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Monday, January 15, 2001

I was in my Daynotes-reading phase this morning, when I had a frantic ring from my step-daughter Jo. She was at home, attempting to finish the Cox Web and Design Ltd cash book and prepare the GST returns. [For North American and other readers, GST stands for Goods and Services Tax which is levied on all sales or supply of services at the rate of 12.5%; the only exceptions are financial transactions. A business has to account for tax collected, and deducts tax paid in the course of buying goods & services. You fill in a form every two months.]

I had prepared Excel sheets for her to fill in, and she was having a problem getting all the fine detail stuff to balance. So we drove over and spent half an hour sorting things out; she had done really well -- considering she is a trained nurse and hence had never done this sort of office work. All was fixed, and we were cheered to find we get a refund instead of having to pay. The downside of this was the reason: we had only received a fraction of what was billed out for that month. Looks like we'll have to get on the phone and get some money in.

I should also explain that, as we have Christmas and New Year in the middle of summer, all businesses [except retail] that possibly can, will shut their doors and go on their annual holidays -- all at once. This we call the Great New Zealand Shutdown, and it can be a real bummer if you happen to need a tradesman -- most businesses like that do have a skeleton staff on duty for emergencies, but they are usually over-extended anyway. That ALSO means that the office staff aren't there to prepare cheques -- and there aren't any bosses to sign them anyway. Said bosses are probably out on one of the lakes with a beer in one hand and a rod in the other. Or a couple of hundred km away in a camping ground. That means our bank balance goes ever-deeper into the red until staff return and lurch into action; probably next week.

The Shutdown doesn't affect tourists to any extent, as the shops are going full blast with summer sales and the tourist attractions never stop anyway. A tourist might get caught out if his camper van blows an engine gasket, the garage has none in stock, and the wholesaler is closed. But that's pretty hypothetical.

Tuesday, January 16, 2001

An interesting story in the paper this morning about the age of tourists to this fair land: seems that 32% of visitors arriving were aged over 50, risen from 27% in 1990 and looking at 35% in 2005. I have this mental picture of the average tourist being young and active: probably engendered by the brochures we have turned out for local enterprises -- jet-boating, white-water rafting, bungee-jumping, tandem parachute-jumping etc.

But this increase in seniors means that there will be an increase in the visiting of cultural activities -- vineyard tours, historic buildings, museums, art galleries, and Maori cultural displays. In fact, the statistics showed that 43% of participants in cultural activities were seniors. It might be argued that the retired seniors had the most time and money to tour, but we also have a thriving backpacker trade. Our weak dollar attracts hordes of North Americans because they more than double their US dollars and pay cheap prices anyway.

Us locals tend to take tourists for granted; we only notice them when sufficient numbers clog the footpath [sidewalk] in town, but they are the lifeblood of the community here. One of the main thoroughfares, about 3 km long, is lined with motels cheek-to-jowl along the length of one side. That's a lot for New Zealand.

We had a quick trip into town this morning after picking up the boys; visited the Library to change books and replenish supplies at the supermarket. Ethan sat beside me during the afternoon and tackled Crimson Skies -- he can now fly the plane with some dexterity, and has already searched the Internet for appropriate cheats. I'm gradually getting through to him that REAL MEN don't use cheats, but 11-year-olds don't like to get killed all the time and he loses interest quickly.

We are hoping to get away in the camper again later in the week; we have an appointment with the travel agent in Hamilton who is organising the tour to Crete and Greece in May, to sort out the up-to-date itinerary and decide on our add-ons. I'll post a 'tour' page in due course. Depends on the weather of course, but it has been raining briefly today and the cloud is supposed to clear by Thursday.

Wednesday, January 17, 2001

One of our Daynoters, Tom Syroid, was skylarking with his 18-month-old son -- something all fathers love to do, but it all went horribly wrong and Landon ended up in hospital with a broken femur. Our sympathy goes to Tom and Leah, and I know they'll get by with a little help from their friends ...

Boots on, and out walking at 9.30 am this morning round our park circuit [I'll have to take the camera and do a page - next week insh'allah], in a fresh, crisp southerly wind and bright sunshine. We have to get walking-fit for overseas, and the time to start is now, gradually increasing the time to an hour, then longer every now and then. I suffer from swollen ankles in the heat, (being 115 kilos doesn't help either) and we have to get our legs fit enough to sustain touristing all day. If my ankles get bad, I have a cycle to ride on instead -- specially constructed with a big padded saddle to accommodate my weight and 6ft 1in frame -- which I find better in the heat because my legs aren't coping with the weight, as well as walking. Hopefully I'll get some more weight off; but experience has proved that exercise doesn't take weight off -- it just makes you able to carry the weight better <g>.

