…..But wait, it gets worse, the second disaster of the day is just down the road…Rosie and The Operator steam out of Hahei en route to Waihi. We stop in the small town of Tairua to refuel, The Operator does the honours whilst Rosie sits in the cab checking out the guide book.
The Operator suddenly opens the cab door, he has gone deathly pale and looks decidedly clammy…no, please don’t have a heart attack Operator, who would drive home?! The Operator starts gasping, Rosie is concerned, hand inching towards her phone ready to dial for emergency services…..The Operator splutters, ‘I….have…just…put…petrol…in …the….diesel….tank….!’
‘Oh for gods sake, is that all’, Rosie says, ‘I thought you were about to have a stroke!’
The Operator is still shaking his head in disbelief, Rosie thinks ‘it cant be that bad’ and suggests we just top the rest of the tank up with diesel to dilute the petrol and ‘she’ll be right!’ The Operator shakes his head, he is still finding it hard to talk and cannot stomach the thought of explaining the finer points of the modern diesel engine with Rosie at this stage. He goes into the petrol station and explains his dilemma to the attendant. His response is laughter….not really appreciated by The Operator….’happens at least once a week bro! There is a garage behind the station, they will help you out’.
To cut a long boring wait and story short. The camper sat on the forecourt of the gas station for 2 hours….The Operator stood in self imposed penance and waited for the garage man to finish a couple of jobs so he could then assist in the draining of the diesel tank. Rosie camped out at a convenient coffee shop across the road and waited and watched over three flat whites. As soon as the draining started Rosie watched and witnessed The Operators total humiliation as car after car came to fill up and everybody commented and laughed and ribbed the folly of The Operator.
As he refilled the tank with the appropriate fuel, Rosie gave the Operator a wee peck on the check and said, ‘Never mind, it could have been worse…’ All the while selfishly inwardly thinking, ‘thank God I never did it, I would never have heard the end of it’.
Rosie and The Operator have an unspoken understanding, of never speaking of this incident again.
did you have to pay for diesel too?