OF TOURS AND UNDERPANTS

 I thought that I would have to rebut the fake news that Richard would write on his new tour and the gift I gave him but it turns out that he didn't write anything. See the 'post' he published:

There's nothing much there to rebut not even a photo of him wearing the underpants which would have been a bigbuttal not a rebuttal.

In this case then I won't write anything.....

.... just kidding.

On Sunday The Old Girl and I met up with Richard the tour guide for Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours and his partner Shelley who he sticks in the back seat "because she worries about my driving around Wellington's narrow roads and it's better that she can't see what I'm doing."

We met at an Italian restaurant (no surprises there) with only one hiccup - we got lost in trying to find the place. This was rectified however by Richard leaving the restaurant to wander around Petone streets to find us, his inaugural customers, for the revamped business.

Lunch was superb and free owing to the fact that Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours provided a voucher that covered the cost of a no doubt expensive meal including wine. I was about to point out that, in normal businesses, it should be customers presenting the vouchers not the operators but figured that he will only learn from experience. EmpIrical knowledge that is, something that Robert might eventually figure out in his blind approach to religion. In mitigation I presented Richard with a gift of a pair of underpants. This seemed to embarrass the old guy who hastily hid the underpants from observers. Why this was I don't know and figured that it was a by-rote response from past experiences of having to hide his underpants. He needn't have worried as they were brand new and still in the plastic wrapping with tags (not dags) attached. When leaving home on Friday evening a courier parcel had just arrived containing three pairs of Swanndri underpants. I buy these on-line because they are extremely well-made from quality materials. I thought that Richard might like a pair so packed one in my suitcase.

After dining we were about to head off to get the bus to Wellington. I quietly nudged The old Girl and told her "if Richard mentions a (new) Bass Bag Tour make an excuser that your auntie died or that you heard a tsunami warning - anything to get out of it." Unfortunately she chose to ignore my advice and so we were shovelled into the Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tour vehicle which as yet does not carry any signs. This is a new albeit smaller vehicle than was used in the Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours but more comfortable. Richard's partner was duly shoved in the back "because she worries about my driving around Wellington's narrow roads and it's better that she can't see what I'm doing". I joined her in the back and The Old Girl who gets car sick sat in the front with Richard who had donned his metaphorical Bass Bag Tours hat.

In summary of the tour let me say that the company was excellent and the service polite and gracious. While meandering a little bit with wild diversions the experience was fulsome and included an unexpected drive to the top of Mount Victoria with its magnificent 360 degree views of Wellington city and environs. This was far superior to Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours which at best took in Petone Heights (Moera) as a highlight.

A major detraction was in the tour guide's commentary which was more of a mumble, exacerbated by the fact that I had forgotten to wear my hearing aids. As a result I had to interject offer suggestions of items of interest - ideally before we approached them as the old guy had a habit of mentioning points of interest long after they had gone by. I also had to suggest additions to the tour like where my uncle Owen lived on Mt Victoria which was added to the itinerary and where my uncle Vince used to live in Happy Valley Road which was ignored.

In all this reviewer concludes that Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours is better than Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours, a review of which can be found in a previous post in this blog.

Here is the current rating (out of 5)

Conviviality: 5

Value: 5

Quality: 4

Commentary: 1

Local knowledge of places of interest: 2

Knowledge of Wellington streets: 3 (but this seemed to be limited to the old delivery path of Murray Robert's truck drivers).

Ambience and comfort: 5

Overall: 4