Hurtling Across Canada at 700 kmh
Well ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls here we are again. Sitting in an aircraft seat (15D) Air Canada flight AC148 to Toronto specifically. This is the third trip to Canada I have made in 2011 and will not be the last for the year either.
I’m on an Air Canada plane but am going to write about Air New Zealand.
The flight from Auckland to Vancouver NZ84 was very pleasant. Anyone who has ever even glimpsed at my meagre contribution to the twittersphere will know that I am something of a fan of our national airline.
It hasn’t always been that way however, I remember being a very devoted fan of Ansett New Zealand and then Qantas for many years.
Coming back to Air New Zealand took a while but it has been well worth it. I am a very loyal passenger and enjoy getting to know the cabin attendants and lounge personnel on my regular trips.
I want to record a little of why I like them so much, and in particular the concierge service.
On this occasion the concierge (Aaron) was the same one I had on a flight in June from Vancouver to Auckland. That was a particularly memorable flight. I had been in the US and Canada (old job) and landed in Vancouver to connect with my homeward leg. Upon switching my phone on after the four and a half hour flight from Toronto it immediately went into overdrive with SMS messages from New Zealand. There had been another significant aftershock in my hometown of Christchurch. Several of my wonderful Christchurch staff had in the midst of their own drama thought to let me know so I could contact my family. I’m not too sure I’ve ever thanked them for this.
I telephoned my wife immediately. Thankfully Katherine (who it would be fair to say is not a big fan of earthquakes) was OK. It was a Monday in New Zealand when the quake hit and through good luck my youngest daughter Katie had had sore tummy and had not gone to Kindergarten that morning. This necessitated Katherine saying home from her work. Katherine works as an early childhood teacher and the protocol should a quake occur when she is at work means that she has to stay with her wards until they can be collected by their parents. This can take some time depending on the level of damage to the roads or bridges to our seaside community.
Our middle daughter Molly was also at home unwell. So despite the quake being large, Katherine was OK as she had two of our daughter’s with her. Separation anxiety is a considerable stress during earthquakes in Christchurch, not knowing where your kids are or if they’re OK is physically sickening.
So I was able talk to Katherine and establish that she had heard from Annie (our oldest, who was at high school and who had texted to say she too was OK). I talked for a while and then told Katherine I was going to get a coffee before boarding the long haul flight.
No sooner had I hung up than my phone rang. A good friend from work telephoned to tell me there had been another much bigger quake that very moment. It was (to say the least) a very emotion charged call… I was left with no doubt it had been a big and scary quake. I rang home straight away. Katherine was audibly shaken and I could feel the panic, fear and terror.
I did what little I could do by talking calmly and telling her to get to her family. Annie was on her way home from school, which had been closed due to the earlier shake. We didn’t know where she was.
I then received the boarding call for the flight. 13 and a half hours without contact. Grim.
Aaron from Air New Zealand came and found me at the gate lounge. He knew that I was from Christchurch, he told me that they we monitoring the situation and that he would keep me up to date throughout the flight. He was excellent, several times he came back to find me and kept me informed as best one can. He was the consummate professional. I was and am very grateful.
It was nice, therefore, to have a laugh with Aaron in the lounge before the flight on this trip and to get a chance to say thanks.
Special mention also to Tina and Jon on the flight today also. They were great.
My recent flight homeward in late October had Mary Jo as the concierge. She was equally awesome. As a regular traveller (polite way of saying Gold Elite) I receive a text message usually the day before the flight from the concierge introducing themselves and asking whether I need anything. I always say hi back. On this occasion I had neglected to do anything about looking into an upgrade from economy to premium economy and given I and done a ton of internal travel in Canada I thought a bit more leg room mightn’t be a bad idea.
I cheekily asked whether Mary Jo might be able to assist in the process of this (I’d left it too late to do online from my hotel). She cheerfully replied she could and did. Nice.
And the bit I really like is where I get little gestures that remind me I am welcome back. I tend to travel economy class for long haul (we are a small company and I am trying to maximize our travel spend in the number of trips I can make to clients rather than the location on the aircraft I sit). Notwithstanding that I’m in economy the Air New Zealand team equip my seat with water, premium economy toilet bag and headphones. And I frequently get a glass of port or some other nice surprise pop from the curtains in front. I love it.
I was once a premium One World member (the Qantas days). I was on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong with colleagues. They’re sick of this story… All three of us were sitting in economy together when the cabin attendant approached us asking for Mr Hygate. “Here we go chaps”, I said… “upgrade time”. She lent over and said (looking at a computer list) “welcome onboard”.
I laughed and laughed, how did my colleagues feel? Presumably they weren’t welcome onboard?
