Part 5: North to South and South to North
I arrive at AKL domestic terminal and head towards to departure gates to see security isn't open yet. its just gone past 5am and I have just under a two hour wait for the flight. I pull up a chair and whilst waiting for McDonalds to get the coffee machine going I make a FaceTime call back to the UK. After a chat and a coffee along comes 5:45 the security opens and I'm through to the gate and the another wait for boarding.
Air New Zealand NZ519
AKL-CHC
Economy 15D
Departure 7:00 (scheduled) 7:00 (actual)
Flight time 1h 26m
This is another first again as I’m flying with Air New Zealand, They have certainly made an impression with their creative safety videos and some innovate products in the long haul market so I'm curious to see how they serve the domestic market. It amazes me for the countries population it has a very well connected and robust flight network with a lot more domestic flights than back in the UK.
For the first flight on an Sunday morning it's surprisingly busy but everyone you can tell are regulars so the boarding process is swift. My biggest worry for me is my hand luggage, whilst waiting in the lounge there was regular announcements saying that baggage allowances will be strictly enforced. Whilst my suitcase is just about on the limit of size my Samsonite carry on has become somewhat engorged with paper work collected and I feared they make pick up on it. One bonus of BA is the laissez faire attitude towards cabin baggage which you can take for granted but no one mentioned a word and I get my bag above and the other under my seat.
Flight departs on time and behind me a group of Canadians lads are chatting away, the cabin crew are all younger females and they do a good job of working the Canadians, being borderline flirty yet professional, they give them extra cookies and the Canadians boys are really feeding off it. You can sense they are thinking, ‘I hope all Kiwi women are easy like this’ Yet when they get to Queenstown they’ll find more Europeans and North Americans than the locals!
We land ahead of schedule and it’s straight through (I always get a childish enjoyment out of really quick domestic arrivals walk) over to Hertz rental counter. My presidents circle status only seems to really carry any weight in the USA and sometimes in the bigger European counters, but the staff have everything ready, I booked the cheapest hatchback and find I have a Mazda Saloon. For a rental its surprising high on mileage but it has a lot of features, keyless entry, HUD and other high specs like blind spot assist, overall a good win in the rental car rodeo and Im in and out on the road for the hour drive to Ashburton.
Im down here to meet a company we’re looking to do a joint venture in the NZ. With us supplying the product and them providing the staff, sales, marketing and logistics in New Zealand. I picked down here rather than the North Island because of its connectivity. 'NZ Couriers' is the major parcel service in the country and it can get parcels from this area to nearly all of New Zealand next day. It’s also a town thats going through a bit of a resurgence as companies and people move out here from Christchurch in the aftermath of the earthquake with cheaper rents and prices.
The drive is fairly quiet but it's quite a sight with the near pancake flat Canterbury plains in front but with the snow capped mountains directly to the west. The company have put me up in the only ‘hotel’ in the town, New Zealand is still much the land of the motel and whilst the differences between the two is very subtle I get to the Hotel Ashburton at 9:30am. The receptionist is the usual Kiwi friendly and when she discovers I'm a Brit she tells me she is coming to the UK for two months with her husband in November. I give her a couple of tips on where to go which she writes down enthusiastically and fortunately my rooms is ready to check in. I grab a shower and lie down for a short nap, the MD of the company I'm meeting texts me to tell him when I arrive, expecting him to tell me a meeting time, however this never comes. In the end I decide to go to the supermarket for some essentials and go for a quick run, the first real chance to do any exercise on this trip. To be honest after 10 days I’m quite happy to shut down for a day and be lazy. I take in the delights of Sky NZ's movie and sports offering on TV, I go to a ‘gastro pub’ just down the road that opened 3 weeks previous for dinner and get to bed nice and early for what I expect to be a long day in an office.
Day 11:
I wake up at 5am, my body isn't really on anytime zone and I manage to push through to 7am dozing here and there. As my body clock isn't synched anywhere my eating patterns are the same. I don't fancy breakfast and just have orange juice I bought from the supermarket and head down to the company I'm meeting. The rest of the day is spent thrashing out the terms of this joint venture, effectively we’re supplying the product and technical knowledge and they are going to supply the staff, sell and market it in New Zealand, it’s fairly painless and despite a short break for lunch It’s sat in one chair from 8:30 till 4pm. Ashburton doesn't have huge amounts of places to frequent in the evening but it's off to the pub. I learnt enough from my two trips here to know that Kiwi’s love to have a ‘yarn’ aka a chat.
I have a strict no shop talk policy when at a evening meal or drinks and this is easy to achieve in New Zealand and they often talk about anything besides work. The MD of the NZ company has a 15 month old daughter so he doesn't want a long boozy night and this suits me. I'm back by 10pm to the room and off to bed.
Day 12:
The business is about 95% done now, I originally assumed that this day would be a continuation in the office but everything was agreed and we don't have much else to discuss. I have a quick drive around the area and catch some of the sights. This parts of New Zealand is part Fens and parts alps, the juxtaposition between the two is eye opening, The MD of the NZ company tells me of a couple of leads close who they will target first, so I make passing stops. I talk about rugby and the Labour party proposed water tax should they get elected in 2 weeks (this is a very contentious issues with the farmers and irrigators) and tell them to talk to our associates here.
Some of the views to be had on the Canterbury plains.
It's 12:45pm and I’ve done as much as I can. I call Air NZ and they have room on the 3pm flight to AKL, I change the ticket, head to the office. Say my goodbyes to the everyone and drive back to Christchurch. If everything goes to plan I will be coming down here once or twice and year. South Island roads have plenty of passing lanes, so the drive is an easy hour. The New Zealand government is investing a lot in the major roads, with a pipe dream to making the major routes all dual carriageway at some point. I arrive at CHC with 40 minutes before the flight. Besides one meeting tomorrow morning the work here is done and I'm starting to feel a little off duty.