Senior Constable Niall Shepherd (53) did not expect it to be.
The Dunedin community constable has recently returned from a six-month stint in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where he was head of security for the International Federation of Red Cross.
The civil war ended in May last year, but some issues arising from the conflict still remain.
Snr Const Shepherd's job had been to keep the Red Cross team safe while they worked.
That involved everything from making sure the fire extinguishers were checked, to analysing the political situation on a day-to-day basis, making situation risk assessments, updating rules and regulations for the delegation, and investigating incidents, he said.
"The dangers of the mission were unexploded ordnance, petty crime, kidnapping and disease. There was a lot of dengue fever there.
"But the biggest danger was being involved in a motor accident. The streets are chaotic - there don't seem to be any obvious road rules."
Snr Const Shepherd said his greatest challenge was communicating with the local people, and he had learnt valuable "people skills" during his posting.
"A lot of people in Colombo were very shell-shocked by the war and they have some residual mistrust for strangers.
"But I managed to win them over just by talking to them and being completely honest and open," he said.
Reflecting on the trip, he said working with "such a positive bunch of people" had been a real pleasure.
A highlight of his time away was being sent to Bangkok to help Red Cross operations after riots broke out in the Thai capital.
"There was lots of stuff going on, lots of dynamics, potential for issues because the Red Cross office was right on the edge of the riot zone," he said.
"It had its moments. It was a little volatile. We were close enough to hear gunfire."
After living in hot, humid conditions for the past six months, Snr Const Shepherd said he was pleased to be back on duty at the Dunedin Central Police Station, and was enjoying the bright, fresh air of New Zealand, and crisp apples.
"The weather is wearing a bit thin now, though."
