| A lucky coincidence |

After some awesome days with my travel mates on the biggest sand island of the world – Fraser Island – I heard a weird sound at the right front wheel of my green Mitsubishi Pajero and due to the fact that I still have more than 20.000 km to go until my final destination Perth, I just wanted to be sure nothing bad happened while driving so much off-road.

So the next morning I brought my car, called Mr. Kiwi, to the mechanic at Rainbow beach for a general service. In the afternoon they told me that my harmonic balancer is bouncing and that they have to replace it for about 300$. The other sound at the wheel that I was concerned about is just a peace of plastic, which rubs against the wheel while turning, which wasn’t a big deal. However, I didn’t expected that something more serious would appear after only three weeks owning this car but anyway I was ready to pay for it. After a while the boss Garry called me again and said that the issue is a bit more difficult and it would cost me a whole 500 bucks more – 800$ in total now. So I thought – what the hell! Why now – already after this short time owning this car and why so expensive? It’s just not fair! I was really frustrated and angry and didn’t know what to do but anyway I had to wait and repair it if I wanted to go on with my planned tour – so I didn’t really had a choice. Since my car was at the mechanics, my travel mate Maike and me slept together with Franzi and Max in a campervan – yes 4 people in a normal little campervan. We hadn’t even space to really turn around at night so you can imagine how our nights were 😀 but at least we saved some money!

After a fun night with alcohol, playing pool, being kids again on a playground, swim in the ocean and great talks, our little group of eight people was splitting because I had to wait for my car and the other’s time was running. So Steffen, Max, Fabienne and Jason went on and Maike and Franzi were waiting for my car to be finished. Franzi’s time was actually limited as well but she didn’t want to leave me behind so she wanted to wait as well

After a hangover and chilled morning, I went alone to my car, which was still at the mechanics place, to pick up some fresh clothes. And there it happened – my first lucky coincidence – a dog! On my way a dog was running out of his property and followed me the whole way to my car, which was about one kilometer. Then I passed a group of older men, which were working on a car while drinking beer – the fluffy black and white marked dog still following. One of the men jelled at the dog to come back but the cute dog didn’t listened. So the older man finally came in my direction to get the dog back but he was still running around my car with his waggly tail up in the air and even jumped inside when I opened to door. But so I started to have a conversation with the guy who came after the dog. His name was Wayne – one of the well-known ‘Dodgy Brothers’ in town – who worked on Fraser Island with his trucks as well as for friends to help other people in town to fix their cars. And who’s now also a bit concerned about Wayne’s nickname ‘Dodgy’ – like me in the beginning – you’ll see soon that it’s not meant to be in a bad way – not at all! Wayne was 62 years old and wore a blue top, which was dotted with oil spots and little holes, blue shorts and flip flops, on his head he wore a cap and sunglasses and dirty hands from work. So after a little talk, he also looked at my car and said that’s a difficult situation but if Garry couldn’t fix it than he could try it because he has over 45 years experience and has fixed the same issue before on another car. And there it was – a little spark of hope! Eventually it was such a coincidence that I’ve met him due to a little cute dog, who probably felt that I need some help However, now I have a plan B if the other mechanic can’t handle it. Wayne also made some hints to the other mechanic Garry and his work in a negative way. But I wanted to wait and see what they finally say until I jump to conclusions.

After another two days of waiting and no good news, Garry finally called me on the third day and told me that there is no chance to repair it – the only thing I could do is a new motor, which would be almost the same price as I bought the car – so impossible for me to pay! He also explained what’s the problem: There was a broken bolt, which stuck in the crankshaft and they couldn’t remove it without destroying the crankshaft itself. This bolt was the connection to the harmonic balancer, which was bouncing in the beginning.

However, even my dad, who is a mechanic, told me that it’s a really hard issue but unfortunately he couldn’t give me a final advice from the distance. So my mood got worse and I was so upset! Chances are getting lower, time is running due to my travel mates and money is going to dwindle. And I finally started to cry as well because it seemed that there is no way to recover my poor Mr. Kiwi.

After some minutes of pure despair and hopelessness I pulled myself together and went to Wayne to talk to him and discuss other possible options. He confidently and convincingly said that I should bring my car and he will try to fix it. He can’t promise me that it will work but he will try whatever it takes and do his best he can. So I went to Garry to talk with him and find a way to bring my car next door to Wayne. But the problem was, that Garry wanted 980$ for actually doing nothing. I was seriously freaking out! 980$ for nothing? He couldn’t be serious, could he? And he didn’t wanted to give my car back without paying and I discussed with him for a while and decided to talk with Wayne what I should do about that. Wayne was getting angry with this guy and came over to ask him some questions about his work, which he partly couldn’t answer and told him the facts and that I am not paying him yet until he had a look at my car. So Garry was kind of intimidated but finally let us leave while screaming after us that he still wants the money from me. But at least I got my car and we could try to work on it. This whole situation was pure stress for me and really nerve-wracking.

