Big Apple Summer

14 flights in 24 days. I think that's some kind of personal record. In other words Garry and I have just completed our annual pilgrimage Down Under. This year’s homeward journey was a little more exotic than usual. We stopped in Panama and Cancun enroute to New Zealand, then on to Sydney via Brisbane (for a day).


While Down Under we caught up with family and friends in a whirlwind six days; two days with my parents, two with Garry’s and two with friends. To maximize time with my parents we flew directly from Auckland to Tauranga where they now live. It was my second time flying one of Air New Zealand’s tiny commuter aircraft; the propeller-driven Beechcraft 1900D airplane. It carries only 19 people.

Our connection in Auckland proved to be the tightest of our entire trip thanks to the late arrival of our inbound aircraft. We literally checked-in with a minute to spare for our connecting flight minutes. A dash across Auckland aiport certainly gets the blood pumping.


We had a wonderful time in Brisbane catching up with an old friend, Enda, who we hadn't seen for several years. He took us for a memorable stroll along a lonely sandspit on the edge of Morton Bay. Beach scenes were definitely reoccuring theme this vacation; Cancun, Tauranga and Brisbane.


I also managed to fit in another Sydney Swans football game. Sadly, they lost their match to Carlton by a wide margin. I didn't much care. The experience of an Aussie Rules game in Sydney's Olympic stadium is still a lot of fun.


We finally made our way back to London via San Francisco and New York. I worked most of the week in the USA while Garry shopped until an extra suitcase was filled to overflowing. We found time to visit the outdoor observatory on top of the Rockefeller Centre, 90 floors above the streets of Manhattan. The view was as spectacular as ever! New York really does have a magnificent skyline.


Garry confessed that he’d never been up the Empire State Building. As you’d expect, I had to rectify this omission. One evening we braved the queues and ventured up to the 87th floor outdoor observatory. At 443 metres, it’s currently the tallest building in New York and is still the world’s tenth tallest building. The city at night is magnificent. During our visit the air was perfectly still despite our elevation, while a sea of lights stretched below us in every direction.


Our final day in New York was spent enjoying a leisurely picnic in Central Park. The weather was warm and sunny. We spent several hours people-watching and being entertained by territorial squirrels. The contrast with London couldn’t have been starker.

We’ve returned to Swiss Cottage amid headlines announcing England’s wettest August on record. On average, 120mm of rainfall has fallen across the UK so far this month; two-thirds more than normal. Forecasters are warning that the nation in on track to record its wettest Summer ever. It would seem that we timed our vacation perfectly. Winter in New Zealand was no colder than London and it's probably best not to mention the copious sunshine.