sunny Spain!!

This is the time we start planning our annual holiday. We all work hard over the summer here so we like to have a holiday to look forward to in June. In previous years we have been to Australia twice and Fiji.
This year we have decided to visit Michael's brother, Bob and his wife, Tricia in Spain! We haven't seen them for over 3 years after they came to visit us here. They loved New Zealand but it was nigh on impossible for Bob to get a visa so after returning to the UK they decided to emigrate to Spain and it has been a very good move for them, they re very happy there.
So after deciding where to go we get down to the time consuming business of finding the best fare deal. We trawled the Internet ourselves and managed to come up with some reasonable prices but decided to get a couple of travel agents to come up with something cheaper. Michael sent an email to the Flight Centre who guarantee the best prices. No reply after 2 days so I phoned them and the lady said she had been too busy to get round to doing us a quote but will get on to it straight away. (Still heard nothing 10 days later). In the meantime we popped into the Holiday Shop in the Mount Main street. The conversation with the girl behind the desk went something like this...... 'Hi, could you give us a quote for 2 adults and 1 child to fly return to Malaga, in June, please' This was greeted with a total blank expression from the girl. 'Malaga, in Spain?' Still nothing. 'Spain, in Europe' Finally the penny dropped, she had heard of Europe!! Good we might get somewhere now. 'Oh no' she said with a look of horror on her face, 'I couldn't do that'
Hello? Have we wandered into the wrong shop. Are we in the gift shop next door by accident? No, no it definitely says Travel Shop on the sign out side. 'Sorry? What do you mean, you can't do a quote?'
'Well I wouldn't know where to start to do something like that, I think you had better go to the other agents down the street' !!
Another case of fantastic Kiwi customer service!!
Anyway, Travel Com have come up trumps for a deal for us. A brilliant girl called Dunja from Switzerland who works there got us a great deal flying via Seoul, with Korean airways. Her service was great, replied to emails straight away, sorted out transfers, in fact everything a travel agent should do. And she knew where Spain was, so what more could you ask.
So 'this year we're off to sunny Spain, el viva Espania' etc etc

sun sea and sharks

I like the sea.... to look at. Not so keen on getting in it. Too many unseen dangers lurking. Just the other week as I was out on my usual morning run the beach was covered in dead blue box jelly fish. These things look like pretty little blue blobs of jelly with long tentacles which can give a vicious sting even when dead! So what are they like when they are alive? There have been lots of stories in the paper of people standing on them and getting nasty stings on their feet and legs and curious kids getting stung on their hands. I couldn't think about swimming in water where something unmentionable could brush up against your leg. Makes me shudder. Apparently, when lots of blue box jelly fish are washed up like that it means there has been a big hurricane somewhere and that the sea temperature has risen a few degrees. OK I'll take you word for it.

There have been lots of shark sightings as well round NZ, including Mount Maunganui so the surfers have to keep a look out for any suspicious looking fins breaking the surface of the water.

Not only has the ocean got dangerous animals patrolling the shallows for tasty snacks it seems rips and dangerous tides are a problem too. I f you don't swim or surf between the flags put out by the life guards then expect to be dragged out to sea by a rip. I didn't know what a rip was until I came to New Zealand. It's where the undercurrent of the waves going out are stronger than the surface comes in, so if you are caught in a rip you are sucked out to sea. If its a big one you are sucked under as well. Nice. There has been lots of advice offered in the papers such as don't panic (yeah, right) and just go with the rip until you are out of it and then can swim safely to shore. One lady in the paper was out on her boogie board and got caught in a rip and was tossed around as if in a washing machine. She would have drowned if a nearby surfer hadn't spotted her and dragged her out. She was only in 4 foot of water a few yards from the beach!

Talking of life guards, I hear the ones around Mount Maunganui do a sterling service offering helpful advice on how not to drown, or how to beat off a shark attack as well as rescuing the brainless holiday makers who try to get across to Matakana Island on a lilo. One of the guards said they had had a busy year so far but no drownings, which is very comforting. I was a bit concerned that this guard was 20 years old and this was his 7th year as a lifeguard!!

Anyway, I will enjoy the ocean up to my ankles, avoiding the blue wobbly things.

Kiwis can't wait!!

Its a well known beleif that the Kiwis are a relaxed, laid back lt. Happy to enjoy life at a slower pace where everything is 'sweet as', 'choice' and 'awesome'. But make a Kiwi wait and he shows himself in a new light!

There's always someone in the paper each week complaining that the traffic into town over the bridge was so busy that they had to sit and wait 10 minutes. They want to try getting through Newcastle in rush hour!

Mount Maunganui is very busy this time of year yet customers don't expect to wait any longer in shops and cafes than at any other time of year. Just the other night in our shop, someone called David ordered some pizzas by telephone, we told him the wait was 30 minutes as we were so busy. He said that was OK then he turned up 15 minutes later and started shouting at me because he had been kept waiting an hour and his pizzas weren't ready! Duh!!
Unfortunately he is not an isolated case.

Why is this, I wonder?

I think it is down to a population thing again. Being such a small population, most towns are over subscribed with services so there is no reason to queue or wait so when there is a bit of a delay they can't handle it. British people are programmed to queue and wait. If I went into town in the UK I would expect to join a queue in the post office and wait for 15 minutes or I would think myself lucky to find a checkout in Salisbury's with only 6 people in front of me. So coming to New Zealand and walking straight up to counters or to empty check outs is great. Even at the Boxing Day sales Georgia and I had whole changing rooms to ourselves!

Now having said all that I have come to realise that I too have become afflicted with this 'kiwis can't wait' phenomena. I found myself the other day hopping from foot to foot because there were 3 people if front of me in the bank and I changed my mind about getting some shoes because the queue at the counter had 4 people in it!!

Anyway, a Scottish guy was in the shop the other day and he asked the usual questions of how long we have been here, do we like it etc but he also said that if we ever went back to the UK we would be surprised a how KIWIFIED we will have become without even knowing it. Do you know, I think he may be right!

clean and green

Every year thousands of people head for the Mount at this time of year to enjoy the sun, surf and hopefully lots of pizza from our shop. Its the time of year when we traders hope to top up the bank accounts to see us through the quiet months and fortunately this year is no exception. Its been wall to wall customers since Boxing Day. In fact the 2 weeks around Christmas and New Year is called 'the silly season' then its pretty full on for the rest of the school hols.
But one thing that really spoils the season is the amount of rubbish littered every where. It is an illusion that New Zealanders care more for their environment than other parts of the world. When it comes to littering they are as bad as anyone. The road sides are covered in empty beer bottles, cans and other rubbish that has been thrown out of cars.
Next to our shop there is an ice-cream parlour and a dairy (corner shop) and the piles of icecream wrappers, empty bottles, serviettes, paper cups and pizza boxes thrown on the street is disgraceful even though there are plenty of bins around. Its a sad fact that where there are lots of people there is lots of rubbish and the only reason New Zealand seems cleaner than other countries is the concentration of population. People seem happy with the attitude that someone else will clean it up, never mind being environmentaly friendly.