Well despite my best Internet efforts I could not secure any accommodation for Sydney over the Christmas period where my friends will be. Even before now hostels were only accepting week or two week long bookings for the period.
The whole Australia thing was too much hassle in the end and if you are planning to go there around December anytime then make sure you book everything well in advance!
So I leapfrogged the great continent country over to Auckland, New Zealand from where I am writing this post. I arrived yesterday after flying to Singapore and then a 6 hours stopover in Brisbane.
For the first time in my 35 year old history I sampled the delights of business class thanks to a last minute upgrade with Qantas. I thought my luck was finally changing after the last few weeks until I was informed my TV screen would not work for the duration of the flight (it was only 7 hours which was not that bad anyway).
So to make up for it I was served copious amounts of Champagne which sent me off to sleep for most of the flght anyway. My luck turned again when the guy sitting next door managed to get me into the first class Qantas lounge at Brissy airport where I could shower and gorge on the free tucker and Internet.
So I am back in North Island this time to do pretty much what I enjoy most in life, that is being in the hills and (on) the sea. It’s early summer here and I am enjoying the slightly cooler weather and the novelty of requiring a duvet to sleep under at night.
I am going to purchase another car here. My driving license is winging its way over from the UK (fingers crossed and thanks again Mum!) and when it arrives I’ll be heading out of the city for a few weeks before I look for somewhere to stay put for a while.
Why I am looking to stay put somewhere? Because that’s what I need!