Summertime and the living is easy, right? Not if you live in Auckland and you're trying to get to the beach, to work, home again, to an event, social engagement, to the doctor, the hospital, the airport, the shops, or even out of the city for a long weekend to escape the madness.
At any time of the year, hours each day can be wasted sitting in long lines of traffic, going nowhere fast.
Long-suffering Aucklanders have learnt to be creative: getting up earlier and staying at work later to beat rush-hour traffic; conducting business from home, behind the wheel or in the passenger seat; having coffee, breakfast, lunch or tea to go; carrying out personal grooming on the morning commute.
Some of us suffer in silence, some rage, and some make risky or illegal manoeuvres to beat the endless queue blues.
Aucklanders are sick of living with the city's traffic woes. The rest of the country is tired of hearing about Auckland's traffic woes.