We'd intended to stay at the Alligator Park for most of the day and so had taken a packed lunch with us and had left the cool bag in the boot of the car. Around noon Ian headed off to get it and was gone for ages so I knew something was wrong but couldn't think what the problem could be. Then he returned looking completely distraught - the car keys were locked in the boot! To be fair it's an odd system whereby the boot needs to be opened separately from the doors (two presses on the remote button) and Ian had simply put the keys down whilst he was picking up the cool bag.
We sat for a few moments in total shock and started to discuss what we might do; call a local car locksmith to gemmy the lock and then presumably have to pay for a new lock (we do have excess hire car insurance cover so maybe it wouldn't be too expensive). I then decided the best course of action was to contact Avis and ask them for help and this is where email is so useful as I had all the details to hand on my phone and thank goodness we'd sorted out the paperwork properly yesterday so we did at least have the correct car details noted on our rental agreement.
The main problem was that our phones only have data coverage for US, not for making calls. So I went into the Park's shop/ticket office and explained our problem and asked if I could possibly use their phone which they were happy to let me do. After a couple of attempts and pressing lots of options I finally got through to someone who told me not to worry, he'd be able to help! Was I standing near the car, he asked, "No, about a 5 min walk away". He then explained that if I'd been by the car he could have been able to help me open it.
What would have made life so simple at this point would have been if Ian had had his phone in his pocket as I could have walked to the car park and then phoned him to say I was at the car (UK to UK calls work fine when we're abroad) and he could have relayed the info over to Avis man. But no - he'd left it in the car as he so often does on the basis I had mine.
So I asked Avis Man if he could stay on the line talking to Ian whilst I literally ran to the car which I figured would take 3 1/2 to 4 mins, which fortunately he was agreeable to.
I belted across the car park, narrowly missing getting run over twice, and once at the car tried to open the boot - nope, it remained firmly shut and so I ran round testing all the doors - all still locked. I went round again trying each one and this time the driver's door opened, but the boot remained locked. B*gger, now what do I do - shall I risk leaving the door wide open whilst I run back to the shop to talk to the Avis Man on the phone.
I looked down at the door and saw a couple of buttons on the door handle - maybe, just maybe, one of those might do something. Hallelujah! I heard a click and turned to see the boot rising slightly. I grabbed the keys and ran as fast as I could back to the shop.
After expressing my everlasting love and gratitude to Avis Man and telling him I'd marry him if I wasn't already married, I said goodbye - crisis averted!
What I didn't appreciate at the time I dashed off was that Ian didn't have a clue what was going on - obvious really as it was me having the phone conversation.
And what neither of us could ever have imagined was that somehow Avis could remotely unlock the car - how lucky were we and how glad we were we hadn't gone down the local locksmith route.
We somehow managed to calm ourselves down enough to sit and eat our lunch, but really we were both still too agitated to spend any longer in the park - I think I was still shaking so holding a camera wouldn't have worked - so we decided to head home.
Crisis averted! but lesson learnt to both keep our phones with us.