On the happy side, we are back home in Rotorua. But only just. A 4am rising in the UK for the taxi ride to Heathrow and a 10.15am flight. We nearly never made the flight! When checking in for our Vancouver destination, the clerk seemed to be taking an inordinate…
Preparations for Africa are proceeding at pace. The biggest step forward in preparations, has been the reconstruction of Poki. Over the month of August, Gumtree 4X4 of Ditching, West Sussex, have installed a second, stainless steel water tank, in the space behind the nearside rear wheel. It will be fed…
We’re on a DFDS Ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven. It’s 3.05am French time and sleep eludes me. Mind you the lights are on and there are people chatting, some snoring. Jen though, is fast asleep. The drive back to France from Slovenia What an interesting few days we have had.…
We’re sitting in our camp chairs in the Municipal camp at Straubing in Germany. It’s 34deg and glorious amongst the trees and few other campers. This camp is much more expensive than French camps we experienced. But maybe not a fair comparison, as we are now back in Poki. A…
Ten hours in an airport terminal is not a great way to start your travels. The alternative was a fight from Rotorua that would have allowed us an hour to switch terminals in Auckland, assuming all domestic flights were on time. Air NZ flight NZ8 to San Francisco was full…
In the absence of overland travel I thought a description of life in New Zealand under Covid conditions might be of interest to our international visitors? We are a country geographically slightly larger than the United Kingdom, with a population of 5m people. Approximately 16% are the indigenous Maori, of…
Being confined to New Zealand is not a terrible imposition. Until international borders reopen, this is about as good as it gets. During the last week we have enjoyed a week away with the Veteran Vintage Car Club of Rotorua on a road trip to Wellington. http://www.oruawharo.com/history.html That morphed into…
It’s all a blur. Unsure till we were on the plane taxiing out at Heathrow, that we were actually going to be able to return here to NZ. How much longer can airlines sustain these long haul services? On a plane that can transport up to 350 people, ours had…
Time for an update on our unravelling plans. Getting back home to New Zealand is proving more difficult than necessary. It’s completely understandable that carriers are rescheduling and making commercial adjustments to their business plan. To me, what is unacceptable is that their plans are not articulated to those they…
The last day in France went as planned. As it was a drizzly night the Caranex was packed up wet. There was no time to dry it out as the ferry check-in time being 11am. Departure time from Dieppe, 12.30pm. Breakfast and packing up takes time and it was 9.15am…