My new Hat

On the recommendation of a third generation Australian I have splashed out and bought a genuine Akubra hat. It sports no words, no pictures of koalas and above all, no corks. It is a simple straw hat with a band. I bought it in the old established Strand Hatters in the beautiful 19th century Strand Arcade. It is as fine a hat as Sydney has to offer and I have walked round the city today with it proudly on my head, except for the one time it was blown off by a gust of wind.

I had a very delightful lunch with an old colleague who gave me a curious insight into the current financial crisis. Apparently, some time last year he was phoned by his bank at shortly before 5pm to be told that five million Australian dollars had just been paid into his account. Thinking the phone call must have been a mistake, he went online and sure enough, there was five million dollars just credited to his account. He phoned the bank back and to tell them this was an erroneous transaction, only to be told that it was not possible to correct the error as it was now past five o'clock and the bank had done its balance for the day. Furthermore it was Friday and the money could not be removed until Monday. On the dot, forty eight hours later he was contacted by the bank on Monday morning and told that the error had now been corrected but that he could keep the interest, as recompense for the time it had taken him in contacting the bank. Very nice, he thought, given that two days interest on five million is not insubstantial.

He thought no more about it until he was contacted again by the bank some months later to be asked to pay back the interest. He pointed out that he had been told to keep it. There was a quick, muffled conversation at the other end and then he was told, yes that was quite right, it had been agreed that he could keep the interest. My friend said that with banks chucking money around in such a cavalier manner, even though he was a chance beneficiary, it was not surprising to him that we are in such a financial mess today.

Finally, while having a beer on Circular Quai in the late afternoon, I met a woman from Hokitiki, on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island. She gave me lots of good advice about my visit next month. Almost the best thing she said was that it is a myth that it rains all the time on the west coast. Indeed at this time of year, the weather should be excellent. Good news.