Auckland II

We can definitely add Auckland as one of those cities that would be a highly desirable dwelling habitat. Pam took us on a whistle-stop tour of the main sights of the city, starting with the view from the top of Mt Eden. It was a good job that neither of us was a great cricket fan as the sight of Eden Park Cricket Ground, with the impending match on Saturday between the Kiwis and the Aussies, might have delayed our departure to the north. As it was, a tour of downtown, the harbour, the eastern south and north bank shores just left us yearning for more time in the area.

We met up for a quick drink with Yvonne Herregraven and her husband Gary. Yvonne worked in Flight Dept at the CAA for many years, before returning to her native New Zealand, and admitted to a degree of homesickness for the UK. The pressures of modern business have not bypassed New Zealand, and although they are both thankful to be employed they see that the fun of work has evaporated a little.

Pam invited her friend Elizabeth and her son Bob and wife Jane to dinner. Elizabeth has a “bach” (a New Zealand term for a holiday home) at the south end of the Tongariro range of mountains, near a town called Ohakune. Elizabeth can no longer drive, as she suffers from macular degeneration, and is delighted whenever Pam is able to drive her there. We have been invited to join them next Wednesday, and if the level of witty conversation and recollection continues we shall have another evening of fun.

Auckland - City of Sails (no, they do mean the boat variety, not discounts)

No hassle with the Department of Biosecurity (sic) in Auckland over the Marmite, and from the detail on the customs form it was necessary to declare it, or face a $150 fine if caught not doing so. I wonder what Semtex covered in marmite would smell like?

Eventually made contact with the car rental company – a courtesy phone tucked around a corner - and made contact with an … answer phone – Lucy from Jucy – you had to be there! I left a message about being collected, but on the presumption that we could still be there now, I tried again. Got through to Lucy in person second time, were picked up soon after and after the usual formalities received the “limo”. Did I do right in joking about whether “The Merc” was this or last year’s model? Not even close – a battered Nissan Pulsar with 178,824 km on the clock. We still had to go round and confirm that we agreed where the paint was showing through the scratches, and before we drove off went back to point out that there was an unmentioned cigarette burn in the passenger’s seat. “Oh, we don’t worry about the interior, mate!” … nor the exterior by the look of it. Still the engine seemed smooth enough, and I expect it would go a lot faster if the springs on the driver’s seat hadn’t gone through the floor and were dragging along the road.

And so we made it to Pam’s. No wrong turns, no angry hooting locals, just a little heavy traffic, but at journey’s end. What a lovely spot to live! A view of the sea and the islands and peninsular on the horizon; a matter of less that 100 metres to reach a beach frontage of about 1 km, gently shelving sand with warm water ideal for swimming. Shame that we didn’t get round to it.

Pam had made sure that we wanted for nothing. A lovely little self-contained flat, full of home comforts and supplies, and she had obtained travel guides for helping us to plan our trip. I must say that the tourist industry in NZ gets 10/10 for providing information. We had spotted at the airport and in the car rental offices that The AA published road maps, accommodation and touring guides all for free.

By the time dinner was over seeing and thinking had become just a bit too impossible and whatever time the body thought it was seemed irrelevant.

Oh No - Not Again!

If you were Security Personnel would you be more worried about the man with the swarthy complexion, whose passport has the word "bin" or "al" in it, or the petite lady of a certain age who makes an English Rose look ugly? Aha! So you don't believe in the double-bluff? Sue has been found guilty of iffy fingerprints in the USA, and now suspected of having something explosive in Sydney. I said it was only her temper and they laughed...-ish. I reckon that when Customs in Auckland rip her case to shreds for smuggling that Class A** of all substances, Marmite, there's a good chance that she'll become a victim of rendition and end up somewhere in Cuba.

Three-quarters of an hour out from Auckland, and guess what the landing forecast was? Rain showers! Won't really matter to Sue because I'm told that the prisons do have roofs. Just hope they let her out in time to go to Brisbane.

They got it wrong! There is the airport.

Now She's Beginning to Understand!

You'd expect Hong Kong to be all hustle and bustle, but after a textbook flight, on time and smooth, we arrived in a very calm airport terminal, strolled very calmly to the Qantas Business Lounge and found there were 3 other people there! We went to the shower suite, and I thought I was making the most of it but Mum still appeared 10 minutes later than me, with a grin from ear to ear, saying that she was tempted to stay in there all day. She has just polished off 2 coffees, a plate of fruit, a piece of cake and there's only an hour and a bit before we board for another meal. I think she's beginning to get the hang of this business travel.

Of course, being March 2 we had to have a little birthday celebration and get our picture taken by the other occupant - you can see how empty it was - and open the cards; thanks to everyone. No candles but 2 very small cakes to savour, when the appetite returns, and off to compare the Qantas Luxury with BA Luxury. It's a tough life but someone has to do it!

In Like a Lamb

It had to be true! After all those days wanting to be either on the golf course or in the garden, here we are putting the final touches to the escape plan...and March arrives like the proverbial lamb. Fortunately, looking at the Auckland forecast we ought not to be disappointed for the first couple of days.
So, no worries then! The taxi arrived on time; it was large enough; there was no hold-up on the roads; the check-in was almost instantaneous, and we had almost 3 hours of shop browsing and BA Lounge luxury to enjoy. I've tried to educate Mum in the way of business travel, but she hasn't got the grasp of all of it yet. It's the bit about stuffing yourself with wine and sandwiches before getting on to the aircraft that causes her difficulty. The gene of "because it's there and it's free" doesn't connect with her. Anyway I think I managed not to let the family name down by doing her share as well as mine! And so, to boarding on time .... and Hong Kong.

The Night Before

It doesn't all start here. That was back on the 1st June 2009 when British Airways first emptied our piggy bank to enable us to travel "free", on "BA Miles", to New Zealand and Australia. The initiative had actually started earlier when we learned that Clodagh MacMillan, Sue's god-daughter was to be married in Melbourne at Easter 2010.

I had been warned that if I wanted to use up BA Miles to go downunder I needed to be about 9 months ahead in looking for available seats, because they disappear like hot-cakes as soon as they get released into the system. It appeared to be true. Choice proved to be very limiting and desires to stop off halfway went quickly out of the window, with the options coming down to "take-it-or-leave-it" - that's all there is! And so tomorrow we set off to Auckland via Hong Kong and Sydney, moving on to Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, before finding our way home via Bangkok. Hopefully the transition from BA to Qantas is as seamless as the oneworld alliance would want us to believe. The cases are all but packed; the answerphone messages are all changed to tell the world that we are not going to talk to anyone for the next 5 1/2 weeks; the cat has been warned that he is going to have to tear open his own food pouches (he is retaliating by trying to hide in a suitcase); and all that is left is a Grade A panic when we realise what it is that we have forgotten to do! Just hope that the taxi firm really don't send a Smart Car for the airport run. Standby for the northern hemisphere to have the warmest, sunniest March ever, and the Antipodes to sink under mother of all monsoons.