I wake in the dingy surroundings of the motel room. It's not very uplifting. Opening the curtains, it's equally dingy outside. The skies are dark and the rain is persistent. I have to vacate the room by 10, and I need to buy an interview-appropriate shirt. And somewhere along the line I have to get showered, changed etc.
I need to get to the shops quickly, so I shave and then put on my clothes from yesterday. After some exploration I find a shirt, and get back to the room as fast as I can. I'm out at about 10:05 (with a team of cleaners already busy in loads of rooms, the departure time seems particularly critical in this place). But I'm wearing yesterday's scruffy clothes, I'm not showered, my new shirt has the tell-tale lattice of creases, proclaiming "look at me - I bought this shirt in a hurry!", and I have a meeting in less than 3 hours. Everything is under control.
The Rotorua Visitor Centre is in the attractive Old Post Office Building (there are many interesting and attractive buildings in Rotorua) and includes a bureau de change that offers showering facilities. All I have to do is find somewhere to iron the shirt, and the motel owner comes up with the goods. He has a large laundry & linen room, in which he keeps irons and ironing boards for customers to use. They'd normally use them in their own rooms of course, but he obligingly says I can use them in situ - in the laundry room. So I'm sorted.
I don't want to iron and then re-crease the shirt, so I return to the tourist information building and shower (fantastic shower - after yesterday's disappointment in New Plymouth and last night's disheartening shower in the motel, I could stay in this one for an hour). Then it's back to the motel where I stand in the laundry room (in which a previously unnoticed hot water tank has turned the place into a sauna), iron the shirt into a pristine state, and get changed into my interview suit. I'm ready!
I meet Gary at the Information Centre, we stroll to Rotorua, meet their head of IT, and have a very good meeting. At the end of it, we've identified several things that we can help with, and the IT Director seems keen. Back in the visitor's centre, Gary and I have a coffee and talk about New Zealand. But we can't talk for long - he has to get back to Hamilton, and I have a mammoth drive down to Wellington. We part company and I begin the long, long, long drive South. I pass through Taupo and fill up again with petrol and coffee. Then it's the State Highway 1 again, south past Turangi, Waiouru, Taihape, Hunterville, Bulls, Levin, on down the Kapiti Coast and finally to Wellington.
The Portland Hotel has been perfect for me - close to the centre of town, reasonable price, comfortable rooms, nice breakfast and friendly staff. I recommend it.
I lay out my clothes - I have an interview tomorrow. Thankfully, the client company has a casual dress policy on Fridays, so smart casual is fine. I have another great shower and, clean and tired, I climb into bed. This last two days has been tough.
