On the way.......

Sunday 1 July, 2012
When I write this, I only have a few more hours at home and then I am off to Auckland where I stay for the night before my long travel to Europe starts.

I have luckily been able to say goodbye to most of my friends here in Blenheim, some of which will leave themselves before I return and therefore I might only see again in some other corner of the world. Yes, we are all moving quite a bit around here, something that sounds strange to the Dutchies, I guess.

The last week has caused some turmoil in my life again - the job that I would originally take up on arrival in France is not there for me anymore. Although I have another offer, this is not set in stone and only starts in August which leaves me with at least 6 weeks of holiday time. But, of course, the reason to travel to France is to make wine (and drink it). Will keep you posted.It looks like I have some adventures ahead and am determined to make the most of it! Now it is off for a 48 hours journey to Marseille but actually only there the real journey will honestly begin ........

Tuesday 3 July, 2012

Finally on Sunday 1 July around 1900 I am seen off at the airport by a friend. My suitcase is too heavy but doesn’t cause a problem for my flight to Auckland and my carry-on luggage is not checked at all. The flight was smooth and since it was at night we had a beautiful view on Mount Taranaki/Egmont that was covered in snow. After a motel night close to the airport the next morning it is off to Auckland airport again. Here I put my suitcase on the scales and I am nicely (NOT) told that it is not allowed to have anything more than 23kg – and the cost of my 2.4 kg extra was around NZD250.00. The solution was to take the 2.4kg from my suitcase and put it in my carry-on luggage. All done and then my carry-on luggage was 11.5kg. The lady directed me via the Premium check-in and there the weight is not checked. This was a very good lesson for any future occasions. So, in short, I still had the same amount of Kgs to take on board ………. weird rules!!

Then it was time for some breakfast and trying to find a tv screen with the final of Euro 2012. When I was all installed after around 15 minutes the screen went to commercials etc. Well, missed the first goal – and then it was time to check my flight – missed the second goal. And then it was time to go to the gate and there were no tv screens, so did not see anything else and had no clue about the outcome for a few days to come!

My seat on the plane from Auckland to Tokyo on Air New Zealand was good and I had enough space. Also the in-flight entertainment was satisfactory, so this made good for the hassles with the luggage. The atmosphere on board was nice and quiet and the 11 hours were not too difficult to handle. Very interesting to mention for a few of my friends is that the red wine on board was a 2009 Pinot Noir of The Crossings. Needless to say that I had a few glasses of that, because it went very well with the Japanese style beef dishes.

The airport of Tokyo is not half as entertaining as Singapore Airport (this one is still my all-time favourite, not the least because of the swimming pool). So, it was great to finally (after 5 hours) get on the plane again. I was already very tired by then and did not really look forward to the 13 hours to Paris, but the only  thing one can do is to try to relax and go for it. For the first time in decades I was not able to have an aisle seat in the plane, but luckily I slept for a large part of the trip which was surprisingly since the seats were really tiny both in width as in leg space. This Air France/KLM flight was a huge step downwards from the Air New Zealand one before.  

And then after over 50 hours of travelling this morning I finally arrived in Marseille, where I get myself a rental car and already managed to get on the wrong side of the road once - ggrrhhhh. It is great though to see the nice hills, to experience summer temperatures and the French around here are very friendly even, and the food is nice as well!! I now just need to organise cellphone connection and a navigation system and then I am sorted for my travels/work or whatever comes my way.

Love,

Anita