It was all go yesterday morning trying to make that plane, but I managed it and here I am overnighting in Hong Kong en route to Israel. The time change always catches me out as my body clock is so wired to wake up at the same time every day, so its no surprise that its 330am here and I am awake reflecting on the antics of leaving home and traveling at one of the busiest times of the traveling year. The irony of it all is that for the last 6 weeks I have been rudely awakened every morning by Russell, the prize cock on the Eroldale Estancia - crowing his head off announcing to all of the Eiffelton area that he is about to get up and give the four feathered girls he looks after a right old rogering to set himself up for the day. The one morning when I could be enjoying an uninterrupted lie in a cock free zone and I am still awake at the same time!
Finn and Reg have gone to a boarding house in Ashburton and I was relieved to know that they would be in good safe hands until my return when I dropped them off on the way to the airport. Relieved until I paid the $460 bill and was gripped by a tight pain in the chest as I swiped my EFTPOS card! That pain worsened slightly when I turned to find that Finn had just done a big crap on the office mat to say Happy Christmas to the person who was charged with looking after him for the next couple of weeks! Life was much simpler in the little “lock and leave” bungalow that I lived in until recently and when I slipped into the car dripping after having fixed a trough on the way out the drive to keep the horses watered in my absence, I thought “what the hell was I thinking”? Reg who can be quite an anxious cat with change, had nearly sent me over the edge with her continual meowing from the back seat and there were moments when I was thinking what a mad idea it was going away.
I met an old friend in the transit lounge while waiting to board the flight. He was heading to the UK and I was stoked to hear we were sharing the first leg of the journey. My joy was short-lived when the bugger waltzed up the front of the plane to take his place in business class. When the text arrived to inform me that he was most satisfied with the surroundings, I was wondering where I could get a bottle of chloroform and a hatbox from when I discovered that in the seat next to me was going to be a 6-month-old baby, sitting on his mothers lap for the entire duration of the trip! It could have been worse I spose? He didn’t kick me all the time, and he did stop grizzling intermittently when the mother shoved her boob in his mouth. I can tell you for ten hours that thing had a hell of a work-out, and I for one fully endorse breastfeeding in public as a means of peacekeeping.
It was pretty cool seeing all the Xmas decorations at the airport in Hong Kong. The lights in the corridor to the taxi stand were so beautiful that it was pretty hard to not get excited about the magical time of the year it is. The taxi fleet is interesting – they are everywhere and seem to be Toyotas of some type but definitely not what I was expecting to find. The red cabs for urban travelers, green for country and another colour for corporate. My driver didn’t speak a word of English and must have smoked like a train because the car reeked of tobacco and he coughed most of the 30-minute journey to my hotel. Lovely…
Anyway, how bloody lucky am I to have got here safely and have a few hours to go exploring before catching my connecting flight this afternoon?
