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Australia - 2005-06-17 - Darwin - Frogshallow Backpackers - A Real Bed (Sayoko)
A lot of events transpired on this day. After sleeping at the campground
in the truck we got up & started getting the truck ready for sale. However,
first I called the man who wanted to meet about the truck & he said he
wanted to meet at 10am. He told us where he wanted to meet which did not
give us much time because we had to drive a little ways to where this
was. We were able to do a little cleaning on the inside. Either way we
found it ok & even got there a little early. It was by a parts store which
was good because there were a lot of things we needed to get to fix up
the truck for sale. We would not have time to do this before showing him,
which was bad. Our plan was to buy a new battery, give the truck a full
washing & cleaning inside, buy engine degreaser & wash the engine. The
other things would be up to the new owner, it was just how much they would
pay to have to fix them. I was not going to lie to anyone about the issues,
it is not worth it. Integrity is something you need to have in this world.
The guy who met us was a super nice guy, we got really lucky. He had seen
the flier that we posted at the Coles in the suburbs just before we went
to Kakadu. It was just luck that we stopped there & almost didn't even
thing about putting up a flier there, again that luck word comes to mind.
He was a local resident, not a backpacker, and was interested in using
this as a truck to go camping only with his family. He was able to do
all his own mechanic work & did not mind all the problems. He actually
likes working on vehicles & wanted something older that he could tinker
with. The truck started up right away (had that morning too for some reason).
Everything ran nice. I explaining to him about the oil seal leak, transmission
fluid cover, starting issue, needing a new battery, oil covered motor
& everything else. He asked what we the least we would take, so I went
for it I said $3700. I told him that price included us cleaning it all
up outside & engine, using the degreaser we had just bought, but if he
wanted it would be $100 less if he did the cleaning. Without really hesitating
he said sold & he would clean things up himself, unless his wife had an
issue with it. He did not even drive it! He could even get the cash that
day! You know when you start to wonder if you are dreaming or things could
possibly be that good? Yeah that was me right then, I thought back to
a day before & all the issues, thought about only having really 2 days
to sell the truck, backpackers trying to get cash around. I mean if it
was not luck I do not know what it. The one thing I did know was that
even with all the problems, the truck was still worth at least $4000 to
$4500, he was getting a good deal. When Adrian & I bought it we had gotten
a great deal. We knew it, but to confirm I watched all the way on the
rest of the trip & never saw a vehicle that would have been better for
under $4000. Either way he wanted us to drive to meet him later that day
at 5pm, we had to get everything out of the truck by then that was ours.
Right away we went to find a backpacker place to stay, which was difficult.
We needed 2 nights in one hostel, but in the main park of the city could
only get one night in 2 different places. We finally went to Frogshallow
which was a little out of the way, but nice & we could get 2 nights (although
we would have to switch rooms). Either way cleaned out everything from
the truck. It took a while but we got all of the stuff we wanted to keep
& threw away things they would not need. Plus we did clean the inside
out some because we were just so happy to have the vehicle sold. It would
make the time in Darwin so much nicer. We got all of this done & then
went back to meet the buyers. The guy did look things over again & messed
around a little with the engine. The funny thing is the power steering
belt came off on the way to see them, so I showed him how to put it back
on (he probably all ready knew this). They were a little late which worried
me a little, but he seemed so honest, I could not have imagined him backing
out. I can read people wrong sometimes, but this guy was an easy read.
Either way we drove the vehicle back into town where they were to drop
us off. It was a last check for him, him & his wife loved the way it drove.
They were a really nice couple, we had a nice talk on the way into town.
When we got there we signed all the documents & got a big envelope of
green (Aussie $100) bills. I was so happy, as was Sayoko, like we both
said all night, we were so lucky :) Lost in all this is that this would
be our first night in a bed & our first room since Perth, what a big treat!
The night was a busy one trying to get thing sorted, I really had more
things that I had room. That night & the next day was spent doing city
things like e-mail, washing, doing things for my business & trying to
use all the groceries we had. Sayoko also helped by letting me use her
account to transfer the money from the truck to my American account, so
that I did not have to pay a huge fee. It took quite a bit of work, but
it saved hundreds of dollars! We wanted to have everything done before
we went to the luxurious Sky City room to spend our last night together.
All of these pictures are from Sayoko's camera.
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