Here I am in Auckland, a miserable long flight of more than 14 hours, but we were into headwinds of more than 150 mph. Luckily I was caning the wine and champagne in the airport lounge before take off so managed to get a good few hours sleep. I was right in a daze when I arrived here, and sat for at least an hour in the airport with no idea of what I was meant to be doing… Quite a relief to get to an airport where you don’t get assaulted by 500 taxi drivers as soon as you get out of the door though, although the way my brain was not working I could actually have done with some one whisking me away to their crap hotel. I’d lied convincingly to the customs and agriculture people, by answering “no” to all the questions about whether I’ve been on a farm recently, in rural areas, or in contact with any non-domestic animals. I think I’d destroyed all proof, the only thing that may have rumbled me is if they’d checked the pictures on my digital camera, for example the one of me riding a horse on a farm in a marshland, or the one of me handling a live alligator in the middle of a jungle might just have given the game away.
Now I’m in the town centre, and things all seem a bit more familiar as I did once spend an afternoon in Auckland for a business meeting. I’m going all out and doing the hostel thing here for a change, so we’ll see how that works out. I’m bound to end up with some bastard(s) who snore(s), but I should be tired enough to sleep through anything I expect.
Today I’ll make a plan or two, I’m erring towards the side of hiring a car, they seem reasonably cheap here and make my way gradually down to Wellington. But first, coffee and a shower…