2009: Palmerston North. "Glad it's you and not me!"
There are many stories around about rivalry between Auckland and Christchurch (seemingly a lot bigger than Sydney and Melbourne) and others about how Aucklanders believing the world ends when you leave the Bombay Hills. In fact other New Zealanders often call Aucklanders JAFAs (just another xxxxxxx Aucklander) because they get sick of the superiority complex. The following may be related to the latter. I arrived at Auckland in September 2009 en route to Palmerston North. I had to go through immigration at Auckland Airport, and was asked a few things about why I was going to New Zealand. The guy wanted to know where I was going. I was used to this in the UK, where, maybe because I am Australian or simply non-EU, I am always heavily interrogated as if I might be a criminal, but this is not normal at all in New Zealand, where there is mutual guarantee of access. I told him I was going to a conference and was about to fly on to Palmerston North. His response was "Well, I am glad it's you and not me!"