Well actually I do know how they felt as the same thing happened to me on a flight from Heathrow to LAX in June. I had a last minute seat change to Premium Economy and was siting next to chap who received a very warm welcome as a Gold Elite. He proudly told the attendant he had just ‘made’ Gold Elite. I am into my fourth consecutive year there. I was tempted to refer to chopped liver but was having such a comfy flight and after all I had the Cathay karma to make amends for.
I am interested to see how Air New Zealand will continue to reward their most loyal clients. I don’t see a huge amount of daylight between Gold and Gold Elite. I once heard that the number of Gold Elites was quite large, and I’m not that sure it’s hard to get there. I’ve banked enough status points to keep me there a while and that’s without the rather daunting 2012 schedule…
I do wonder whether a more status-based-upgrade-at-the-gate (where there are seats free) system might be cool? Then again I see that operating for Air Canada and United and don’t really like the whole litigation that can occur at the gate or the whole not knowing. I like to know where I am on the aircraft, it allows me to go through my own preflight rituals… But they’re the stuff of another blog entry.
Thanks Air New Zealand and thanks to the awesome team onboard.
Oh Canada…
I returned earlier in the week from my second visit to Canada this year. In June I travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba to participate in the International Association of Commercial Administrators (IACA) conference and then went on to Toronto to visit the Ontario Government’s registry team. It was one of the last trips I made in my former role as a public servant.
This most recent trip (a fortnight) saw me visit Regina, Saskatchewan, Toronto and Halifax, Nova Scotia. I was there in my new capacity as a Registry Consultant and as the Business Development Manager for Foster Moore, my wonderful company.
As I have been announcing to all and sundry I have now had the privilege of visiting eight of the ten provinces of Canada. I have only to visit Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. Then I’ll need to visit the three territories and I’ll be done.
I love visiting Canada. It has a lot in common with New Zealand. The people are consistently friendly and incredibly polite. I have never experienced such an orderly and relaxed disembarkment of an aircraft as in Canada. Nobody is pushy, everyone understands that we’ll all get off more easily if we take it in rows. There isn’t some self important tosser at the rear of the aircraft announcing loudly the importance of their connection as they steamroll past, as has been my regular experience south of the border.
I had a fair few flights on this trip and seven different hotels along the way. It all went very smoothly, in part because I just go with the flow these days but also because on the whole it is a very easy country to get about (or is it aboot eh?)
I picked up a couple of new travel tips on this adventure. Data roaming is prohibitively expensive when coming from New Zealand. I’m a big iPhone user and have all my travel material in my hand at any time. The problem is those tools that require an internet connection. What I’ve started doing is connecting in hotels or other wifi rich areas and then I’ll take a screenshot of the booking or the map I need. That way I have it in my photo album and don’t need a connection to access it. I’ve also started taking a photo of my hotel room number, such is my old age and the number of hotels I stay in… they don’t print the number on the key these days!
A friend tells me he regularly takes a photo of the licence plate of his rental car when travelling just in case it is stolen or presumably if he forgets what car he’s got!
I struggled a bit with the coffee differences while away. I am absolutely addicted to caffeine (admitting you have a problem is a good start I’m told). I wasn’t able to find much that resembled what we would drink in New Zealand. I had to settle for copious quantities of doppio espresso at Starbucks. A place I would never dare enter in New Zealand for fear of ridicule or extradition.
I caught up with some of my Canadian cousins over the weekend and enjoyed just chilling in front of an enormous telly watching the Maple Leafs defeat the Canadiens in an hockey match, the quintessential Canadian evening.
Definite highlights of this trip included curling in Halifax. I had always wanted to give curling a go and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It is deceptively difficult and a lot more physical than it looks. I had jokingly told people that I would likely break my leg on the ice. I needn’t have worried, after an afternoons curling I felt as though I’d been hit by a train. I used muscles I hadn’t awoken in years! I suspect I got a few funny looks as I attempted the stairs at the various airports I transited through the next day… I was rather stiff.
I enjoyed a flying visit to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police college and museum in Regina. All RCMP officers for Canada are trained in Regina and they have an excellent museum honouring the history of Canada’s top police force there. I also got to visit the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic which was very well done. The Halifax explosion was particularly interesting.
But for the most part it was a work trip and I met with a large number of people, some for the first time along with catching up with colleagues I’d met at different times. The meetings were all productive and the people warm and friendly. It is a real delight doing business in Canada.
I’m heading back up there again before the year is out and so will need to ensure a warm coat as it was chilly enough in late October. Can’t imagine how nippy it’ll be this time.
New Zealand is a beautiful country, great for thinking in.
A few random thoughts from the synaptic pathways…
I am currently with my family in beautiful Lake Wanaka for the first week of the school holidays. It is Katie’s first ever school holidays as she only started school in August. It is also her (and Molly’s) first trip to Wanaka. Annie was here as a two year old, so technically has been here before…
The older girls are currently engrossed in the Australia versus South Africa quarter final of the Rugby World Cup. They are excited about the All Black Argentina game later. Katie is singing away in the bath.
