Greetings from the sunny day, shaded tables in Bryant Park, NYC.
Updated: Re-reading this, it looks like three parts whining to two parts fun. Really, things are better than that. I was noting down thoughts without planning ahead. I’m having fun. Truly. I sometimes use this blog to update close friends back in .au, so delve into too much detail. Oops.
Since my plan was to exploit being in the US to enjoy another week of summer, it was ironic that my flight from Chicago to New York was delayed for 90 minutes due to inclement weather (thunderstorms). Upon arrival at La Guardia airport, I got to witness first-hand the debacle that is US air travel. Planes had been backed up for quite a few hours as the airport was effectively closed whilst the thunderstorms passed. So a whole bunch of flights landed quickly, one after another. Two immediate consequences were: not enough gates for all the planes to stop at, so we cruised around for 45 minutes (literally, cruised around, rather than waiting in one spot). Then, finally getting inside, baggage collection was chaotic, at best. Our luggage belt was right next to "complaints and lost luggage" and they were doing a roaring trade. Final exciting moment was getting one of those taxi drivers who did not consider it necessary to either know his way around Manhattan, own a street directory or be able to contact dispatch or other drivers to get directions — do they get cab licenses from cereal boxes these days?
Now that I’m here, things have improved. Greatly. Museum of Modern Art and some bookshops yesterday. Possibly going to the Museum of Natural History this afternoon; haven’t been there for a few years and not being outside in the middle of the day seems sensible. Staying in a new (for me) hotel this trip, near Riverside Park, along the Hudson, so I should make the effort to do an early morning photo stroll tomorrow or Thursday.
Continue to be unimpressed with the general rudeness and insensitivity of drivers in this city, and the pedestrians often don’t help. Still, as I sit here in the park, drinking a not unreasonably priced juice and watching the people all around enjoying the weather and each others’ company, it’s hard to be grumpy. This is why I came — things to do when I want to, places to relax when I don’t.
Random moments from the last couple of days: saw a guy at a table nearby with an OLPC prototype; had a girl ask me whether Threadless was an okay place to shop, since she’d heard of it and saw the Threadless sticker on my laptop; the receptionist in the American Airways lounge at Chicago recognised my Creative Commons T-shirt on Sunday. Advertising works, even when it’s for reasonable causes.
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And so on to New Zealand…
We arrived in a veil of mist. Our first port of call (literally) was Napier. Napier is famous for its art-deco architecture which was in style when the city was rebuilt following the destruction of the old town by a earthquake in 1931. The optimistic citizens decided to rebuild and (touch wood) it has survived so far. While in Napier we met our freighter travel agent who has been most helpful in our round-the-world-without-flying quest: Hamish. In a bizarre twist of fate, Hamish comes originally from Edinburgh - where some of his family still live. Even stranger is that I have fixed his brother’s computer while working for Microsys. Small world indeed.
Napier itself is a nice little place. Apart from all the art deco stuff its a compact town - very pleasant atmosphere and ambiance (despite the rain which greeted us). I guess it helps that we came from Australia where there isn’t any rain to be had. Kinda reminds me of home already.
Anyway, we were soon back on board for the short hop to Auckland. This voyage was on board the CMA CGM MANET which is a French owned, Croatian and Filipino crewed, Barbados registered freighter. I reckon it’s slightly bigger than the last ship (the HANSA SONDERBURG) but was pretty similar. The Croatian officers tended to stick together and speak in their own language a lot (fair enough I guess) whilst smoking seemingly non-stop, but the Filipinos tended to engage a bit more and they were all very friendly. The food on this voyage was better than the previous one - the cook seemed to know what he was up to and did make an effort for us - which was much appreciated.
So. We’re now in Auckland and haven’t had much time to explore yet, but it seems nice enough… We’re off on our bus on the 2nd (fingers crossed, the company seemed [worryingly] slightly unsure on this point…) so we’ve got tomorrow to chill out and have a look around.
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