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Published: September 23rd 2009
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Queen Victoria Shopping Centre
The Queen Victoria Shopping Centre in Sydney Only half a day in Sydney today… flying to NZ at half 6. Awoke to an orange mist - quite a surreal sight from our hotel window at 6.40am local time. Our first inclination was that as it was sunrise, there was an orange haze. However, when we turned on channel 7 news, it appeared that this was in fact a dust storm that had moved in from central/southern Australia. This we thought may have been relatively common, however it appears according to one old man on the news with no teeth, that “This is the first time I’ve seen this in 72 years”. So, in some way we’re quite lucky to be part of history. The channel 7 news is going to town on this story along with another rake of headlines re: climate change declarations for Australia - are they really that far behind? It also turns out that the channel 7 news studio is 100m up Martin Place where the hotel is … .tempting to pop up to get on tv? But Claire persuaded me otherwise!
Headed out to do some shopping in Sydney albeit Claire is still feeling rough today. Her temperature is up and down, up and down so there is a combination of mood, female hormones and illness into the mix. Add a bit of general misdirection in a strange city and needless to say my ears were burning. We only bought 1 pair of new jeans for myself. Highlight of the 3 hours or so was a coffee in the Queen Victoria Building - Shopping Centre in Central Sydney. We did not go up the Sydney tower as it was A) expensive and B) closed due to the dust storm. The last meal we had was in Carrington Café which was ok, not the best. We had hoped to go for a nice lunch, where I had a beer and Aussie burger on my mind, but we didn’t. Another tet a tet ensued as to who chose this place….
We headed back to hotel after lunch, now our enthusiasm waning after seemingly exhausting what Sydney had to offer and fancied a drink to kill the last hour. We searched for a rooftop bar as the day had almost perfectly cleared by this point, although we could not find one initially. Eventually, we ended up in the fashionable Ivy on the terrace bar which turned out to be just round the corner from the hotel. A nice beer (despite the price tag!) and we were ready for the off.
First taxi driver in Sydney we’d met that actually spoke to us took us to the airport. Claire at this point was flushing/shivering/flushing/shivering and scared of getting quarantined for swine flu… when I feel ill she gives me a hard time calling me a moaner, a wimp etc. I was the perfect husband doting on her with the occasional stick treatment as well as the carrot. Arrived at airport early enough to pop into lounge. Here we sent a few emails and had some lounge freebies - themselves taking on a bit of an global homogeneity in each lounge with the booze station, soup bowl, small salads platter, cheeses x 2, savoury snacks x 2 and token hot meal that few appear to eat as it looks a touch ropey. Our flight out was delayed - initially by half an hour on the ground, then another half hour waiting take off slot. Not a brilliant flight as it was an older plane that subjected us to watching a movie on the large screen - talk about 1985. Claire watched this and successfully maintained her record of being on the receiving end of a ‘recliner’. Did she nearly blow a gasket? Yes… Unlucky babe, hopefully the next flight will see you have no-recliner in front - fingers crossed!
We arrived at about 1140pm in Auckland, weather about 13oC, cold and wet. Like taking off most nights in London on a summer balmy evening, and landing in a wet and windy Glasgow - just like home in that respect. As we off loaded, it appeared as if we had about 10 different inspections to pass through. First, immigration. 1 desk open for foreign visitors, 6 for residents. As the 1 desk moved people as what seemed like a rate of 1 per hour, the other 6 cleared the whole flight then preceded to sit and chat to each other… Claire’s rage was beginning to build more. Then, some form of questioning on bio-security (sounds very Mission Impossible like) whilst us carrying all our bags about bringing in bugs, then some form of bag scanning at customs….
Eventually, we walked through the doors to meet Aunty Yvonne and Uncle Donald who despite being at work the next day, had offered to collect us late into the night. We boarded the bus / Mitsubishi shotgun jeep of Uncle Donald and headed for home - Pullam Street. It took about 35 minutes thankfully and we were ready for bed. Next part of holiday now - North Island New Zealand.
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