Wanaka at last!

Finally in Wanaka, got to my accommodation at 9pm New Zealand time Sunday 24th, after ~38 hours travelling. Went from Dublin via London, Bangkok, Sydney,Christchurch and into Queenstown, then a bus trip up to Wanaka.
There were thunder storms in Dublin,London, Bangkok and Sydney. Generally each flight was delayed by ~2 hours apart from the flight from Dublin which was only delayed by 30 minutes. London was hell as I was in late in to terminal 1 and had to get to terminal 4, luckily though my bags were checked through, unlike Sydney.
I had to clear customs in Sydney, which meant I had to collect my bags,
go through customs and check them in for the flight to Christchurch. It was only when I arrived in Sydney and checked my onward connection I realized that I had less than 2 hours to make this connecting flight. This was after I had been traveling for almost 26 hours.

The baggage reclaim in Sydney was packed, and there were crazy long queues to exit it (for some reason all international flights seem to arrive into Sydney at the same time) To enter Australia you have to get all of your bags scanned, even if, like me, your just transiting through!
In desperation I stopped one of the immigration/customs people who was standing around surveying the chaos. Explained that I had to catch a connecting flight in under and hour and unexpectedly she stamped and signed my arrival card, and I didn't have to get my bags scanned.
Then Qantas pulled a fast one when I went to check in my bags for the flight on to New Zealand. I had traveled internationally to Sydney (under BAs rather generous baggage limits), but my forward journey included the domestic flight between Christchurch and Queenstown, and as a domestic flight Qantas has a "one piece only" 20Kg baggage limit. So I ended up paying AUS$360 to get my gear the rest of the way from Sydney.
Also Qantas managed to tear my new snowboard bag!
I just made the connecting flight to Christchurch with minutes to spare, they were announcing my name as I was going through the security check (actually the security personnel in Sydney have a good sense of humor) Then the plane sat on the concourse for almost an hour waiting for the weather to clam down so we could take off.
I then had to clear customs again in Christchurch, and check my bags in again. The Qantas people tried to charge me again for excess baggage, but by this time I told them politely that I had already paid the excess baggage cost in Sydney.

The weather though this week has been a bit like Ireland. On Monday it was a crisp sunny winters day, and I explored a bit and went for a walk along the lake edge. Then the weather changed Monday night and there has been rain showers since, so it has been damp and cold all week.
Not that I have been out of the apartment much. My body clock is still in good old GMT time, come 4 a.m. I am wide awake and bushy tailed unable to sleep. So I have been watching movies, then at 7 a.m. I'm wrecked tired again and sleep through till 4 p.m. Then in the evening I am almost asleep by 8 p.m. Though I blame the comfortable couch and warm fireplace in the apartment!
I did manage to wake up during Thursday afternoon early enough to go and see the Transformers movie and check out the Paradiso Cinema. I enjoyed the movie, I think it is the best summer blockbuster movie I have seen for a while.

My course in skiing and snowboarding starts next Thursday. I'm still apprehensive about it.
Also on Thursday I will be leaving the lovely Belvedere apartments and moving into the Alpine resort where I will be for the next 12 weeks.

Start of a Journey

Start of something...
The longest journey starts with the smallest step.
Got a great text from Rob, right at the start of the day...
5 days to go, 5 days to go..
Hey ho me daddyo 5 days to go...

So I finish up in work in 5 days. Almost 9 years to the day after starting in Digifone, 9 years of technical support and troubleshooting. All of it interesting, most of it challenging, some of it even fun.
Though not quite what I imagined I'd be doing for the rest of my life, when leaving college in '98. Though I wasn't really sure what I wanted to be, what i should be doing so I just went with the flow. A bit aimless in life.
Nothing major happened, no sudden shock to the system, I just realised it was time to go for a change. SO off to New Zealand it is.
The next few months I'll be avoiding anything technical (apart from web and stuff)
Daunting doesn't quite describe it.
I'll start with a small step, a new mantra
"I will be strong, I can stop telling people how to FIX IT.."