At the weekend Mhairi and I managed to get off to Rotorua, to do a little bit of climbing, and we also to see The Motorcycle Diaries about Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara travelling about with his friend Alberto Granado – which made him the man he became. Good film.
On the way we made my first trip to a driving range.
Got a bucket of 100 golf balls and off we went.. I was pleasantly surprised every time the ball flew nicely.. which it did a bit actually. I think Mhairi was surprised. I don’t think it’ll ever be a game I get into – but it is something I could do from time to time – on a nice hot summers day (with no wind!!)
In fact,on Tuesday, Danny – the brother of Dean (one the members of Mhairis adventure racing team) and I went out for a round of golf.
155 strokes later I was finished on the 18th hole! Definitely happy with my first attempt.
And then Wed back down to ChCh. Flew out from Auckland.. I stupidly didn’t check if it was possible to fly into Whakatane… it is.. and only costs $5 more. Would have saved a nice 8 hour driving round trip for mb (thanks so much for the lift!)
It was great being up on the N.Island, really had a great time, and it was lovely to be warm again – and to see the sun! ChCh has been quite cold of late.
Came back to a very nice surprise though – and this (to me) is a classic example of how different NZ is. I came back to quite a few bills – and a letter from the IRD (inland revenue department). My heart sank. Until I opened the letter. They – the tax department – had written to me (without any prompting) telling me that they wanted to cut me a cheque for $440 .. if that was ok with me… Today I called up – and their totally automated telephone system (one of those ones you can talk to) took me through the process – and a cheque is on the way. Whole process of calling up -> hanging up took about 1 minute. Maybe I’m missing something.. but does it happen in other countries where the tax department writes you a letter to tell you that they owe you money – and make it so simple that it takes 1 minute to get the cash?!
I know, another pro-nz rave.. but there you go. I’m a resident now, have to be true to the cause.
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