Thanked for kind deed

because, well, he was not young,’’ Evelyne Goll said at the time.

The 87-year-old said he was not fazed by climbing under the car, having inherited his parents’ good fitness. But he could not figure out the problem straight away, and wished them luck and carried on his way.

‘‘I was down the road when I thought, ‘by golly it’s going to be awkward, and it will cost them a fortune’. I don’t know what it was, but I decided to go back,’’ Swafford said.

‘‘I’ve done quite a bit of machining over the years, I’ve been more or less self-taught and learnt from a few good mistakes.’’

With tools borrowed from passing caravanners, Swafford had them back on the road.

Auto Electric in Blenheim delivered the bad news: the van was not worth fixing. They bought it secondhand for $6000 last year.

But the team found the couple a place to sleep, Evelyne Goll said this week from Christchurch.

They spent three days wandering Blenheim, enjoying the ‘‘wonderfully relaxing’’ pools at the Marlborough Lines Stadium 2000, and the ‘‘magic views’’ from the Taylor View Track.

Auto Electric then found them a ‘‘really old, cheap car’’ so they could continue on their journey.

‘‘We did do the journey we planned in the first place and went all the way to Mt Cook, Queenstown, Milford Sound and back via West Coast to Christchurch,’’ Goll said.

‘‘We had mostly positive experiences in New Zealand, but regarding cars we were a bit unlucky if not a bit been taken advantage of with the car in the first place.’’

She was glad their good samaritan had been recognised and properly thanked, she said. ‘‘A truly ‘top bloke’, or to say, a really goodhearted soul.’’