New Zealand or Bust

Just seen room service in our hotel 😏

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He/she/it gets loaded with whatever is ordered and then obviously given a room number, here it is waiting outside the lift 🤔 and then it goes inside, how it knocks on your door I don’t know, you could order a chocolate bat for $5 just to find out but we didn’t bother.
 
funflair - are you using a VPN? You have a Hong Kong flag.

777 - I believe the last one to be built has just come off the production line. I remember as cabin crew when the first one came into service with BA. Very disgruntled, having another aircraft type to work on.

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Langtoftlad said:
funflair - are you using a VPN? You have a Hong Kong flag.

777 - I believe the last one to be built has just come off the production line. I remember as cabin crew when the first one came into service with BA. Very disgruntled, having another aircraft type to work on.
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I have been using a Revolut e-sim or Singapore hotel WiFi but now on the plane (Air New Zealand 777) but newer than the Singapore Airlines on the first leg.
 
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bobnick said:
The last 380 built was recently delivered to Emirates.
Shame as a great aircraft.
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Its such a nice experience isn't it, first time we went on one I was wondering when it was going to get going and next minute it was airborne. 777s are noisy old things by comparison.
 
funflair said:
Got as far as Singapore for a few days, walked down to the gardens on the bay, stopped till the sun went down to see the lights.

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I have been threatened with Raffles tomorrow if I don’t behave myself.

I bought an E-Sim from Revolut for Singapore and it’s working well, got another one from Maya for New Zealand just waiting to be activated.
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We loved the light show so much we stayed for the second show. We're planning to return to Singapore, and NZ later this year, the must do list for Singapore includes the pandas at the zoo, gardens by the bay, chinatown and raffles.

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For those of you that are driving in New Zealand and going to be, a quick note that a yellow triangle painted on the road next to a blue cats-eye is pointing to a fire hydrant in the road, the hydrant cover can also be round and unpainted.
Parking over the hydrant cover will get you a fine !!, and no I did not find out the hard way.:giggle:

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We have made it to Aukland so I guess the New Zealand leg officially starts here, we are staying here for 4 nights in an apartment before we pick up the motorhome, arriving from Singapore Aukland is quite different and looks a little run down, the harbour area is quite nice and obviously a lot of money moored there, lots of fancy clothes shops and some expensive watch and jewellery shops but most have beggars outside,


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Something interesting we noticed in Singapore but also when we landed in Aukland is that they have very few electric cars and it would appear very little appetite for them, in Singapore lots of the cars and taxis are Hybrid but the busses are all old diesels, In New Zealand you pay a road user charge per km for Diesel and electric cars but not for petrol, that is according to our taxi driver anyway.
 
Sky tower (y)

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51 floors up and the glass is 38mm thick, enough for me but Jen wasn't so sure :unsure:

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Decent view although the pictures look a bit blue as it is through glass.

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The Sky walk and Sky jump are both on the 53rd floor, the walkway is at least a couple of feet wide so should be OK, and of course you are clipped into the rail above ;)

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Or if you really insist on not using the lift for something like £150 you can jump off and your decent will be controlled by the fan in the yellow case.

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What we thought was going to be a quick dash into Aukland Cathedral to light a candle for a friend turned out a little more interesting,

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A relatively new build with a nice bright interior and impressive window, once inside we were invited to have a look at the original church,

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The original church (St Mary's) is on the right, the interesting story though is that it used to be across the road but when the new cathedral (Holy Trinity) opened it was not being used and falling into disrepair so some bright spark came up with a plan to move it over the road to join the Cathedral where it is now used again, St Mary's is completely timber construction, actually it's the largest wooden gothic church in the world which might be part of the reason it could be moved successfully.

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Apologies for the reflection at the start of this but an interesting read all the same I think.
 
funflair said:
Sky tower (y)

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51 floors up and the glass is 38mm thick, enough for me but Jen wasn't so sure :unsure:

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Decent view although the pictures look a bit blue as it is through glass.

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The Sky walk and Sky jump are both on the 53rd floor, the walkway is at least a couple of feet wide so should be OK, and of course you are clipped into the rail above ;)

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Or if you really insist on not using the lift for something like £150 you can jump off and your decent will be controlled by the fan in the yellow case.
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Thankfully Mrs Bob talked me out of doing the jump from the top of that tower.
 
The general said:
Always park with the flow of traffic unless you want a fine also when turning left (on a twoway road )if a vehicle ( oncoming )is turning right THEY have right of way .
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Nope that rule was dropped in 2012 you do not give way to vehicles turning right when you are turning left.
 
Did they ever build the inner city by pass in wellington ???
 
orridge said:
Nope that rule was dropped in 2012 you do not give way to vehicles turning right when you are turning left.
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The flow of traffic law i got done for that in nelson
 
Day out on Waiheke island yesterday, nice enough but very touristy with lots of vineyards, we had a nice walk down the beach and a paddle before sampling some wine.

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Auckland skyline from the ferry coming back.
 
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Today is our last day in Auckland as we pick the motorhome up tomorrow, it is also Waitangi day,

The Treaty of Waitangi is New Zealand's founding document. It takes its name from the place in the Bay of Islands where it was first signed, on 6 February 1840. The Treaty is an agreement, in Māori and English, that was made between the British Crown and about 540 Māori rangatira (chiefs).

I thought that there would be lots going on in town so decided to stop the extra day (I was wrong) also we saved about £80 surcharge for picking up the Motorhome on a bank holiday.

We had a walk down the harbour front and a look at the boats,

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Some medium sized "Gin Palaces"

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Some classic racing boats from around the 1900's, overshadowed by a behemoth of a private yacht, $200M in 2019 if you are interested.

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I think the classics are nicer to be fair and all before fibreglass and carbon fibre hull construction.

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I thought I had better put these on for Geoff nicholsong

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