NZ Bound

21 - 25 Feb 2009

And so on 21 Feb, my Oz adventure came to an end (or so I thought, but more of that later).

Even though I'd missed a lot of the Queensland east coast because of monsoon season (flick back to the blog entry entitled Rain to remind yourself of those woes), I still feel that I tackled plenty during my 2 months Down Under. I saw some incredible things, and hung out with some superb people (as well as a fair few ignorant berks, but such is the nature of travelling anywhere). The times with CB ended up amounting to much more than either of us could have anticipated, and that made moving on to New Zealand all the more arduous.

Getting on a plane from Melbourne to Auckland on 21 Feb was one of the hardest things I've had to do. It was astonishingly difficult. But the next 2 months travel was all pre-booked and my lap around the world had to be completed. At the airport plans were made, things were said and tears were shed. I boarded the plane in a somewhat mixed up state of mind, while trying to retain some optimism about the adventures that lay ahead of me.

On the flight I watched Simon Pegg in How To Lose Friends and Alienate People (a disappointing 6/10, even considering the presence of Jeff Bridges and his excellent white hair) and after a few hours kip, and a bit of light reflection, I arrived in Auckland, met at the airport by an old friend and former work associate Gareth O'Connor. A fine gent, here he is...



Round about June last year, just as I was first considering fleeing the EMI nest I confided in Gareth (who worked for the media agency that booked all our advertising) and told him my travel plans. Surprisingly he responded by revealing his own plans to leave England and set up home in Auckland with his kiwi girlfriend. We agreed that if my plan worked out that I would tap him up for a pint in NZ. And so it came to pass, the softly spoken dry humoured Scotsman (now married and with a baby on the way) was kind enough to not only meet me for said pint but also to pick me up from the airport and help me find some lodgings for the night. Top man.

I ended up staying in the Ponsonby area, simply as it was fairly near the city and was local to Gareth. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the hostel I stayed at, but I do remember noticing a lot of decorative rainbows scattered about the place and then reading in Lonely Planet a few days later that it was the city's premier gay-friendly hostel. Which was a little surprising but alright by me. At least it was clean.

First impression of New Zealand - spacious. Even driving from the airport to the city you got the impression that there was a hell of a lot of New Zealand and not a great deal of people to fill it. Yes it's quite a small country, but Britain is smaller and has roughly 15 times more people. Of the 4 million people that live in New Zealand, over a third of them live in the capital Auckland. Astonishing really.

The air felt clean and fresh and I had gotten myself a good feelin' about this country.

On Sunday 22 Feb I wandered around Ponsonby, did some laundry, skyped CB, and generally pottered as I began thinking about my plans for the next few weeks. I ate lunch at a cafe down the road from my hostel and upon asking for a sandwich with no butter was approached by the middle-aged owner who asked, "Where are you from mate? You sound like Beckham!!". I told him I was from Essex, but that didn't seem to mean much to him. He just kept repeating "Bloody successful that Beckham isn't he?! Bloody successful!!".

Do you know they call convience stores "Dairies" in NZ? How odd.

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I spent the next few days getting to know Auckland, which I enjoyed even though every local I spoke to said it "wasn't proper New Zealand". It was a nice enough city, but I got the impression that the real good stuff was to come once I'd decided how to explore the rest of the country. I'd considered booking a place on the Kiwi Experience bus but was warned off this by the guy that worked at my hostel with the immortal words "You're not 19 anymore". Instead I opted for the Stray bus which was a little more expensive but had an excellent route travelling down from Auckland right the way down to the South Island, stopping off at some excellent spots on the way.

I was due to join the Stray journey in a few days, so whilst in Auckland I managed to catch up with a few friends. Firstly, my old friend Jemma Spence (now known as Jemma Glancy) who I used to work with at Virgin records years ago and who had returned from London to her native NZ 5 years previous. She had since got married and had just given birth to her first child Lily. Here they are...



I hadn't seen her in a few years, so it was excellent to see Jem. Lily is a very beautiful baby, and kudos to Jemma for giving birth to a 10lb baby naturally with NO DRUGS to help her through. What a superwoman!!

I also caught up with another friend, former work associate (I'm aware that sounds wanky by the way) and all round top kiwi chap Paul McKessar who was kind enough to invite me out to a NZ band showcase. Really great to see Paul and not a bad gig too. A few good bands, a couple of shoddy ones, but the highlight was being introduced to the metal legend Serj Tankian from System of a Down. What an excellent bloke. I was extra chuffed when he said he'd noticed my Frank Zappa t-shirt outside the venue and had admired it from afar!

If you're not familiar with System of a Down, check this out. Or this. OR if you're feeling really fruity, THIS.

And here's a pic of me and Serj...



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