Thursday 11 June 2015

CARLESS IN NZ*

* with apologies to Aldous Huxley.

I got rid of the company car this week, driving it down country and returning it to the winery.

I had a meeting in Hawkes Bay so set off on Monday down to there (5 hour plus drive) first.

The weather was great - blue sky and sunshine with a nice winter chill. The roads were free of ice and snow but Ruapehu and Ngarahoe were snow covered and glistened. Beautiful.



The weather in Hawkes Bay was similar - blue sky, sunshine and no wind with just a hint of winter in the air. I stayed the night with family in Napier and headed off to Wellington on Tuesday afternoon.


The weather started to turn bad after Palmerston North and in Wellington was extremely windy. I haven't experienced winds like that since 1968.

I was booked on the Wednesday morning ferry and was concerned that it might not sail. As it turned out it wasn't cancelled but it was just a bit late arriving and leaving. The Cook Strait was interesting with the big ferry behaving like a wind surfer at times riding and dipping in the waves.

A ferry does battle in the Cook Strait in rough weather. Photo: Straithipping.co.nz

I delivered the car to the winery, had a meeting and then had to race off to the airport to fly home.

I didn't have time to catch up with anyone in wellington as I arrived late on Tuesday and left on Wednesday morning.

For the next few weeks until I leave I'll be without a car. This won't be a big handicap as I've hardly used the thing over the last 9 months preferring to walk and use public transport.
It's one more thing ticked off the list before the move.



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