed and stocked a oil that would supposedly work.  One shop told us that Sprinters never were sold as automatics!  It must be so, because the computer database is infallible!  Lol! 

First up were a set of front wheel bearings.  You would be surprised what I can do with a hammer and an oven. 










A trans service had also come due.  Over the course of a few days I managed to spill transmission oil at least 4 times.  I think I can still smell it even now… 




After a few days and test drives had passed, I got around to replacing some tie rods (one inner and one outer).  Hard to say what country the dirt hailed from…




With the van generally going in the direction I pointed the steering wheel, I pulled the fridge for some wiring fixes (removing connectors for solder joints instead). With the fridge out, I also dropped the gray water tank. The vent line had plugged up at some point, and 4 feet of head pressure from the sink had split one of the seams. A few feet of stainless wire stitched it up, some super glue and silicone sealant took care of the rest. 



A resident kingfisher.


Finally, I dug through my bolt, washer, and repair supplies, and scrounged up enough hardware to re-attach the front Fox-shock mounts.  Here’s hoping they stay attached!  This time I will be checking the bolts every few hundred miles until I am sure they will stay tight.