I had an exciting business venture idea this afternoon, and I thought you might all like to hear about it - North Shore Tours by Karo. I discovered purely by accident that it would seem I am actually quite gifted in this area.
Let me explain.
I had an appointment this afternoon with a Surgeon at the Navy Hospital. A Bottom Surgeon, none the less, so my day was already nearing a high. I booked a car from MT, and was set to drive myself there. I didn't need to Google it - I have driven there once before with Neil and I'm brainy - Facebook said so. Also, as you can see below, it's pretty simple anyway - I mean... get off the motorway and head for the place by the sea with the really really big boats. But, for you more geniously-challenged people, or those who are not Aucklanders (bit of a conundrum there ) here is what Google says:
Driving Directions - oh yeah, it seems pretty simple from here, I hear you say.
This is the route I should have taken. Take note of Rangitoto Island out to the east - you can't miss it.
As you can see, Lake Road gets to a Y-intersection and veers off to the left. Of course, I hadn't recalled EXACTLY that it's called Lake Road, but I drive merrily along the entirely correct road, and eventually I veer off to the left. Some time down the road, I glance out to my right, from 12 o'clock through to my 3 o'clock, expecting to see the Sky Tower.
What I actually see is Rangitoto Island.
I look away, and look back again, because I know that Rangitoto Island is not actually there. But it is doing a very convincing job of looking so.
It's at this point that I should mention my sleep deprivation.
Our fire alarm went off this morning at 0300hrs. Well, it morphed itself into my dream, then eventually woke me to realise it was actually going off in barracks. So I drag my weary ass out of bed, throw my jacket and shoes on cos I know it's gonna be cold, and head out the door.
Remembering, of course, that Mr Fireman says "never ever go back for anything, just get out", I realise that I've left my cell phones on my bed. So I go back to grab them, and leave again. At this point I am still the only one to emerge from my room. I'm not quite sure what took the boys so long... We all muster outside in our little wee group, huddling around talking shit and bagging the Fireman who haven't arrived yet, and it dawns on me that it's 0300, I'm in my PJ's, and I'm with 36 men. And Neil is not one of them.
Bragging rights or just downright skanky?
So eventually the Fire-ies turn up, doing the typical Hot Fireman Calender poses wearing next to nothing at all. Well, OK, they WEREN'T - but it would have been more interesting if they WERE half naked. And hot.
Half an hour later, they discover no fire and a faulty trip switch - they can't reset our fire alarms. And they can't let us sleep in barracks with no fire alarm. An emergency call later to a Fire-Alarm-Fixing-Man and we're allowed to go back to bed. And by now I'm wide awake so I decide to text Neil... and then can't get to sleep until after 0518hrs.
So getting back to my story - I am sleep deprived, sore eyes and cranky (well, as cranky as I get anyway ) and Rangitoto has made an appearance where it doesn't belong.
I've spent three months navigating the Auckland harbours with a radar, I know the land intimately. My visual knowledge of the area just from driving around confirms my radar knowledge.
However, for some reason today I decide to ignore all this and conclude that the Island has probably just moved. I continue the way I am travelling.
And this is where I end up going:
From A to B to C....... to D, E, F. 45 minutes later I drive past the same scenery hoping like hell that none of the petrol station attendants or cafe customers recognise the car. The Royal NZ Air Force car...
*Cough* As you can see, it's quite a lovely wee scenic circle of the North Shores of Auckland. I didn't come across any other tour buses on my journey, so I think I might be onto a winner...
Off to bed now to catch up on some sleep - I don't want to end up at Ohakea tomorrow by mistake.
