THE LONG WAY HOME FROM KOREA

Last week I was in Korea covering an event for a Korean client. All went well until the trip home when the volcanic ash cloud from Chile threw a spanner in the works. What was supposed to be a three hour transfer in Sydney turned into a 14 hour sit-on-my-arse-athon. Thank god for Air New Zealand. I was fortunate enough to get one of the last remaining seats on that day with Air New Zealand. I was more than happy to ditch my Qantas ticket and fork out an extra $300 for the ticket and get home to see my family.
As for Korea, I am always amazed at the amount of haze in the atmosphere. Although it is not too spectacular to look at it does have the advantage of acting like a giant softbox in the sky diffusing light. The accommodation in Korea is at a place called Rolling Hills which is a very plush resort but it is not open to the general public. It is the resort built by Hyundai to cater to international staff and clients only. It is probably as big, if not bigger, than any commercial resort in NZ. Kind of makes you realise how small our economy is in NZ. At least we have clear skies though - even if it full of volcanic ash.