Molly in particular has become an avid follower of the whole Rugby World Cup. I have failed her regularly as she asks me how points are awarded or other rugby related questions. I must confess have used Wikipedia a few times to respond.
We had a lovely first day in Wanaka having arrived yesterday afternoon. It was a beautifully sunny day and we went for a wander to the famous dinosaur-slide park. We enjoyed morning tea (well coffee for me of course) at a café on the lakefront before the compulsory (for Katie) turn on every piece of playground equipment.
This afternoon we went for a more serious wander along the lakeside and along the waterfall track. We had our first barbeque of the season for dinner on the sun-drenched deck at our holiday home.
Wanaka is certainly beautiful and there is some serious real estate here. It always amazes me the wealth that some people must have that they can leave such huge and expensive (holiday) houses empty. I hope they’re all in the IT industry…
The drive South yesterday was uneventful and the roads were surprisingly quiet for the school holidays. Katie coped pretty well until the last half hour when the litany of “are we there yet?” commenced. It could have been worse. We once went to the West Coast with Annie and Molly (a five hour trip) and Molly at the age of two started the same litany as we drove through Redcliffs, the neighbouring suburb. It did turn out that she had chicken-pox at the time but it made for a rather tedious trip.
We are planning a trip to Queenstown in the morning and will head up the Skyline gondolas with Katie and then the older girls are keen for something a bit more exciting such as the Shotover Jet or similar.
Later in the week we’ll give Cinema Paradisio a look (it has a collection of old couches and even a Morris Minor convertible to sit on/in) and there’s also the Puzzling World to explore, thanks to the generosity of a friend.
On Thursday we head to Lake Tekapo for the last two nights of our break. We arrive back in Christchurch on Saturday. I’ll then have a half-day to sort myself out prior to my first work trip in my new role.
I have two weeks in Canada ahead of me. I will visit Regina, Saskatchewan, Toronto, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia. I am looking forward to the trip as I will be visiting in a different capacity than the past. I have some very good friends in Canada and will get an opportunity to make some more. I am contemplating doing some unadulterated tourism in the weekend I have in the middle with either a trip to Niagara Falls or Ottawa. I haven’t been to the Falls since 1993 so may head there.
It’s been a busy few weeks starting the new job and it’s nice to have a chance to have some thinking time.
Some morning wanders along the lakefront will be just the ticket to sort myself out.
Better say something…
It’s interesting this blogging lark. Somedays I find I have nothing to say, others too much. I have the usual head full of clutter at the moment. I started my new job a fortnight ago and have had a very interesting and enjoyable two weeks in Auckland coming to grips with it.
I am pretty exhausted, I didn’t take a gap between the old job and the new which was a bit silly I guess. I came home from Auckland last weekend but had my wonderful cousin Rob visiting from the UK so we spent a lot of time catching up.
I imagine I will hit the wall soon if I’m not careful as it has been ‘all go’ as they say.
I’ve been enjoying the changes that come with a new job. Some are big such as new colleagues, new role and so on. Whereas some are small, I have only worn a tie once in the last three weeks!
When working from Auckland I live in an apartment downtown. This enables me to leave a load of gear in Auckland all the time and enjoy the luxury of travelling with carry on only. It makes a huge difference being able to get off the plane and head straight to the car. The apartment also means there is some routine to the stay. I have never been a fan of the hotel room lottery, never knowing what sort of room one is going to end up with when checking into a hotel. The apartment is rather noisy however due to its’ location (right on The Quay and directly adjacent to party central for the Rugby World Cup 2011).
When in Christchurch I am currently working from home. I’d have to say I’m not enjoying this part of the new arrangement, so far. I am a social being and sitting in my study all day is not my bag baby…
It is early days and I can’t realistically be in Auckland every week (something to do with having a family apparently). I shall find some routine soon I am sure.
I am heading up to Canada a couple of times between now and Santa so that’ll keep me busy no doubt.
Apologies for the rather bland post, but some days are blander than others…
Auckland – some reflections.
For the diligent reader of this little blog you will recall that I am making my farewell journey to Auckland in my old role this week. It is definitely not my last trip to Auckland however as my new employer are based in Auckland. I shall be a regular visitor.
I will however, in the interests of fairness and with a sense of order, offer some reflections on my association with New Zealand’s most populous city.
I started coming to Auckland as a boy. My lovely Aunt Angela (one of my late mother’s sisters) has lived in Auckland for a very long time. We used to have many (if not all) of our school holidays in Auckland as a result. Angela was a police officer and has the most amazing sense of fun. So holidays were always highly anticipated and invariably memorable. The trip itself, from Christchurch was part of the adventure.
