The journey starts here...

 ...8AM at the local health centre with a pen-length swab stuck up my nose - the pre-flight Covid test required to board an aircraft just about anywhere in the world these days. It's not cheap at $250. The nurse makes a point of telling me the lab, not the centre, claims this prize. The receptionist asks me to remove my mask when I go to pay the bill. Only in New Zealand!!!

To recover from the novel rear-eyeball massage, I head for the beach. Its about 4C, frosty and bathed in glorious sunshine. Tangaroa, Papatuanuku and Ranginui all look their magnificent best. How could I even think of leaving this Pacific paradise for the purgatory of my homeland? Easy really - commonly known as family.

 

 

I think fondly of the OTT bureaucracy I'll no longer have to crowdfund as I read council instructions for an earthquake prone building. Drop, cover, hold. Maybe this place isn't so far removed from the sites of my misspent youth.  'Drop' and 'hold' make sense, I'm just not sure how to 'cover' - in a public toilet. I will miss you New Zealand, til MIQ places are available again.