Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow*

Q: If an aeroplane leaves Tahiti at 10.00 on Saturday 13 February and flies for five hours and 20 minutes, why does it land in Auckland, New Zealand at 14.20 on Sunday 14 February?
A: Because it crosses the International Dateline and it’s payback time for all those hours we’ve been gaining over the last 50 days (for that is how long we have been away)
A friend said to us, when he heard we were coming to New Zealand, that it was like “Frinton in the 50s”; as we drove into central Auckland through its suburbs we could see what he meant – single storey immaculately painted clapboard houses with neatly trimmed hedges and lawns bordered by flowers. When we arrived at our hotel (The Langham) it was like part of a set for an episode of Miss Marple, with a chandelier in the foyer and groups of people quietly chatting over afternoon tea and yes they did have triangle sandwiches and cakes on silver cake stands. All rather twee – so we headed off downtown.
Forgot to say – at the airport after passing through passport control we experienced a strange welcoming custom. No flowers or flag-waving but the “washing of the boots” – there is a section in immigration called biosecurity which exists to prevent plant and animal diseases entering the country and we had to declare all those central/southern American places we have visited; consequently we were taken to a separate room and had to rock up and down in our hiking boots on a squidgy mat soaked in disinfectant.
A city bustle that is very tame compared to London and a harbourside setting of ancient and modern buildings reminded us a little of San Francisco and the warmth and friendliness of the people confirmed that. A walk along the waterfront brought us to one of the two Rainbow Warrior Memorials which remembers the Greenpeace flagship which was sabotaged by the French secret service in 1985 just as it was about to set sail in protest at France ignoring the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. France denied any involvement but was finally forced to admit what the then NZ Prime Minister described as a “sordid act of international state-backed terrorism”. The fight against nuclear weapons goes on.
We went for our Valentine’s Day dinner at a lovely restaurant in the old Ferry Building ( a neo-classical 1910 building) overlooking the harbour, had a wonderful dinner and, we hope, the first of many bottles of New Zealand wine: this was a 2007 West Brook barrique fermented chardonnay which has won a number of awards including two gold medals – it had a peach, lime and pear fragrance with toasted almond overtones and it tasted was like chardonnays used to taste – buttery and lemony with just a hint of oak and oil and a mineral aftertaste (hope that satisfies Barry’s request for “tasting notes”).
It is now 23.00 here and Chris has just phoned her dad and said “Good Morning”. Good Night