Into town to visit the bank for a US bank draft, then to the optician for an examination. We both need new glasses; I am going to try the variable-focus sort that alters your sharp zone from infinity to book distance gradually as you tilt your head -- and not with a jump like my present bifocals. I have convinced Joan to get photochromic lenses like I have, that darken and lighten according to the UV level. Her eyes don't like too much light, and it's a real drag to have to keep putting clip-on sun grasses on, then taking them off when you go inside.

Opened up the camper when we returned home, and transferred the bedding and essentials to their lockers. Tomorrow, we'll head directly over to the west coast to a little place called Raglan (about 2 hours drive at 80 km/h towing speed); and on Friday will drive a short way back to Hamilton for our appointment with the travel agent. We plan to be back home on Sunday; I'll be keeping in touch and updating the Kronikles by GSM phone link like last time.

Thursday, January 18, 2001

We had hair appointments at 10 am, so the first thing on the list this morning was to open up the camper-trailer, pack the rest of our baggage, then close it up ready for transit. We dashed over to the other side of town for our hair trims, then back into town to visit the optician again for me to check the frames they had couriered down from Auckland.

I *know* I've reached the cranky stage of my life, but I do find it distressing when perfectly satisfactory designs are abandoned -- purely in the name of 'fashion'. They were trying to influence me into frames which are much smaller and more oval than my present ones. I explained that I did not like small lenses because I specify photochromic glass, and there is considerable light leak round the edges in sunlight. The saleslady also tried to steer me to brown tint rather than grey; and persisted until I explained that brown tints distort one's colour perception and I do a lot of graphics and photography. Hence, she eventually contacted the frames wholesaler, confirmed that they had what I wanted (in the discontinued bin), and asked them to send it down. The frames turned out to be almost identical with the ones I have -- so I was very happy to accept them. For those interested, the price will be about $US225, all up.

We had a quick lunch, coupled up the trailer then set off for Raglan. We deliberately avoided the main routes, and travelled over a lot of back roads, through Te Awamutu (you can find it on the map above), and bypassing Hamilton. This kept us almost free of traffic and the scenery was interesting. We reached Raglan in a couple of hours of leisurely driving.

The camping ground in Raglan is in the harbour on a large spit of land, and adjacent to sports grounds. There is a causeway foot bridge from the end of the park, back over to the small shopping area. We set up the camper and got organised. We found the showers here are coin-in-the-slot hot water: 20 cents gives you about 5 minutes, so you get skilled at a fast wash. Quite a few camping grounds have these showers; they use a brute-force electric water heater, very fast and efficient, with the timer usually on the wall outside the shower cubicle. The experienced camper gets ready for the shower, starts the water, whips out and rams the coin in the slot then back in and under when the water is hot.

This area is noted for fishing; a number of caravans in the camp have launches on trailers by them. They will launch close by, then go out through the harbour entrance and across the river bar to the open sea. There are also good beaches for the guys with the big surf-casting rods, and they get good catches.

While unpacking, we found (or rather did not find) that we had left two important items back home: one was the frozen meat casserole that Joan had meant to transfer from the freezer to the camp fridge; and the other was the charger for my GSM phone. Fortunately, I have an old phone in a car cradle which we use while in the car, so the good phone had been switched off. Hence I think it will have enough charge in its battery for the next three night's upload; otherwise I can take the laptop over to the camp office and plead to be allowed to jack into the POTS instead. I guess it's the dork factor again ...

The missing casserole was easy to deal to: we had a meal at the local chartered club. It was a 'cheap night' in their small restaurant: we had roast pork with vegetables and dessert, for $20 total = $US9. For two people, that's *cheap* even by NZ standards! OK, the plates were smaller than the usual restaurant mains, but there was plenty of food on them and it wasn't overcooked. The sun is setting in a watery sky; the weather forecast is for fine weather so hope it's right <g>.

Friday, January 19, 2001

Happy again -- 'cos my phone is fully charged and I was able to do a little surfing round the Daynoters to see how Landon was doing. And I can upload without sweating.

We woke to a misty morning -- a sea fog must have rolled in while we slept, and everything was dripping with water. We had a leisurely breakfast (but we couldn't find the coffee - horrors!) and left about 9.45 am for the 45-minute drive to Hamilton. Joan navigated through the city streets OK, and we found an underground parking garage to leave the car. This came up into a shopping mall, so after finding a food shop that had an espresso machine, we had our caffeine hit for the morning. We located a mobile phone shop, and purchased a car charger for my phone; much cheaper than the power-point charger (which they didn't have anyway). Hence the comment above, and the phone charged nicely on the way back to Raglan.

We presented ouselves on time at what I was *sure* was the travel agent -- but the right one turned out to be in another suburb across the Waikato River in Hamilton East. I hastily phoned an apology, we retrieved the car from the park and high-tailed it across the river bridge and found the correct travel agent. We spent about an hour with him, going over the itinerary for our trip to Greece and Crete next March and trying to decide on add-ons plus arranging to fly on the London to see our son Ross.

