But he appears to not be the only one falling victim to being in parks by Toitū Otago Settlers Museum which are actually allocated for cruise buses.
The man, who wants to remain anonymous, said he now faced having to pay a fine which would greatly impact his life — he will have to make choices between rent, food and power.
The man said he regularly parked his car three times a week outside Toitū on the one way heading south on State Highway 1.
He parked his car just after 9am, $8 for four hours, and then went back just after 1pm to continue paying for more parking.
‘‘It had just completely disappeared. There was no notice or what had happened. Where it had gone. Just gone.’’
He asked a tour guide standing close by and he told him ‘‘they’ve all been towed because of the tour buses’’.
He alleged he never saw any signs around the area which said the parks were not available when cruise ships were in town.
Having walked further down the road there was a small sign, high up on a lamp post, saying cars may not be able to be parked in the area because of cruise ship buses and to consult a Dunedin City Council website.
He alleged it was a very small sign.
‘‘There are yellow lines for buses further down the road. But there is nothing around the carparks. And nothing to tell you not to park there.’’
Eventually he found out his car was at Reilly’s Towing & Salvage and had it returned.
He said the whole episode left a sour taste.
Yesterday, the Otago Daily Times observed more cars being towed from carparks in the exact same area.
The Dunedin City Council said they would supply a response tomorrow.