I can recall flying on Vickers Viscounts, Fokker Friendships and very early model Boeing 737s. We sometimes drove, taking the Rangitira from Lyttelton to Wellington and then driving to Auckland. Other times we caught the ferry to Wellington and the train to Auckland. I remember the wonderful night trip on the Silver Star.
When in Auckland we would ‘do’ the zoo, a day trip to Rangitoto Island (including the compulsory walk to the summit), MOTAT historic park, trips to Piha, trips to Orewa and lots of wandering around Cornwall Park and One Tree Hill.
I spent my 5th form year as a student at St Peters’ College Epsom. My dad had moved to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, and along with my mother and younger brother and sister I moved to stay with Angela for the year. It was an interesting year. I went from a school of three hundred to one of about nine hundred. I used to walk from Balmoral (where we lived) to school via Dominion Road and then along a railway track, dodging locomotives and there rudely gesturing drivers.
I didn’t really enjoy my 5th form year much and had occasion to bunk from time to time. I could walk from St Peters’ to catch a movie (or two) in Queen Street.
I remember also going to many ‘double-bills’ at the cinema down Dominion Road. My brother and I would go and see Clint Eastwood in those atrocious “Every Which Way But Loose” movies or the Cheech and Chong rubbish. I do recall seeing some of the best movies ever in Auckland for the first time however. There was a cinema up Queen Street that used to show classics and I first saw “Bridge on the River Kwai” and “The Dambusters” there, along with “Lawrence of Arabia”.
I once watched all three Godfather movies in a weekend at the St Jame’s in Auckland. The first two on the Saturday (back to back) and the new Godfather 3 the next day. Awesome. I spoke like a gangster for weeks.
I spent a lot of time mooching about the waterfront in Auckland.
In 1984 I returned to Auckland in what I like to refer to as my “monastic phase”. I thought I’d become a Catholic monk. I lived in a community of Catholic monks in a converted primary school in Herne Bay. Again walking and movies were a halmark of this year. I would walk all over Auckland. And as the monks had taught the Kerridge boys we got free tickets to attend any movie at the Amalgamated Theatre chain. A privilege a merrily abused. I saw “The Big Chill” that year, it was a movie that had a strong impact on me.
I had some interesting and diverse part-time jobs that year. On a Friday night I worked at the local butchers cleaning up. It was a real laugh but enough to drive one to become a vegetarian. Tales of maggot-infested drums of old meat come to mind.
During the week I worked as a nurse aide in a hospice. It was here that I learned to be very pragmatic and accepting of the reality of death. I believe the experiences I learned at St Josephs’ were some of the most valuable I’ve ever learned. I was exposed to the entire spectrum of dying. It was a very special experience. Little was I to know I would have to put this experience to good use with my parents so soon.
It was a rather lonely existence as a young fellow living in a monastic world. Monks are not supposed to have any personal relationships that would get in the way of their service to the Church. This clearly wasn’t going to work for me, as I was falling in love with everyone I met! (one of my traits). So I packed it in at the end of the year.
I then started travelling to Auckland for work in the late 80′s. It was, is and always has been the base for the IT development for the Companies Office. I have spent many creative hours, days, weeks dreaming up IT solutions and reengineering processes in Auckland.
I have some very dear friends on the Auckland staff. They are really what I enjoy about Auckland.
Until relatively recently (5 years maybe?) the Companies Office was located in the Auckland District Court Building. A foul building but relatively central. I recall numerous dinners at the nearby Mai Thai restaurant. I recall staying in a squillion different hotels in Auckland over the years. The tedious trip from the airport to the CBD which on some occasions took as long as the flight from Christchurch itself. What other city in the world has such a poor connection between the CBD and airport?
I love the weather in Auckland. I have a special affinity for the waterfront, in particular the ferry terminal area. I would spend hours just watching the boats and the world go by. I love Devonport and the ferry trip to it.
It would be fair to say Auckland and I have yet to really like each other. My past relationship with the city has been marked by adolescent angst and aloneness.
I am looking forward to learning to like the city more now it will be my HQ. Foster Moore have an apartment for out of town employees to use which is down on the Quay, overlooking the lovely harbour and close to the ferry terminal so that’s a good start…
Wellington and I
Well it is not long now. About 12 working days (as we say in the registry world). I completed my last trip to Wellington as a public servant last Thursday and Friday. This prompted a lot of reflection (a bit of a theme for the year).
I love Wellington.
It is the city of my birth, though I left there at the age of four when my father took up a position with the Ballin’s group in Christchurch. I was born in Wellington Hospital and went home to Harbour View Road in Northland. Later my parents were to build a house in Clouston Park Road, Upper Hutt.
