The trip back to Australia began when I was roused out of my bed at 2.30am New Zealand time to prepare my luggage for the arrival of our taxi at 3.15am.
It was a slight struggle to rise but, as usually happens, the feeling of consciousness soon aroused me and once I was up and about I was fine.
The taxi driver appeared to be very keen to give us a backstreets tour of Auckland in the early morning because I swear he took us through every suburb north of the airport. I was sitting in the back of the van he was driving and, as taxi drivers a prone to do, he didn’t mind taking corners hard and being lax on using the brakes as he approached intersections.
Being early morning my head wasn’t yet screwed on just right and it was a relief to finally arrive at the international terminal without suffering a massive headache from the roller coaster ride I recieved in the back on the way over.
It wasn’t like he was trying to rip us off by going the long way as we had booked the cab on a flat rate fee but he appeared to be following his satellite map which was taking him all over place. I could have found a more direct route myself!
As it was we arrived in plenty of time though I did begin to think that it was going to be one of those days when boarding the plane was delayed because other passengers were tardy booking in.
Despite being forty minutes late departing the flight made up time on the crossing and we were on the tarmac at about 8am Sydney time.
Unfortunately another three planes had arrived at the same time and the mass of humanity that crushed together in the customs hall was a sight to see and some of the behaviour exhibited by those threading their way through the checkpoints was entertaining if not a little apalling.
As you can probably imagine there were people from many different places in the lines and some of them did the reputation of their native lands a disservice with the display of arrogance and rudeness they exhibited.
The customs officials did a good job of getting us through quickly and although some of them appeared to be very impatient with the attitudes of those passengers they were trying to check (and who could blame them!)we got through without any trouble.
Our good run continued as my hire car was ready and waiting at Thrifty and I was very impressed with their service.
A short passage down General Holmes Drive, a right hander onto the M5 expressway and we were well and truly on the way back to Canberra.
I was a little worried about the fatigue factor on the way home but although I got a little droopy eyed about halfway home, a quick stop at the Sutton Forrest McCafe soon set me right and I was home just after 1pm, to recieve a rapturous welcome from Pepper, our big black dog. His little mate Turbo, our Staffy seemed quite indifferent to our return and continued her usual bumper sniping around the yard, no doubt looking for an escape route, seemingly oblivious to our return although she eventually did come and give us an indifferent welcome.
I spent most of the time away in Auckland, a city of just over a million people which is quite a pleasant place I must say, situated on an isthmus, the Gulf of Hauraki on one side of city and Mankau Harbour on the other.
It is a place I could probably live as, despite being quite a large metropolis, it’s diminutive size when compared to other great world cities gives it an advantage in that you are able to move around the road system relatively quickly and easily.
Kiwis are much like Australians although I get the feeling that they would not like to acknowledge the fact, even in the unlikely event that it occurred to them.
Former Aussie Prime Minister Bob Hawke once said on a visit to New Zealand that no two countries in the world are more alike than Australia and New Zealand and he was probably right. Aussies feel right at home in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
It is enough like Australia to feel similar but different enough to make you feel as though you are in some sort of “bizzaro world”. Similar yet different is how I would describe it to anyone who hasn’t been lucky enough to visit our Kiwi cousins.
A trip to a newly opened Bunnings store at Glenfield on the north shore of Auckland revealed an identical service culture and set up to my local Bunnings at Tuggeranong and I began to think that I would most likely run into someone I know until I remembered that I was actually in a foreign country 2000km from home.
The second week of the trip saw some more touristy stuff done with a visit to the Auckland Museum, the Ministry of Transport and Technology Museum which was very entertaining and of course the obligatory trip to the tourist trap of the SkyTower.
We also took a trip down to Waikato to see the famous glow worm caves of Waitomo and managed to do a bit of caving, swimming and floating down underground rivers which was a fun but made me realise that perhaps I am getting a little too old for such things.
The walking tour of a different pair of caves the next day is much more my style nowdays.
I have another three weeks off before I have to go back to the grind of Australia Post but my time overseas has left plenty of work for me to do around the yard so I am sure I just won’t be sitting on the computer all day.
Hope everyone has had a good introduction to the New Year and that is a precursor to fun and happy times for all of us in 2012.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 