Lawrence turned out to be an old country town about an hour-and-a-half drive west of Dunedin. And the Lemon Tree Café turned out to be a well known and reputable café and restaurant opened by a German couple in 2004. Last Sunday, we drove out to look at the car, enjoying a beautiful drive on a beautiful day.
We arrived in time for lunch and discovered that the meals double as art exhibits.
After dessert of Swiss nut cake, we spoke to Thomas—the gregarious and bellowing chef—only to find out that the car wouldn’t start. He was a tad embarrassed, but explained this was likely because it had been sitting for weeks. He said he’d take it to the garage, get everything checked out, and deduct the service fees from the cost of the car. Jeremy wanted to look at the car anyway, so Thomas pointed us up the hill to his house where the car was sitting. “There’s another American there,” he said. “He’ll help you.”
Phil the American met us outside the house, explaining that he worked for Thomas in the kitchen in exchange for lodging. He opened the hood of the car and let Jeremy take a look. Several chickens followed Jeremy around the car offering their professional opinions. Everything looked great for all we could tell without being able to turn it on, so we went back into the café and agreed to return once the problem could be checked and corrected.
Wednesday evening, Alex emailed to say the car was ready to go. Thursday morning, we headed to Lawrence again and enjoyed another lunch extraordinaire.
Jeremy Day-Dreaming About His Car
And after another piece of Swiss nut cake, we walked through the back kitchen to see the car again and test-drive it. Thomas was in fine form, asked to see Jeremy’s fingernails on our way through the kitchen, and told us not to make a run with the car.
We drove it a mile or two down the road and Jeremy was satisfied. (It was his dream car, after all, and it ran great.) When we came back into the kitchen, Thomas had a grand joke going with his kitchen staff about calling off the police because we had come back. He had a kitchen full of German and American kids helping him prepare lunches. While Jeremy arranged some paperwork, Thomas talked to me, keeping an eye on his junior chefs and erupting occasionally when they forgot mushrooms on the salads. (While going through the paperwork in the glovebox, Jeremy discovered that the car was made in the USA, was first sold in Japan, somehow arrived in Dunedin where it was purchased by a German visitor from a used car dealer, and was left at the Lemon Tree by the German who worked there as a waitress.)
Finally Jeremy handed over the cash, and we parted ways. Then came the moment of dread. Jeremy got in our rental car to return it to the airport, and I had to drive our new car on the left side of the road. Jeremy had been driving up until now because our rental was a manual drive, and I have never driven one in my life. After watching Jeremy try to shift gears around town, it was the last thing I wanted to attempt. The instances of whiplash, stall-outs, and near heart attacks had decreased slowly over the last two weeks (keeping in mind, if I had been driving, we would have been hospitalized), but it was still a nerve-wracking experience.
I got behind the wheel, and Jeremy went around the block with me once to make sure I had a feel for it. Then he got in the rental, and we took off down the steep winding roads. I felt like I was turned inside-out. Monster triple-decker sheep transports and log trucks sped past around the bends, and I was pretty sure I was going to shoot off into a ravine out of sheer panic. However, after five minutes, something clicked in my brain and everything was fine. Who knew driving on the left could be so simple?! Oh wait, I haven’t driven in town yet. (Stay tuned for that story.)
By the way, the Lemon Tree Cafe is for sale, if anyone's interested. Thomas and Alex are moving to Bavaria to run a country inn.
