Piece of Mind

Heading home...

All the programmes I came to New Zealand to deliver are done. Hurrah!

It's been a enjoyable and full-on couple of weeks in lots of ways. I'll probably post more about this when I get back home.

Talking of which, I've been missing Fio and Callum like crazy. Can't wait to see them again.

I have one more business meeting over lunch today then it's off the the airport to puddle jump via Melbourne and Dubai back to Glasgow, arriving Tuesday lunchtime.

See you on the other side of the planet...

Quintessential New Zealand

At last!

I spent a few days chilling out up at Mangawhai heads earlier this week with a few old kiwi mates.

We were on the water both days, and after years of trying, I finally got up on one water ski. Hurrah!

I found it a bit like making the transition from snow skis to snowboarding - less 'technical thinking' required and more of a natural connection to the land/water.  It felt wonderful to dig the back of the ski in and carve some lazy sweeping turns. I was grinning from ear-to-ear for ages!

Richard got up on one ski for the first time too (pictured here in 'Special Boat Squadron' pose).

      

Friends

Chris & Lainy threw a BBQ in my honour last night. Top time had by Paul!

It was great to have so many old friends in one place, all with wonderful stories to share. The last ones standing, sitting, are captured above.  More photos here.

I also got to see my new 3-week old niece Kendra. Very cute. Funny to see my little brother in 'dad mode'. Both he and Di will be great parents I'm sure.

Short post today, as I have to go help Chris pack the boat for our two days up North for a bit of waterskiing and boogie-boarding action.

Still have quite a bit of preparation to do for the two days of work I have later this week, so it'll be good to relax and subconciously mull over a few things before getting back into it proper on Wednesday.

Now all I have to to is avoid any waterskiing injuries!

Touch wood.

Wish me luck!

I'm finding this New Zealand experience a bit of a weird one.

Don't get me wrong. It's absolutely fantastic to be be back here again ...  seeing family and friends, doing interesting work with bright people, warm weather, world-class coffee. It's all good.

But my head seems to be swimming in matters cultural.

I lived in the UK for the first 27 years of my life; the next 9 years in Auckland, then moved back to the UK about 18 months ago.

Where do I belong?

I have no idea. And it's bugging me a bit.

Moving back to the UK surprised me. I thought I'd hate it, but I found myself enjoying the feeling of being back in the middle of the world.  It's also been wonderful to witness the obvious joy that my parents and in-laws get from Callum (and vice-versa!).

I've grown professionally too. Over the last year Fio and I have created a business that allows me to creatively express my occasionally weird business thinking with the likes of the Royal Bank of Scotland, GlaxoSmithKline, Toyota, Natwest Bank and the John Lewis Partnership. And of course, my new part-time role as planning director at an advertising agency is pretty interesting and challenging too!

In a nutshell, it's great to be around family and my brain is being well-fed.

But I think when you live somewhere magical like New Zealand for almost 10 years, it's gets into your soul. Weekends away doing fun stuff in special places merges with the laughter of your friends into a visceral entity beyond words.

UK or NZ? 

.....................

Decision made.

Both.

I'm going to make it happen.

Wish me luck!

I may not return.

Back with 'the lads' for Tuesday night swimming, followed by a spot of Japanese.

Got a few jobs to take care of on Friday in Auckland and Saturday in Wellington. Then it's BBQ Sunday and off up North for a few days of surfing, water-skiing and fishing.

It's like I've never been away.

A travel diary, sort of.

New Zealand calls...

Which is why I'm currently 33,000ft above Indonesia bound for Auckland via Dubai, Bangkok and Sydney.

I had a wonderful 36 hours in Dubai with some old Kiwi friends, Tim (international arms dealer) and Pam (world champion 'safe flirt'). 

Dubai is the new Istanbul - East meets West, old meets new, etc.  Except, as far as I'm aware, Istanbul never had 500 cranes on the skyline, 150 battalions of Indian migrant workers, a virus of settling global corporates and more Ferraris and upmarket hotels you could shake a 2006 model mobile phone at.

In a nutshell, Dubai is a building site with a vision. 

I spent my first 6 hours wondering where the hell all the people that will inhabit all these expensive new apartments, office buildings and villas are going to come from. The next 4 hours getting my head around the fact all these new projects are sold from the plans, often up to 2 years before they're complete.

I gave up thinking about it all when I got lost in the downtown textile and spice souks (markets) with Pam and her 4 year-old daughter Sophie. Accidentally wandering through the middle of a Hindi religious festival with thousands of bare-footed men carrying plastic bags of fruit was an eye-opener too.

Dinner was especially nice, in a lush part of town called Muddy Nuts, or at least that's what it sounded like to me. Sitting with a glass of red wine after dinner, sucking on an apple shish (flavoured tobacco bong) looking up at the signature 'sail' hotel was especially sweet.

I was charged 60 quid for excess baggage at Glasgow on the way out to Dubai, which excluded the 7 extra kilos (mostly books) in my hand luggage that I had my brother-in-law Brian 'look after' for for me whist I checked in. 

So it was with much financial trepidation that I approached the check-in desk in Dubai for the next leg of my flight to Auckland via Melbourne. Luckily the flight was overbooked and I agreed to take a slightly longer flight via Bangkok and Sydney. 'Excess baggage sir? No problem, your new flight leaves in 20 mins, so shake your ass down to gate 17'.

Smashing.