The tour is actually for the purpose of attending the 60th anniversary of the invasion of Crete; the New Zealand troops played a major part in the battle. There will be about 17 of the old soldiers going plus their spouses, plus about 30 hangers-on like us who are mostly relatives. We are accompanying my brother-in-law (who was in the fighting), my sister, their son and daughter-in-law. We will be going early to tour Greece for 7 days -- this will follow the German invasion route; the New Zealand troops were the rearguard who fought hard to let the other allied troops be evacuated. There will consequently be a number of war cemeteries to visit. This trip will be a fantastic experience and we are really looking forward to it. I should be able to send back frequent emails for Don to post on my site, so you guys will be able to share in the trip too. Thank goodness for the "Internet Cafe"; although I'll have my Psion with me and may be able to mail back direct -- if I can get a GSM link that is. I'll have to check that one out.

We had a very leisurely stroll over the causeway into the little town after tea. I'll post some pictures to give you some of the flavour of this place.

Saturday, January 20, 2001

We started the morning by driving into town and browsing the bric-a-brac shops, One had a small garden centre attached, so Joan found some shrubs she wanted. We had noticed signs on the road coming from Hamilton for the "Bridal Veil Falls". After lunch, we headed off down the country road south, to find them. We eventually came to a patch of native bush (green areas on the map) in the middle of farm land, and a parking space with a number of cars.

We put walking boots on (the NZ bush is not a good place to wear light footwear or sneakers -- a trap for tourists!) and walked down the short 10-minute walk to the Falls. It was a further slow scramble down a long winding track with rough stairs cut into the mudstone and clay, which were faced with timber to try and stop crumbling. As you can see from the photos, it was well worth the effort -- and the trembly knees when we finally arrived back up at the top again. A leisurely drive back to the camp, enjoying the countryside.

We've just come back from eating at a local small restaurant. We had fresh fish -- and fresh probably means caught this morning or at the latest last night -- in egg batter and a delicious lemon-lime-coriander sauce. I don't normally like fish because I don't like it after it's been frozen, but this fish was perfect. Joan had a banana split for dessert, and I had an apple & blueberry crumble with cream and ice cream. All up: $NZ49.50 ($US22.25) -- I've paid more than that for an entree in London....

We'll be packing up in the morning and heading off home; probably back the same way we came. Spotcha's later.

Sunday, January 21, 2001

Back home safe and sound -- with some problems on the way. We packed up and left the camping ground at 9.45 am. Plain sailing until we were about 5 minutes out of Raglan; I noticed an intermittent vibration, stopped the car and checked. The fibreglass lid was flapping loose at one corner, because we hadn't locked it down properly. I looked at the trailer hitch - OK - got back into car and drove off. FATAL ERROR; I should have checked the tyres as well. Another couple of miles down the road, more vibration; but as luck would have it, nowhere to pull over off the busy highway. Round a bend and the vibration increased, then I spotted a roadside area where the road maintenance peple had stored gravel and small stones, and was able to pull right off the road. A quick look at the trailer -- horrors -- one wheel was riding on the metal rim, the tyre had been totally shredded.

So we start. Unpack all the luggage in the back, lift up the cover and retrieve tool kit and jack. I checked through my tool kit -- normally comprehensive enough to deal with a wheel change -- but found the car jack was designed to lift the car from the side, and the trailer would have to have the jack right underneath. And the stubby handle was nowhere near long enough to reach it to turn the mechanism. So, out with the trusty cellphone -- no signal. I leave Joan sitting on the trailer hitch bar, and drive back to the top of the previous hill where I got enough signal to phone the Automobile Association emergency line. I've paid my membership for 40 years, and this is only the second time I've called them out.

The garage ute arrived about 30 minutes later (he would have come out fromHamilton), and he soon had my wheel changed. But the trailer spare was very flat -- and he didn't have a pump :-< But I did, right at the bottom of the luggage which had to be once more unpacked to find it. We eventually started off again at 11.00 am and drove very gingerly for a while until I was satisfied the spare trailer wheel was OK. Stopped for lunch at Te Awamutu and carried on around the back roads until we came to the long grade off the Mamaku Hills down to Rotorua. I had been followed by a car for some little while, and he accelerated past me and flagged me down. A couple of Maori men came back to tell me that the wheel was wobbling and obviously unsafe. Ah -- I remembered when I had last used that spare. A similar thing happened, and I concluded that the wheel rim was off-centre or misaligned or something. It didn't affect driving though; I thanked the guys for letting me know, and drove home without any further incident.

Our neighbours across the road own a Firestone tyre garage, so I gave him the offending tyre to deal to tomorrow. We unpacked the trailer and car, and I cleared email etc while Joan zipped round the garden doing a spot of watering. The garden was dry -- actually we only had the merest sprinkle of rain while away, so did pick the right time. The wind though, was south-west which gave us cooler days than normal. And that's the week.