An early start at 7-ish though we're not the first up by any means. Our aim is to be outside the Internet shop for 8 to start the 10 hours for NZ$ 15 we;ve figured we can do. Eventually, I realise my nose has cleared overnight but it's still not perfect.
We hit the shop at 8 but the blokey's not on the case so we nip out for a coffee and a hot chocolate. She [the lady of the shop] thinks we're in to use [her Internet] cafe and says it'll take a moment to warm up
What, the coffee?
We leave the Internet shop at 12 to make time to drop the car off at 12:30. As we're slowly going through traffic lights with a couple of minutes to spare Helen choses to inform me of the small print I didn't read: NZ$ 50 per hour late -- or something ridiculous like that. At the rental shop the woman gives the car a once over. We claim the glove box died of old age but keep schtum about the boot. She says Alls well, bye
and we do a runner. I wonder what they'll charge me.
Speaking of which, my DIMIA application has reached the stage of being acknowledged with a form letter saying 50 weeks to process or 3-4 months if you're a fast track person, which I think I am. In the meanwhile they've charged me AU$ 1750 rather than the AU$ 1450 it said back in September. I'm sure on the form I only authorised them to charge AU$ 1450. Tsk tsk.
Natwest's credit card payment by direct debit is a bit confusing. I saw the bill unpaid. I hadn't had any word back about DD payments so paid it myself. Natwest then DD'd the £1400 bill again later in December even though I'd paid it. How irritating. Fortunately, the car rental and DIMIA charges have all but consumed that money so it's no "lost" in credit limbo waiting for me to use my card. I'll have to remember to put cash in the current account to cover any future DDs.
We plod back from the rental shop (kind of them to offer us a lift) and take lunch in a bagel shop. 
A bloke in a Penguin suit jiggles in the hot sun to the tune of a bad guitar player. Fortunately the bad guitar player is mostly masked by the bagel shop's PA playing flamenco guitar. My bagel turns out to be the most expensive thing I've eaten in NZ.
More Internetting, more wandering in our "break" period. More Internetting. A McDonald's as we've overspent today -- how have we managed that? [If Tez is reading, I could have sworn Jeremy sat at the table across the room. I didn't dare approach!] The final run in the Internet cafe was plagued by technical problems. They've put funny security policies on the boxes and none of the staff know what the score is. And the mice and keyboards are erratic. We don't get much done. I spend most of my time reading about vital things like Differential GPS -- it might work now I'm outside the UK. Back at the hostel we probably irritate the other guests by packing late at night. I'd hate someone like me.
Dorset House, Christchurch S43.52238 E172.62747 Elev. -18m!
Copyright 2003 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.