Diary 1

Kia ora everyone

Before I get into today’s diary, if any of you are keen to follow me on Twitter this week for field trip highlights as they happen, you can do so by following @andrewpenny01 #memorialpark2. Get involved and I’ll catch you in the Twittersphere!

Kerikeri to Auckland

It was a lovely autumn morning in Kerikeri. It was hard to ignore the water calling as you made your way to the airport. It’s always difficult to turn your back on the Bay of Islands on days such as this. But getting the chance to check up on progress of the Memorial Park and underpass is also one not to be missed. It is certainly going to be an interesting few days.

It was a quick flight to Auckland. I don’t know what it is about the small Air New Zealand Link aeroplanes but they always put me to sleep – which is surprising because there really isn’t much room at all to stretch out and have a snooze! Nonetheless I managed a quick 30 minute nap and woke up just in time to take a photo of Rangitoto Island, Auckland’s youngest volcano. It certainly looks different from the air.

All aboard for Wellington

There was no time at all to linger at Auckland Airport. As soon as you arrived the call came out to board the next flight to Wellington. The ambassadors were really starting to get excited now. The 737 aircraft was much larger but we were lucky enough to have a whole row of seats to ourselves. Not even Labour Party leader David Cunliffe, who was sitting two rows ahead of us, had that luxury!

Take-off over the Manukau Harbour was smooth and you got a great view down towards the Heads as the plane banked left before settling into the flight south. There wasn’t a lot to see until you were nearly at Wellington. You had a glimpse of the Marlborough Sounds and South Island before turning back north for landing. The sea looked quite rough so it seemed Wellington was living up to its windy reputation. But despite the strong northerly it was a pretty smooth landing.

Before leaving the aeroplane the ambassadors were lucky enough to be invited up to the cockpit. It was quite a thrill for them to meet the captain and see all the controls in the cockpit. As you can see from the photo there are certainly more lights and switches on the dashboard than the family car!

Into the city

After picking up bags it was time to head into the city. That was a simple matter of stepping onto a bus and sitting back for the ride. That’s the handy thing about a field trip in Wellington central – the public transport is good and a lot of places are within walking distance. In fact as I sit and write this diary I can look out of the motel window and see a crane and the Carillion Tower – so you’re not too far away from where all the action is.

See you at Buckle Street tomorrow morning!

Andrew