Two months of preparation back in Italy for this trip and suddently September is here, the ticket is bought and there's no more excuse: the time has come.
Last few dinners with friends and family, gorging on our local fishes, mushroom season is on with the first rains, so I get lots of those too, since for quite a while (possibly years) I won't be tasting them again. The usual trip to Fiumicino Airport in Rome, accompanied by my father Ugo, which is nearly in tears when leaving me. Back when he was 35, he and my mother nursed a similar dream, but life decided it wouldn't be so. Now he is 86, and unlikely he'll ever be able to sail with me ever again like we did so many times a few years back when I picked up sailing again. So I am a little bit his reincarnation, his dream coming true, as well as mine.
Usual intercontinental drudgery, the flight in Bangkok is rescheduled for the evening, so that in the end I will have gone trough over 48 hours between airport waiting and flights. I try to warn the broker of the delay, but the time difference makes it unlikely he'll get the message.
Back in Bangkok airport I was desperate to be online, but, unwilling to shell out the 250 Bhat per hour requested (it cost on average 7 Bhat x hour) I give up at first. Then I peek at someone's his laptop and he's got connection. So I whip out my brand new Dell and check out what's in the air. Thing I discover is that the Business resting areas, plecluded to ordinary mortals, provide Wi-Fi but it's unprotected, and so I log in with the Thai airline wireless.
I manage to send all my messages out and then switch off, as the connection is crap. Some more boredom, and next time I sit by the JAL Business area, and of course the signal is much stronger...I get playing bassdrive.com, and aside from the stares some even do a dance move or two. Pretty funny. Thanks JAL!
I finally land in Auckland, to be carried right away to the searching area, where my luggage is taken apart (with my bags nearly exploding already), and get asked over and over why I'm there, when I bought my ticket, when I booked it, how I paid for it, and why I was there and who I was staying with and another meaningless hundred questions. I keep a poker face for the whole time, though I could have killed someone right there...besides they even ended up letting me keep a knife my uncle gave as a good luck gift...go ahead and murder anybody, but don't let us find you smoking a joint or that'll be big trouble!!!
Anyway, Ian is at the airport in his Harley Davidson jacket as planned, so off we go to Westhaven marina to get me settled in my temporary abode and to have a quick look at Keturah. I will be hosted by a lovely couple living aboard their classic motor yacht, while Keturah is just across from us in the next pontoon. I unload my bags, take a quick look around my future home and then we go for a bite to eat at a local brewery.
Last few dinners with friends and family, gorging on our local fishes, mushroom season is on with the first rains, so I get lots of those too, since for quite a while (possibly years) I won't be tasting them again. The usual trip to Fiumicino Airport in Rome, accompanied by my father Ugo, which is nearly in tears when leaving me. Back when he was 35, he and my mother nursed a similar dream, but life decided it wouldn't be so. Now he is 86, and unlikely he'll ever be able to sail with me ever again like we did so many times a few years back when I picked up sailing again. So I am a little bit his reincarnation, his dream coming true, as well as mine.
Usual intercontinental drudgery, the flight in Bangkok is rescheduled for the evening, so that in the end I will have gone trough over 48 hours between airport waiting and flights. I try to warn the broker of the delay, but the time difference makes it unlikely he'll get the message.
Back in Bangkok airport I was desperate to be online, but, unwilling to shell out the 250 Bhat per hour requested (it cost on average 7 Bhat x hour) I give up at first. Then I peek at someone's his laptop and he's got connection. So I whip out my brand new Dell and check out what's in the air. Thing I discover is that the Business resting areas, plecluded to ordinary mortals, provide Wi-Fi but it's unprotected, and so I log in with the Thai airline wireless.
I manage to send all my messages out and then switch off, as the connection is crap. Some more boredom, and next time I sit by the JAL Business area, and of course the signal is much stronger...I get playing bassdrive.com, and aside from the stares some even do a dance move or two. Pretty funny. Thanks JAL!
I finally land in Auckland, to be carried right away to the searching area, where my luggage is taken apart (with my bags nearly exploding already), and get asked over and over why I'm there, when I bought my ticket, when I booked it, how I paid for it, and why I was there and who I was staying with and another meaningless hundred questions. I keep a poker face for the whole time, though I could have killed someone right there...besides they even ended up letting me keep a knife my uncle gave as a good luck gift...go ahead and murder anybody, but don't let us find you smoking a joint or that'll be big trouble!!!
Anyway, Ian is at the airport in his Harley Davidson jacket as planned, so off we go to Westhaven marina to get me settled in my temporary abode and to have a quick look at Keturah. I will be hosted by a lovely couple living aboard their classic motor yacht, while Keturah is just across from us in the next pontoon. I unload my bags, take a quick look around my future home and then we go for a bite to eat at a local brewery.
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