The current Air New Zealand safety video takes place on a beachside basketball court. Wait a minute, I said to myself, just wait a darn minute.

Sure enough, it’s the park next to Orewa Beach, not far from chez moi, a place I often go metal detecting and occasionally go swimming.

It’s really fun to recognize places you’ve been when watching TV etc. I still frequently see the Pasadena City Hall that I used to visit in high school. In those days I could get a cheap ice cream cone at Thrifty drug a couple blocks away, get the bell tower key from the nice lady, and eat my ice cream with a super, and almost secret, view.

And whenever Lee and I see stock footage of the Eiffel Tower or whatever landmark we might have visited, we are compelled to yell out “Been there!”