A very early start with alarms at 03:45 and picked up at 04:30 by our personal chauffeur in a stretched BMW 740i (the LLW is rather worryingly becoming accustomed to this and may expect me to wear a cap and uniform when driving her around at home). Our chauffeur this time was a charming Frenchman who has been in Australia for 8 years and is convinced that Europe's days are past and it is now the time of the New World.
I'm not sure about his credentials as an economist but he is certainly a very good and safe driver which was what mattered on our way to the airport. A very fast check in and passage through security but unfortunately our flight is delayed by one hour due to late arrival (Quantas' not ours). So we are settled in at the Quantas lounge and breakfast is available. The LLW has already had one business call and is now immersed in the Telegraph
It's a very sunny morning here in Sydney and once again we are leaving very impressed with the city and its surroundings. The recent devaluation of the pound has made an expensive city even more expensive but there is no doubt that the quality of life is very high here.
More to be added to today's blog when we are in NZ!
An unexceptional flight which was very comfortable but the hour delay did cost us. We cleared customs reasonably quickly but the process of collecting the camper van is never a quick one and whilst this was not too bad we were annoyed to find that we had to collect the cycles elsewhere. I would have thought that they should have been delivered to Maui, our camper van provider, and already on the bike rack. However, this was not the case and whilst the cycle hire depot was not far away, the traffic around Auckland airport was awful and about a mile took us 20 mins. The guy at the cycle hire depot was very helpful and assisted in getting the cycles on to the rack and off we went.
Rush hour around Auckland is pretty bad and since the airport is south of the city we had to drive right across the capital before really being on our way. Time was now getting tight as it was 18:30 when we cleared the traffic, a 2 hour drive ahead of us, and darkness descending about 20:45.
We made good progress with just a quick pit stop for water and biscuits before arriving in Whangarei and buying some food at the excellent New World supermarket. We found our camp site with no problems and were fairly quickly set up but connecting electrics etc in near darkness was a bit tricky.
I'm not sure about his credentials as an economist but he is certainly a very good and safe driver which was what mattered on our way to the airport. A very fast check in and passage through security but unfortunately our flight is delayed by one hour due to late arrival (Quantas' not ours). So we are settled in at the Quantas lounge and breakfast is available. The LLW has already had one business call and is now immersed in the Telegraph
It's a very sunny morning here in Sydney and once again we are leaving very impressed with the city and its surroundings. The recent devaluation of the pound has made an expensive city even more expensive but there is no doubt that the quality of life is very high here.
More to be added to today's blog when we are in NZ!
An unexceptional flight which was very comfortable but the hour delay did cost us. We cleared customs reasonably quickly but the process of collecting the camper van is never a quick one and whilst this was not too bad we were annoyed to find that we had to collect the cycles elsewhere. I would have thought that they should have been delivered to Maui, our camper van provider, and already on the bike rack. However, this was not the case and whilst the cycle hire depot was not far away, the traffic around Auckland airport was awful and about a mile took us 20 mins. The guy at the cycle hire depot was very helpful and assisted in getting the cycles on to the rack and off we went.
Rush hour around Auckland is pretty bad and since the airport is south of the city we had to drive right across the capital before really being on our way. Time was now getting tight as it was 18:30 when we cleared the traffic, a 2 hour drive ahead of us, and darkness descending about 20:45.
We made good progress with just a quick pit stop for water and biscuits before arriving in Whangarei and buying some food at the excellent New World supermarket. We found our camp site with no problems and were fairly quickly set up but connecting electrics etc in near darkness was a bit tricky.
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