Money Laundering

Realtime

I've had a bad day. Not only has it rained solid all day but I've had to spend most of the day at the local laundromat.

Can you see $50 floating about in here?

No? Nor can I. But I did, and so did the French lady beside me who laughed and called her friend over. He saw it too. A purply-pink man's face with a big 50 beside it was waving at me on and off for a few minutes before disappearing in a big wave of soapy bubbles. A purply-pink man whose mate had just been rescued hanging from the ceiling of one of the dryers. Two problems with this picture though. You can't access the machine until it's finished and it wasn't my load!

He who shall remain nameless left two $50 bills in the back pocket of his trousers which I was washing. Not usual at all but somehow he'd overlooked transferring it to his wallet when I drew money out the other day.

I was lucky to get the first $50 back, I'd been back home to offload the washing that I'd dried and to wait for the next load to finish, returning 30 minutes later, when something made me look inside the drier (which was still empty). Not just inside but upwards (it was a knee level) and there hanging off the roof was a $50 note! I couldn't believe my eyes but that got me thinking- I wonder where the other note was. I called home for that other person to check the washing I'd brought home. No, no sign of the other note and murmurs of perhaps it was in his wallet or he'd spent it. I checked the wallet, he leaves it in the ute. No nothing in there.

By the time I walked back into the laundromat, the washing machine I'd used was washing a load for somebody else. That's when I saw the note floating about. Damn!

Nothing for it but to sit out the 35 minute wash and wait for the people to return to collect their washing. Which they did. And kindly checked their load as they transferred it into the drier. No sign of my $50 in the washing or anywhere in the washer. There were no gaps, no curves or drain holes it could have disappeared through either. Now what to do?

In the end I sat out another wash in case it made a return visit, which it didn't- the tourist also checked her washing for me at the end (and looked at me sideways as I tried to explain what was missing- crazy lady she must have thought).

Then the lady from the shop next door (they check the machines each day) came and unlocked the lint filter of the drier for me (in case it came free while the wash load was drying) but it wasn't in there either. I left her a card incase a miracle happened and also gave a card to the people whose load had been washed and dried after mine.

In the end I have no idea where it could have gone, I never left it's side once I spotted it through the door but I'm sure I've kissed it goodbye.

So, it was a bloody expensive laundry wash today (looking on the bright side- it would have been worse if I hadn't seen the other note).......and I need a large glass of wine!

Wash Day

Before heading to the DOC camp at Lake Kaniere, I was hoping to do some laundry in Hokitika. We hadn’t stayed in a commercial campground for while which is where I usually do the washing. Hokitika is just a small town and we found the one and only laundromat just off the main street.

There was a motorhome parked outside and a noisy bunch of girls inside with a ton of gear scattered about, music blaring & all three machines in use. We met the couple from the motorhome at the door, they were just leaving telling us they weren’t going to wait, they couldn't stand the noise.

We walked up town for a coffee & then I returned to the laundromat to see if a machine was free. The girls were still there and all the machines were still running along with the dryers. I asked one of them how long they thought they might be, and whether they needed to hog all three machines!

I didn’t quite catch what she said but another girl piped up and said loudly in a broad Irish accent ‘We’ll be here for the afternoon, we’re washing all our gear. We’ve got bed bugs!”

I said ‘Oh that’s great, you know the machines are cold water wash and that won’t kill them?’

She said, ‘That’s OK, we’ll kill them in the drier, it’s really hot in there’

To which I responded ‘I’m not bloody worried about your gear, what about everyone else who uses the machines?’

Needless to say I decided not to use the laundromat (and I’ll be seriously thinking about not using any public laundromat again after that). I’d rather hand wash our clothes which is what I did once we were set up at Lake Kaniere.

But of course, first you need a good water supply- I don’t like using our precious tank water on doing the laundry if water is in short supply. The initial wash isn’t so bad, it’s the rinsing afterwards that uses too much.

With the water supply sorted, it’s out with the most useful gadget in a RVers arsenal; the obligatory Warehouse flexi-tub. Add the eco friendly laundry liquid and the best tool of all, the plunger and I’m ready to roll. I use hot water from the van- the first hot water wash our clothes have seen in quite some time. The plunger works a treat and actually doesn’t take too much effort to use either. The only problem is the occasional splash back you have to endure when the sucker turns inside out as you agitate the clothes.

Then it’s time for the rinsing, we drive down to the tap and while I fill and rinse the washing a few times David fills the portable water containers to top up the tanks.

Then it’s back to the van to hand-wring the washing (me thinks I need a mangle…but where to attach it?) and then hang it on the drying rack attached to the side of the van. And hope like hell the sun keeps shining. Which it doesn’t. The rain set in that night and it took four days for the clothes to dry. At least we didn’t need to top up the tanks from the tap again. It's all swings & roundabouts in this game.

And all the time I was busy doing the washing I had an audience of locals watching from sidelines- I think they thought I might be stirring up a big pudding for them in the tub.

I love this lifestyle but sometimes, just sometimes, I really miss my Fisher & Paykel.

A sneaky weka making sure he's not missing out.