I have lived in Wellington on two subsequent occasions, from 1989 – 1993 and from 1999 – 2002. I have been flying to and from our nation’s unique capital since 1988. I cannot count the number of landings and takeoffs I have had from Wellington airport, nor the number of times I have driven through the Mt Vic Tunnel or (my preference) ‘around the bays, driver”.
Katherine and I lived in a flat on The Terrace on our first tour there. We used to wander about the place in the weekends and climb Mt Vic or mountain bike around the place. Katherine worked in Newtown and I on Boulcott Street, so I got to sleep in and then climb 197 steps down to work. If I was feeling lazy I would catch the Cable Car up to the University and then walk down the hill to home. We would go to the movies at the Embassy or the Penthouse in Brooklyn, we’d go to Makara for a wind blown coffee or just wander down to the waterfront. It was a great time.
Our second sortee included our first two daughter’s, Annie and Molly. Annie started school in Wellington. We lived on that occasion in Eastbourne. It was a magical place. The bush, the sea and the isolation all endeared us to it. It is a place one only goes to if they are a resident or in search of an ice cream on the weekend. During the week Katherine and the girls pottered around with school and playcentre activities, and in the weekends we would play on the beach or wander in search of our own ice creams. We could easily pop into the eclectic Petone or bland Lower Hutt if we needed. I fell in love with wood pigeons (kererū) in Eastbourne.
I love the openness of the people in Wellington. It is a city of imports. Many of the people you meet are there for work and seem more open to meeting new people I find. I have made some very dear friends over the years in Wellington.
It is certainly a more ‘politically correct’ city. Being a city concerned with politics. It is also (and obviously) the home of the public service. It never ceases to please me that you can rub shoulders with the wide range of politicians on the streets of Wellington.
I enjoy the wander down Lambton Quay at lunchtime, the sea of suits and people heading somewhere with purpose. I love the compactness of the CBD. The way one can walk from a hotel on The Terrace (the Novotel was my regular) down to Courtney Place for a meal or a movie.
Heaven only knows how many movies I’ve wandered to on my lonesome in Wellington, so much better than sitting in a ‘cold dark hotel room’ as Sarah MacLachlan would sing about.
I’ve wasted days of my life in meaningless meetings in Wellington meeting rooms. Time I’ll never get back. I’ve signed into a myriad of visitors books, drunk gallons of caffeine (some of New Zealand’s best are to be had in Wellington Cafes) and eaten a fare few curries at the Monsoon Poon.
I’ll be back there of course, but it’ll be different. It’ll always be a dearly loved city to me. I did a bit of growing old and even a bit of growing up there.
It’s up to Auckland next week to farewell my team there… but that’s another story.
Like this:
Been thinking about the leaving speech…
Well being a digital native it is natural that I should record my leaving speech in the ether. Actually I have three leaving speeches to make. The first in Wellington, the second to my lovely staff in Auckland and the last to my wonderful team in Christchurch. All over the next few weeks.
How does one go about summing up 26 years in a brief speech? All the thank you’s and the witty anecdotes all crammed into a brief moment of time. I must confess that for a fellow known for his verbosity I am struggling.
I do know that I want to leave my colleagues with a real sense that I am so very grateful to them for the opportunities I have been afforded over my career. I want to thank them for the care they have shown me personally at the difficult times; the deaths of my father (1996) my mother (2010), the loss of our first child, the illnesses, the family dramas (children falling from trees and breaking arms etc) and those sodding awful earthquakes.
I want to thank them for sharing the good times! My wedding (1989), the birth of my three daughters (1996, 1998 and 2006), celebrating with me my university achievements (1998 + 2005) and the numerous awards, achievements and milestones within the office itself.
I want to affirm the wonderful work they have done for so long and with such generosity. I want to remind them that they are simply and outstanding group of people, they are so far from the mold of traditional public servants that I struggle to recognise the stereotype. They are innovative, focused on helping their clients and so very kind to one another.
I want to thank them for the laughs – I once received feedback through some formal assessment tool from one of my direct reports that read “Life is not all stand up comedy” – I take it I must have annoyed said report at some point. I loved the feedback though ‘cos I think life is hilarious. And had it not been for the laughs I would have left a very long time ago.
I want to assure them that I shall miss them all dearly. My move is not because I don’t believe in what we are all doing but rather it is a personal desire on my part for a change. I will miss them.
I want to acknowledge that I have worked with some truly wonderful people and with some absolute tossers, thankfully the tossers never seem to last in my organisation.
I will recount that great line from Lord of the Rings where Bilbo Baggins’ remarks at his 111 birthday ‘I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve” This is particularly true of the Southern Business Centre as there are so many new faces about at the present.
I want to exhort them to keep on the great work. To do ever more to make New Zealand a great place to do business, to be innovative and optimistic, to seize the opportunities to use technology to deliver clever service to business.
