Monday, 11 June 2007

EL MUNDO DE LEIGH

This will be an account of my travels from Australia and then back again.DAY 1 & 2.
Melbourne (Aust.) to Auckland (NZ)


Well, my travels started in 'sunny' Melbourne on Saturday the 9th of June. I was awoken by the house alarm going off, as Mum and Dad entered the house. They had offered to drive me to the airport. It was probably a good thing that they did wake me up when they did or I would have been late, which is not a good thing when flying internationally.

I was inline in Melbourne for about 30mins and it was lovely having Charlotte with me. After checking in the bag, it was off to the departure gate. Mum, Dad, I did turn around and wave, but you were already walking and it was probably a good thing.

I flew QANTAS from Melbourne to Auckland. However at one stage, I didn't think that the plane would take off. We had taxied out and had just fired up the engines when a split second later, the Captain cut the power and it was back to the gate to get a part changed. An hour later and it's back to take off.

I landed in Auckland at about 5 and not the scheduled 4:15. There I was met by my friend Paola. That's her on the right and it's not a photo taken in a cop car, it's a back of a cab. I met Paola when I was last in Chile at the start of 2004 and we have kept in contact since then. It was good to catch up, as I didn't get to see much of while she was visiting in January, as I was sick from my Africa trip.

We went back to her place and dropped off my bags. While doing this one of her Brazilian friends, Sislania, came over. The three of us went to the Auckland water front and ate a wonderful dinner, which included a lovely Scotch Fillet.

I told a few NZ jokes to the girls and they loved the one about the price of lamb in NZ. I had to tell them very quietly as I don't think I would be alive now, if I said them out to loud.

We then danced the night away at 'SOUL', having a great night. I received a few funny looks from th guys standing around us, as I was dancing with 2 South American girls. Hey, I was having fun...

The next morning Paola and I went driving around Auckland, checking out the local shopping center and the view of Auckland from Mt. Eden (yes that is a volcano opening I am standing next too) We also drove to a small 'village' called Mission Bay. It was such a lovely little place. I really liked it's atmosphere. Again I was late in leaving for the airport, because of the laid back attitude I was having. Plus the Latte was too relaxing. Thanks for the experience Paola.

I arrived at the airport at 4:30 and my flight was scheduled to leave at 5:50, but again there were delays and the new time of departure was 7. Joy! as I could now look at cosmetics with Paola in the duty free section of the airport... I soon said my goodbyes and it was off to the departure gate for my long flight to Santiago.

DAY 2 (extended).
Auckland (NZ) to Santiago (Chile)

The flight from Auckland to Santiago is a long one. It takes over 12 hours and there is nothing too see, as it is at night and over the vast South Pacific Ocean. Let's just say that I did get a little sleep, I think about an hour or two, but most of the time I watched movies, short TV shows or played tetras. After leaving Auckland over an hour late, we made it to Santiago about 30mins late. So, why can't they fly that quick all the time? I know, faster spinning engines require more fuel...etc...

Now to enter Chile, you do not require a Visa, however you need to pay a reciprocal fee of $56 US or it's onto the next plane and you're out of there. That's the first cue you need to stand in and then it's the customs cue. The customs cue took over an hour and then it was off to wait 30mins for the bags to arrive. Then it was like being back in Nairobi, with guys running at you screaming out 'Taxi, Taxi, Senor?' There were more taxi drivers than passengers.

I finally found an ATM, took out some cash and looked for a 'Transfer Bus'. Of course non were available, so I had to get a cab. It cost me $14,000 (about $30 Aus.) to go from the airport in the Outer Nth West of Santiago to Las Condes in the Mid North East. Hopefully the picture on the LHS here is suitable for people to get an idea. That's the suburb that Paul lives in. The taxi ride over was great and made me use my Spanish, which surprisingly isn't as bad as I thought it would be. Thinking about it, I managed to avoid unwanted taxi drivers, find and use an ATM (in Spanish), take out some money, ask the information counter directions to the 'Transfer Bus' office and then chat to the driver for about 30mins in my semi-broken Spanish. Not bad after 24hrs with very little sleep.

Las Condes is the up market area of Santiago, a bit like Toorak.There are loads of high rise apartments, that have high fences and guards at the door. Every morning there is a procession of older women walking into these buildings, to either look after children, clean the houses and cook food. These ladies get paid about $20 a day and they work from 9am to about 8pm. (i.e. once the evening dinner is cooked and cleaned away. I feel sorry for them, but it is a source of income for them and helps with their family income and survival.

It was great catching up with Paul and Danni and meeting their daughter Natalia for the first time. She is 18months old and reminds me of Charlotte. I think I almost feel asleep a few times during conversations, but I survived until about 9 and then crashed. It was such a strange feeling being back in Chile.

For now it's "Asta la vista".

1 comment:

Tanked Garry said...

Oi! I want credit for the "Price of NZ lamb" and any other Jokes that you use! (second thoughts only the funny ones!)