Luggage is a Luxury

Hi all,

So, I made it to New Zealand safely yesterday afternoon. My luggage on the other hand didn't make it to the flight out of London. I had only just made it to the flight myself... I put this down to dumb luck - Heathrow security lines are ridiculous and their random decision to allow people to push in past the long line was just stupid. This just proves the old adage that it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. I just stayed dutifully in the line. I knew that they'd work it out if I missed my flight so there was no need to worry.

For some reason the flight went through Thailand rather than Singapore so that was odd. And I spent ages looking for a snack only to resign myself to the reality that there was nothing to be found. I just wanted a chocolate bar! While I was waiting there, I bumped into the two girls who were sitting next to me on the initial leg of the flight. One of them looked just like Dave, Ash's friend. She had the same looks and had a similar accent - she was from Cardif, Wales. It was quite freaky. I wouldn't be surprised if they were related in some way. I'm not sure whether I should have told her that she looked and sounded like a guy I knew. Hmmm. Anyway, they were nice and didn't mind. Turned out that she liked Doctor Who and had seen them filming it a number of times, including the recent Christmas episode which was filmed in summer but had the streets covered in snow and Christmas decorations. :-)

Anyway, when I got to Sydney, I was directed through Customs by mistake and thus I found out early that my luggage had been lost. After being given the the literal run-around I was able to sort the missing luggage out and organise it to follow me later. Although they did say that it was possible that it had caught up with me - yeah right! It should be delivered here tonight, around 6pm... my luggage will be taking the identical flight I took, only a day late, so that'll be nice for it. :-)

Since I knew in advance, and given the warning by Kerrie that NZ was cold, I stopped at a surf shop and purchased another shirt and two jumpers. Both Billabong, which is brilliant. The shop assistant was really nice and explained to me her theory as to why Billabong always fits correctly for me, as opposed to the other brands... she said it was to do with the shape of their clothes and that they make it for real men - well there you go, I'm a 'real' man! :-)

What's cool is that I was given an "overnight bag" from Qantas. It has PJ's (admittedly not appropriate for cold weather, but still cool) and a razor and shaving cream, shampoo and conditioner, baby toothpaste and a toothbrush, a deodorant roll-on (although I don't like roll-on's - it feels like someone has licked your underarms) and a comb! It's pretty good considering. Oh, and it had a small note from Qantas apologising for the inconvenience. How nice is that!

Getting out of the airport was good. I was one of the last to leave 'cos I had to explain the whole luggage thing again giving a third full description of my bag and explaining why I'd ticked most every box indicating I was carrying prohibited substances. It's funny, souvenir's made of wood and me having chocolate seemed to mean I ticked everything. Anyway, it felt great to look around and find Kerrie and her dad Mike waiting for me. I think I was talking too much on the way back... I was thinking it at the time but I just kept talking - I guess this is understandable considering how long I'd been away.

Let me just say that New Zealand is brilliant! It's a bit nippy here this morning with a frost and similar temperatures to Canberra. The Morris family have been brilliant, welcoming me into their home. Last night, I had my first real meal with vegetables and baked potato's (my favourite) and this morning I've enjoyed Cocopops and Vegemite on toast - my goodness, that was great! How I've missed Vegemite! :-) I'm really going to enjoy my time in New Zealand. It's good to be among friends again.

To all my readers, take care!
T.

P.S. I realise that you haven't heard about my time in Rome with Joe yet, or San Gimignano for that matter, but I'll update you all with some detail soon. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures yet 'cos my iPod containing my photos is formatted for a Mac and thus are stuck in there until I get home.