I want to say thanks and have them know that I really mean it.
But I’ll probably just waffle on a bit and then thank them all for popping in….
Of Hanmer I shall never tire
I’ve never had a bad holiday in Hanmer. It’s both a fact and a wee adage I have. I think it would not be too much of an exaggeration to say that Hanmer is one of my favourite places on planet earth. I am there now and on my walk this morning thought I might share my thoughts on this magical place.
To those reading who do not know it, Hanmer is an alpine village located in North Canterbury. It is a leisurely one and a half hour drive (well two from Sumner) from Christchurch. Nestled against the mountains Hanmer offers an all year set of things to do. The main attraction of the village is the thermal pool complex and I simply love hot water!
The thermal pools were long an attraction but at the end of the Great War become the focal point for the establishment of a hospital and sanatorium for shell-shocked soldiers. The Queen Mary hospital became renown for treating those with addictions in its’ latter life. The hospital was closed a few years back, sadly, but the development of Hanmer has continued.
As with many Christchurch people I have been coming to Hanmer all my life. I can recall day trips with my parents and siblings that inevitably included a walk up Conical Hill. It seemed like quite a hike when one was young but is a simple 30-minute stroll these days. Then there were the trips to the pools, a very simple affair in my youth with none of the Spa facilities, hydro-slides or themed rock pools we now enjoy. Three simple octagonal shaped pools and a cold water pool was the sum total. There were private pools as well as I recall but they were beyond our budget or need at the time.
I remember one memorable trip with my friend Glenn in his Austin A40. We were coming for a day and had flat tyre just past Mouse Point. For some reason Glenn didn’t have a spare so we started walking (the wrong way) in search of a garage. Some kind soul picked us up and we wasted much of a day getting the tyre repaired. I lost a woolen vest that had been knitted for me by my friend Kim on that day… random thought I know. I do recall we drowned our sorrows at the old public bar at the Hanmer Lodge and ate fish and chips for tea. Interestingly and completely out of the blue, he connected with me on Facebook today (he now lives in Aussie). Perhaps he knew I was here.
I came here on a couple of occasions with Special Camping Services (SCS). SCS was an organisation set up to take young adults with special needs on holidays. Parents and caregivers of people with special needs are entitled to respite care. An entrepreneurial fellow from Sumner had set up SCS on a model where the parents would pass the respite care monies along with a bit more so their children could go off on holidays (rather than just going into a faceless residential care unit). Along with a number of other young adults I was invited along to assist with the care and we received as payment our accommodation and food along with gaining from the experience. We went to all sorts of places over the three years I was involved: Nelson, Wanaka, Napier and on at least three occasions, Hanmer. We always stayed at the mobility lodge. The old forestry workers camp had been modernised and a specialized lodge had been built which provided excellent facilities for those with disabilities.
The SCS trips were always great fun. I remember one hilarious occasion where we took the gang to the pools. I was sitting in one of the pools with some of the guys and a girl called Cathy who had Down syndrome stood at the top of the steps to the pool. The pool was quite full with tourists. Cathy dipped her toe in the water and proceeded to pee down her leg into the pool. I was too comfortable to care and figured the water to urine ratio to be in my favour considerably. A great number of tourists disagreed and we ended up in a much less congested pool.
On another occasion we cleared the pool by singing loudly (and out of tune). There is nothing amorous teenagers like less than a bunch of lads who look different (Downs’ syndrome) singing.
We would work hard and look after our ‘wards’ during the day and then we’d pack them all off to bed and have a great time. More than once we snuck into the pools after they were closed (impossible now but relatively easy in those days) and help ourselves to the warm waters. I first watched the movie the Blues Brothers in Hanmer as I recall.
Katherine and I bought Annie here on one of the first wee holidays we ever had as a family. Annie was all of about 8 months old and we stayed at the old AA motor camp. We walked into the village each day, a fair hike. Annie had her first experience of the hot pools and loved every minute of it. She conveniently slept all day and was awake all night. Molly was not conceived in Hanmer!
We have been here as our little family or we have been here with Katherine’s wider family, all the sisters and cousins.
Katie ate her first solids here. We were staying at the Seven-away holiday homes and she was 5 months old. I first read a Terry Pratchett novel in Hanmer.
We have stayed in lots of different homes here. I always dream of having our own place but it is so easy to find a place to rent and we get to stay in different parts of the village. Some we like and go back to again, others we avoid.
We pretty much do the same sorts of things each time. We get takeaways one night and go out for dinner another. We have fresh bread from the bakery and I sneak off and drink copious amounts of decent coffee.
I tend to wake earlier than the others and go off on long rambling walks. I end up usually at the Powerhouse Café, I like it ‘cos it’s small and the coffee’s good. We explore the shops and occasionally do mini golf or the silly bike things.
