tickets please

A couple of weeks ago I went to the House of Travel show at Alexandra Park. I didn’t expect much, and I wasn’t disappointed. The show was mainly a vehicle for tour package companies to relieve potential tourists of their money, and there was very little of interest to an independent traveller. The tour brochures have been a great source of inspiration, however. In particular, the VisitBritain stand was very worthwhile - they had stacks of free literature that wasn't full of advertising and was incredibly useful and informative. Down the road the Flight Centre was also holding a travel show, so I had a look around (more of the same). However, I had a chat with a very helpful woman from the Newmarket Flight Centre, and now my wallet is $1300 lighter, and I’m the proud owner of a one-way ticket to the UK. I leave Auckland on the 27th of May, and arrive in San Francisco the same day. Unfortunately my friend in San Fran is flying to Spain on May 25th, so I’ll have to make other accommodation arrangements for the first day or two. I’m in America for a month (including a week in Baja) and I fly to London on the 29th of June. It's made the whole thing seem so much more real.