Wednesday 12 December 2012 Auckland Airport, New Zealand Today’s Blog by David

New Zealand is preparing for Christmas. There are Christmas Decorations, Christmas Trees and carols blaring out of the speakers in supermarkets which are selling mince pies, Christmas Puddings and multi-buys of Cadbury’s chocolate.   It is “just like home” save that outside – for once in our sojourn in NZ – the sun is blazing down so hot that one will fry in about 30 mins without sunblock – and we were walking around in shorts and T-shirts!

The news papers report that the New Zealand Financial Services police are pursuing someone who – it appears - is marketing a ‘boiler house scam’ in a new internet based weather service and also  that someone has endowed a Chair at  Wellington University in Meteorology and Astrology ^(Note)  on the basis that while different subjects they require complementary skills (predicting the future with little hope of accuracy and less fear of reproach should events turn out otherwise than as forecast).

Anyway – the boat is now put to bed – and I have left behind essentially an open cheque for various trades to fix things in our absence. I had a rig inspection on Monday – the boat’s rig rather an assessment of my own sartorial elegance – and the follow on from that alone will provide New Zealand with a fiscal stimulus of Quantitative Easing proportions; the sails are with Doyle and there is a Boat Yard with a list of jobs as long as both one’s arms.  Ho hum.

Well – that is about it. Blog will be quiet until we return to the boat in February 2013.

Note

I confess that this idea was not mine – I received it in an email from someone I haven’t seen for about 35 years – those who know him will affectionately recognise him as ‘ACDC’ – for which many thanks.  The power of modern communication.