Finally away

And so with the customary high altitude picture of a sunrise to proove that yes i have been on a long haul flight I start my blog proper and detail my wide, varied and crazy travels in enzed.

The flight itself although predictably long was an easy affair, the highlight being watching clover field, if you haven't seen it you must. At the time i heralded it as the best movie ever, but i think that was the sleep deprivation and strong sedatives talking and to be honest it probably only makes it into top ten. Emma managed to get most of the sleep though and i think i only had my eyes closed for a couple of hours in about 40total.

Stop off was in shanghai (pictured - stickered), my first brief glimpse of this country has sparked a yearning to return to properly explore - i haven't even reached my destination on this trip and I'm planning one for the future. The airport was pristine and shiny and everything ran smoothly, you got the feeling it was a well ochestrated front by the powers that be to show how great their country was to those passing through. But there were glimpses of the old school thought everywhere you looked, the sign at the food counter that gave the sanitary violation hotline number may equally have said please report any hygeine oversights to the nearest party official. But it was soon time to turn away from this intriguing international showcase of china to the real deal.

Picked up by my uncle in Auckland, only after having to pay a 60pound fine for biosecurity infringement, my lesson has been learned at my first attempt and my life of international biocrime has come to an ubrupt end.

First impressions of New Zealand.

1. Frienlyness, openess and helpfulness seem to be the norm for each and every kiwi I have encountered so far.

2.Laid back also seems to be the order of the day, yet not in a frustrating african like way where nothing gets done, it just noones really that up tight and anything goes.

3.NZ is a boys counrty. whenever feminism happened it missed NZ. not that everyone is sexist - that would go against point 2, its just NZ is all about cars, power tools, fishing and sport. nothing else. adverts such as "its good to be a bloke" adorn every billboard and there seems to be absolutely no female orientated marketing of anysort. Not that any of the women here seem to bothered about it, thats just the way it is. And its hilarious. I'll keep an eye out for examples and keep you posted.

So by now i've made it to hamilton, not a visitors town by any stretch of the imagination but I've met up with Dave and Emma and most importantly got the van. Daves arrived in the internet cafe now and is impatient so will cut it short here. more info on my pimpin van to follow heres a picture to keep you interested and a couple of cheecky faces from the zoo.