KEY POINTS:
On his way to Cambridge from Taupiri, Don Brash admits he's lost and promises to call back after he's consulted a map.
He rings a little later from the side of the road. He's made it to Cambridge but can't find the place he's supposed to be at.
It's the small as well as the big things that change when you're no longer the Leader of the Opposition and the loss of a chauffeur-driven VIP limousine is one of them.
Also absent are constantly ringing phones, a diary packed full of appointments and the constant attention to your every word and action.
Dr Brash, like many former political leaders before him, has had to stomach the ignominy of the deliberately averted gaze in the corridors of power during the past week.
He's cut a lonely figure, all of a sudden appearing redundant as the energetic broom of the new John Key/Bill English "dream team" appeared intent on sweeping much of his legacy into the bin of history.
He's the second-to-last MP listed on the party's website and next week he delivers his valedictory speech before leaving Parliament for good.
Casting a shadow over his departure is the fact that although he resigned, acknowledging his time as leader was up, Dr Brash believed he still had a significant role to play.
It is understood he genuinely believed he should be given the finance portfolio, but his colleagues wanted him out. It took what insiders say was a "messy" week of behind-the-scenes brokering for him to finally accept that.
Although he had decided some weeks earlier that he would resign and considered delaying it when news of the Nicky Hager book broke, it is understood he finally believed that if he resigned before it was published, his departure wouldn't be linked to it.
It seems an overly optimistic reading, again raising questions about his much queried political judgment.
Colleagues say Dr Brash has taken it all quite hard and has inevitably been hurt - but he's put on a brave face, for which he has gained credit.
The TransTasman political newsletter this week rated his performance a respectable seven out of 10 (Helen Clark got eight), saying "dignified exit, didn't have a choice. He's yesterday's man but he wasn't a failure."
Yet it went on to note he had "lived up to his reputation as Mr Magoo" - a reflection of the ambivalence about his tenure among political commentators.
Act leader Rodney Hide says it's "sad Don Brash is leaving politics" and he believes he has been "poorly treated" by the media's coverage of the Hager book.
Dr Brash's former deputy Gerry Brownlee said although he didn't support his bid for the leadership, he now believes history will judge him the right man for the job at the time.
It is indisputable he presided over the period in which the party was successfully rebuilt.
Dr Brash points this out himself, but rejects suggestions he feels discarded.
The change in his fortunes is "an odd sensation" but was his own decision and the right one for the party.
On the unwillingness to keep him on, he says: "I don't feel bitter and twisted at all."
But at 66 he doesn't feel "in the least bit like retiring" and is already receiving offers - including one involving a "substantial" overseas position.
If he has bristled at all since his resignation, it is over suggestions he and Mr Key are some way apart on policy.
"I think that's more perception than reality. He's been very clear on the Orewa stuff that one law for all is what the National Party stands for. He's talked about looking at the timetable for the abolition of the Maori seats, but that's something I discussed with the caucus before I left the leadership."
He admits he will miss "the privilege of being an MP" but says he likes driving himself around because he can listen to his own music - Neil Diamond, the Beatles and a little opera.