We always do the pools.
I spent much of June overseas. I was in the US, Canada, Germany, the UK and Ireland. I was in Singapore in May. I have done an enormous amount of travel in the last 12 months but nowhere do I feel so relaxed and at peace. There is just something about this place.
We have had many family holidays here. Here we are again with Annie at age 15, Molly 12 and Katie enjoying her last days as a 4 year old. She will start school after these holidays. She too wandered up Conical Hill today. It started snowing on the way up which was rather magical.
All good things must come to an end…
Well after a mere 26 years, 7 months, and 12 days (or 9,720 days or 233,280 hours) of working for the New Zealand Companies Office I have decided that it is time for a change. I tendered my resignation this past week and my last day with the Ministry will be Friday 2 September 2011.
I am leaving to take up a role with the Foster Moore Ltd where I will be able to combine my geeky love of registries and IT. I will be helping develop Foster Moore’s international business and promoting their innovative services across the globe.
I noted in the email I sent to my staff that I have loved every minute (all 13,996,800 of them) of working for the Companies Office. I believe our office to be without a doubt the best companies registry on the planet, and I should know I’ve visited most of them.
The events of the last 12 months; the sudden death of my mother and the series of devastating earthquakes had really got me thinking in terms of the finite period of time ahead. I guess I want to do a few different things in order that I don’t have regrets when I’m sitting in front of the fish tank in my retirement home when I’m 90.
The actual giving of my resignation and the days that passed were relatively simple, I am under no illusions that all that time served will be remembered rather briefly before it is business as usual for those that remain. I am very proud of the great things that we’ve managed to achieve over the years, our clever use of technology (which I will obviously remain excited about given I get to keep building in my new role), our leadership internationally through organisations such as the Corporate Registers Forum but most of all for the great team culture we have built and which has endured for so long.
I remember being asked once what my leadership philosophy was. It is quite simple really, I have always held the view that people spend more time at work than at home and that my role was to make sure that the time spent at work was enjoyable. This meant (to me) that the work was valuable, had meaning, was positive and that people had a happy workplace. On the whole I reckon I’ve achieved that.
I never set out to be a public servant. When I left school I really had no idea what I would do. I entered a Catholic order of monks, the Christian Brothers, as a postulant with a view to becoming a teacher. This didn’t work out mainly as it was a rather solitary existence, despite living in a community of monks and I was far too young to be making such far reaching decisions. Upon my return to Christchurch (I had been doing the monastic gig in Auckland) I thought I had better get a job. I have never been unemployed.
I went for an interview at the State Services Commission, who in the 1980′s did all the recruitment for the public service. I had a very generic interview and was told that I would be contacted should a role suiting my talents (whatever they were perceived to be) became available. The following day I was contacted by the Commercial Affairs Division of the Department of Justice and after an interview with them was offered a role as a supernumerary cadet. I commenced service on 21 January 1985 with the New Zealand Companies Office, working in the records room. I received the princely salary of $7,646 per annum. I had to borrow some work clothes from a friend until I was able to buy my own.
My career with the Companies Office has been generous and varied. Over the course of my career I have studied for and received a bachelors degree in commerce and a masters degree in public administration. I have attended a multitude of training courses, including attendance at Outward Bound in the late 80′s which to this day I regard as a wonderful influence on my life. I have travelled extensively to many countries to participate in conferences, visit registries and to study.
I have made wonderful friends internationally and within New Zealand and the office. The Ministry has recently started using the Gallup Engagement Survey which includes a controversial question which asks “do you have a best friend at work?”. I never understood the drama around this question as I unashamedly do, it would be hard to be true to my leadership philosophy and not have friends at work.
I shall dearly miss my day to day routine when the curtain closes on this significant chapter of my life on Friday September 2nd. So much of who I (think I) am has been derived from being Justin Hygate Group Manager Business Registries. I have consciously been trying to ‘deconstruct’ myself over the last 12 months. Testing bits and deciding whether they need to be changed. There are a fair few bits I’ve not been happy with (the line from Springsteen -”When I look at myself I don’t see the man I wanted to be” resonates strongly from time to time). It’s very much a work in progress.
I am equally excited to be joining a creative, clever company like Foster Moore. I have known the directors and key staff for a very long time (they are the company that have built the clever technology for the New Zealand Companies Office for the last 16 years). They are great people whose values and mine align. They are honest, hard working and great fun. The best kind of Kiwi’s.
I shall get to travel, to remain wired into the registry world and to maintain the international friendships I have made. I shall get to devolve myself of some of the more tiresome parts of my day that public service life required (we’re not called bureaucrats for nothing) and I’ll get the satisfaction of influencing my income through direct effort, again not something that is easy to achieve in a large government machine. One challenge will be that I shall be based in Christchurch whereas the majority of the company is located in Auckland (and now Toronto). I will have to get used to a more solitary existence once again.
