I love that name Townsville because it's so . . Australian.
It sounds like the home of Blinky Bill - the little koala bear I used to play with and talk to and cuddle - but only up until I turned 43.
It was an unplanned stopover for JK as the great Air Force jet he and his large contingent of followers, catering staff, advisers and members of the media were travelling in struck technical problems.
They always call them technical problems.
In the good old days of piston-engined aircraft they'd report a dropped valve or a cracked piston ring.
But such things do not happen to RNZAF Boeing 757s - they get "technical" problems.
They tried twice to get airborne for Mumbai, and his engagements there, but the technical problems kept emerging so they called a mechanic and he had it towed to the garage, or whatever.
It was not a good look.
Yes, technical things happen but apparently with this particular 23-year-old aircraft they have happened before.
Nothing major, more annoying I daresay.
But I'm sure the Aussies soaked it all up.
"You might be able to beat us at rugby but you can't get your PM off the ground."
The answer is simple, surely.
We have a world acclaimed and respected airline called Air New Zealand and they have lots of really nice planes and they bear our colourful emblems.
Why not use one of them?
And so to trains.
Getting the Napier to Wairoa rail line back into shape and ready to host great trains bearing logs is excellent.
It's not just the fact that they will take a big chunk of the heavy transport heat off a highway which in places is not even as accommodating as a suburban street, it's the fact that here is a long-standing and well proven transportation system which, when compared to roads, is surely a lot less maintenance demanding.
Railway lines are quite simply practical and they are already in place.
Every time I see one rumble through the city bearing 20 or 30 containers I smile and I do not damn it for holding me up behind lights and barrier arms.
That's a lot of container trucks not travelling that beautiful Marine Parade.
And so to automobiles.
We've all heard the stories about how the minute you exit a new car sales room and put a few klicks on the clock the value drops by a grand or so.
Well, it drops a whole lot more over 20 years, despite the fact the engine may be faultless and it never fails a WOF and "reg".
A couple of weeks back my son and I were in my dear and faithful old Mitsi, parked at a red light, when a less capable member of the driving community decided to try and cut in front of another vehicle right in front of us.
They both had a green but he tried to make an impossible turn, and the impact sent his car into our stationary and innocent one, stoving in the front and the rear as we were punched back into the equally unfortunate car behind us.
Result?
Well, it is set to written off.
It is dinged but driveable but the repair cost outweighs what the insurance assessing crew reckon it is now worth.
Put it this way - it is now valued at a fraction of the $8500 I first insured it for.
But guess what?
While the insurance crew reduced its replacement value as the years ticked by they didn't do the same for the premiums I still had to pay.
I worked it out. I've paid over $10,000 to keep it insured, which means for a crash where I was the innocent party I'm now effectively about $9000 out of pocket and soon to be car-less.
It's vital to have insurance but whoa.
