KEY POINTS:
From a reader: A couple of weekends ago while driving down Onewa Rd in Auckland this vehicle pulled out in front of us. We followed it down the road where it went on to the motorway to drive over the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Some motorists drove around it (as quick as they could) but we could see the top car shifting around and decided not to risk it, calling the highway patrol instead. We thought the description of a car, strapped to the top of a van, in the back of a ute, driving over the Harbour Bridge would be enough. But the police officer asked, "what colour is the vehicle?" To which we could only say, "which one?"
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Reasons why the Shimmin family of Papatoetoe won't be catching the train to Round The Bays next year:
1. Only the usual two linked railcars were put on.
2. The carriages were already full on arrival at Papatoetoe.
3. We managed to get aboard only by emulating sardines.
4. Many wannabe passengers were left at subsequent stations.
5. Our oldest son, Callum, was overcome by the heat and lack of air and collapsed in a dead faint, cracking his head on an armrest as we arrived at Britomart, much to the horror of his parents, fellow sardines, and train officials.
6. Little money was made for the betterment of the train services because the conductors couldn't collect any from Papatoetoe on: movement was impossible.
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Blog power: Last week a writer on the House of Travel's Kiwi Travel blog reported that her brother had his highly sought-after bottle of Watties tomato sauce confiscated on the way back from London to his home in the Cayman Islands. She has since updated that quick as a flash the sauce makers offered to ship a replacement more than 12,000km to the Cayman Islands!
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How to get bumped up to first class with British Airways: The body of a woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. Her body was propped up in a seat with pillows. The daughter accompanied the corpse and spent the rest of the journey wailing in grief. Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as "deeply disturbing", and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to "get over it".