I am delighted that I am able to leave with head held high, the New Zealand Companies Office is in a good place and to leave government voluntarily is (in this day and age) always an achievement in itself. I will also be able to tell those fish in the tank that I did more than one thing in my life… and they’ll be pleased to hear that.
I look forward to the future and am grateful to the past for the way it has shaped me for better or for worse.
From the air above Australia
Well hello blogosphere. I haven’t really had much of an opportunity to scribble (type) recently. I have a few hours to kill on this flight to Singapore (en route to KL) so here’s an update….
Life is beginning to get back to normal after our devastating earthquake on 22 February. Katherine, Molly and Katie have returned to our home in Sumner. They spent over two weeks as ‘refugees’ in Timaru, a city two hours drive south of Christchurch. For the first week and a bit they stayed with dear friends of ours before moving into a motel.
Annie is still living with more friends in Papamoa (in the North Island) and attending Tauranga Girls’ High School. She is there with 11 of her rowing squad from Marian College. They competed in the North Island Secondary School Championships over the weekend and performed really well.
I seem to have spent a rather large amount of time commuting between family members, which I hope has made it easier for them. I have been based in Sumner and have been amazed at the speed of the repairs to infrastructure. We were without power for about 6 days and water for about 8 days. We have had major damage to the road access to our seaside community but this gets better daily.
Contractors have been working long hours and are really the unsung heroes of the whole earthquake. They just get on and get stuff repaired. Christchurch is a city of high-visibility vests and road cones and the moment.
Being ever the optimist I am hopeful that our lovely city will rise again and become a modern, safe and efficient place in which to live. I am worried for the inevitable politicking that will occur. I just hope that a charismatic and visionary leader is selected to drive the changes that we need through. I am in favour of a senior architect leading the design of the new city and in a well-structured plan. I loathe the idea that property developers will all have a go and add to the already disjointed arrangements we had. It is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right.
On the personal front I am enjoying the fact I have lost a rather significant amount of weight (10kgs) since Christmas. I had been getting tired of being overweight and uncomfortable in ‘my own skin’. Mum’s death last year had me a considering my own health and I feel a zillion times better without the surplus weight. Of course the rather nice complements on how well I’m looking are an added bonus! I am pleasantly surprised at how easy it has been to loose and keep off. Perhaps I am becoming more disciplined in my old age.
I am enjoying work, which is remarkable after 26 years doing the same thing (well broadly). I work with a wonderful bunch of people and being based in Christchurch I am able to avoid the more tedious ‘corporate’ components of my role, well not so much avoid but minimise.
I am typing this at 40,000 feet over Australia while en route to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore. I shall be in KL for two days participating in a World Bank Ease of Doing Business Seminar. I am really looking forward to it as I have been to KL only once before (and loved it). I have made some lovely friends over the years from the Companies Commission of Malaysia. I hosted a delegation from there earlier in the year. They send a really lovely and heartfelt email after the earthquake that was very nice. I’ll spend a day in Singapore on Friday and have meetings at the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, also dear friends. I shall be back in Singapore in May for the 8th Corporate Registers Forum conference. I am attending the IACA conference in Winnipeg in June so there is a lot to look forward to. The plan is to travel via Washington DC and to have meetings with the World Bank. I hope also to get an opportunity to travel to Thailand as part of my APEC work before the end of the financial year.
It is nice to loose oneself in work after an earthquake! Once I knew Katherine and the kids were out of harms way that’s what I was able to do. It was very therapeutic. I would get up each day dress for work and go into the office, usually I was the only one there, but I was able to clear email and just sort stuff out.
My office opened for business again today (14th) and staff members were invited to come back in from 10 till 4 and share their stories and just be with each other. I think it was a lovely idea and I was sad to miss it. But such is life and I’ll be back amongst them all next Monday.
The earthquake inevitably interrupted a number of projects that were on the go so it’ll be good to get them back on track.
On the domestic front we are looking to replace our vehicle ‘fleet’. My crappy Mazda is well over due for replacement and I am committed to giving it to one of the guys at my regular coffee house in exchange for a decent long black (I’ll get the better deal!). We are looking at getting a wee Toyota Yaris for Katherine in its’ place. And after having driven 8 and half hours through the liquefaction and flooding on the day of the earthquake I have decided that the Peugeot needs to be replaced by something a little taller and robust. I am looking at either a Hyundai Sante Fe or Toyota Rav4. I have friends with both and have been impressed with them. I’d like a diesel so we’ll just see what level of bankruptcy I can entertain.
Oh and I’m going to upgrade my tele to one that has at least 4 HDMI ports as we now have MySky, DVD, xBox 360 and Apple TV… I am a toy collecting tosser I know.
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