Later that afternoon, Wayne spent some time after his normal work to look over my car. He took everything out to see what’s going on and he finally got angry because Garry hasn’t done the work that he was saying he did. We took pictures to proof it as well so we had something in our hand against Garry because he still wanted money for work he actually hasn’t done, which we could see at the non-touched screws and nuts. After the first work is done, the guys at Wayne’s place invited me for a beer and we had a nice chat. Wayne also invited me to join him on his work the next morning on Fraser Island in one of his trucks and I happily accepted his invitation.

When I came back to the hostel, Franzi and Maike – my last two travel mates – decided to leave the next day because it took too much time and Franzi had to be in Cairns soon and wanted to see some other nice spots as well – of course. So I had to find another place to sleep when the van left. On the way to the reception I met Emma – the boss of Peterpans (a travel agency) – who knew what’s going on with my car and she offered me a voucher for one free night at the hostel out of pity. This was so amazing and I was so thankful for that It’s really true that many people try to help in complicated situations – so you’ll never be alone and there is always hope and a way out.

In the next morning, Wayne picked me up at 8am at the hostel to go to Fraser Island in his big truck. It was the first time sitting in a big truck like that. It was an old, white and blue colored truck with a red barrel on the back, with a broken windscreen only saved by a screwdriver. Due to the headwind the windscreen broke a bit more and little splinters of glass were flying around – so luckily I was wearing sunglasses 😀 We took the little ferry to the island and cruised around at the beach with more than the allowed speed of 100 heading to a camping ground to do some work. The ride was actually quite rough and bumpy but it was fun and a totally different experience than with my own car before – I was really happy about this opportunity 😀 I actually saw more as well because I wasn’t driving myself, so I could enjoy everything and don’t worry about driving. And on our way back I’ve finally seen a Dingo playing in the water and running around at the beach – sooo cute and I was so happy – just incredible! So amazing to see them in wildlife and for Wayne it was also the first time that he has seen a swimming one in the water – so even more special for both of us. This trip was totally worth it and a good distraction from my car problem. Wayne was really happy and glad to have some company too during work because it can get pretty boring.

In the afternoon they worked on my car again and finally got the bolt out after only 30 minutes of work. I couldn’t believe it and finally realized that the other guy Garry really tried to rip me off. I just realized that I was so lucky to meet Wayne and his crew just because of the dog Mitch. It seemed that the dog knew that something bad was going on and helped To celebrate the success, we all met at the pub this night and had some beers together – these are truly some nice and helpful fellows – I enjoyed the evening a lot!

The next day I organized some stuff to hopefully leave this place soon and catch up with my travel mates. I bought some Scotch and beers for Wayne and his friends who helped me with the car. And I bought some meat for Mitch – the dog that saved my life – to say thank you. The dog deserved something good so I went there gave him the fresh meat and cuddled him so much and thanked his owner as well for having the best dog in the world After that I went to Wayne’s workshop and he worked on my car again – he checked and changed the timing belt as well and started to put everything together but unfortunately couldn’t finish it today so I have to pick it up the next day.

In the next morning I visited Emma at the Peterpans travel agency to finally book the same sailing and snorkeling trips than Maike and Franzi to finally meet them again

In the afternoon this day I went again to the mechanic and unfortunately Wayne wasn’t feeling so good and he couldn’t work on my car but the others mounted the parts. Aaaaaand finally I tried to start my car and it ran well! I couldn’t believe it! It treally worked! Right after this success I went highly motivated and confident to Garry with the new ordered harmonic balancer, which he destroyed during his work and put it angry on the table and said that my car is running fine again! I wished I would have taken a picture of his surprised face, which turned into an angry one a second later. He still yelled at me that I owe him money but I discussed so long until he throw me out without paying. So yah, it finally worked.

However I couldn’t start the trip this day because it was already getting dark and I also wanted to see Wayne again to thank him and pay as well. So I went back to the hostel and met Luke, who also worked at Peterpans and he invited me to stay at their place over night instead of sleeping again in the hostel. So I went with some others to Emma’s and Luke’s lovely place where we had an amazing dinner cooked by an Italian guy. And I’ve met Maurice, another German guy, and we had a really great conversation about so many various things – very inspiring, constructive and motivating. It was the perfect happy end of the actually horrible start in Rainbow beach. In the morning I met Wayne again to say goodbye and thank him for everything he has done for me! I was really a bit sad to leave because I’ve really taken them to my heart over these days.

So in the end I stayed 10 days at Rainbow beach to get my car fixed but I finally don’t regret it because I’ve met some amazing and inspiring people that I will never forget in my life! And I learned again that you should never easily give up and stay focused on the issue – even if the situation appears to have no prospect of any success, there will be a solution for sure – sometimes it takes longer and it might not be the solution you were expecting but there is always a way