New Zealand Bound

On 1 August, we set out for two and a half weeks in New Zealand, coinciding (naturally, for those who know us), with a clogging weekend (the NZ national convention) to be held in Auckland. We had decided to spend three nights in Devonport, because it is close to the clogging location, Glenfield, and also has a ferry to Auckland downtown, so Mike could easily visit the city.

Our flight over was on Air Tahiti Nui and left at the ungodly hour of 07:10 (well, it was meant to anyway, it's actual departure was almost an hour late). We discovered that for such early flights there is no point following the official recommendation of checking in "at least two hours early". At 5am, the airport is virtually deserted, and the Customs and Immigration people don't start until 6am anyway, so you just have to wait. Clare enjoyed a coffee (damn the paper cup!) at Starbucks, pretty well the only retail shop open that early.

And the flight turned out to be operated by Qantas on a codeshare basis. So we tried our luck at the Qantas Club. We were told that we weren't strictly eligible to use the lounge because we were flying Tahiti Nui and "Qantas don't get any money from our ticket", but they let us in anyway.

The flight was uneventful. Our part of the cabin was mostly populated by well behaved footy players from the Newtown Jets. On arrival, the slowest part (as usual in New Zealand) was the passage through "biosecurity" which Aussies would call quarantine. New Zealand is really careful on this topic, and we suppose you can't blame them.

For this stay, knowing diesel is cheaper here than petrol, and to be different, we rented a diesel Peugeot. It's a delightful little vehicle, so great to get in a French car again with all its refinements. The drive to Devonport was predicted at 32 minutes by www.wises.co.nz but it took well over twice that long. The road in from the airport is pretty poor, and even modest traffic bogs it right down to a miserable crawl. Even on the North Shore, the trip along Lake Road into Devonport is a funeral procession.

We're staying at a little one room B&B we found on the internet in Buchanan Road. Our room is a very little standalone cottage at the back of the owners' house. It's just a bit on the shabby side of quaint, but lovingly cared for by the owners, who gave us a very friendly reception, and looked after us very well. The cottage is just that bit too small for people like us who travel with much too much luggage!

The clogging is at Glenfield, not to far from Devonport, but requiring another drive back up Lake Road, a few k on the motorway, and then a windy, hilly trip through the backblocks. Again, a little traffic completely clogs these roads, making the trips back and forth to the Glenfield Community Centre very slow. (At midnight, coming home, it's much faster.)

Auckland, and indeed all of New Zealand have endured over a week of very heavy storms from a confluence of low pressure zones over the Tasman Sea. There has been flooding, washaways, houses falling off cliffs etc., with the top part of the North Island copping the worst of it, and even the Pacific Sun cruise liner had to limp back into the harbour after scaring the wits out of its passengers (and injuring a few) in "huge waves and high winds". The liner is sitting in Auckland now getting all its crockery and other loose fittings replaced. This is just preliminary to saying that it's extremely soggy and pretty miserable in the city at the moment.

On Saturday, Mike caught the ferry into downtown. The winds had dropped, but the occasional mild rain squall passed by, making umbrellas and raincoats necessary for any outing. Mike had an enjoyable walk around the city, and through Albert Park and Auckland University, dodging between the drizzle patches and managing to stay pretty dry. Lots of Australians were evident in the city, identifiable by their "Wallabies" jerseys, getting ready for the Bledisloe Club rugby match at Eden Park.