Friday 20th January 2023
We departed our Airbnb, making sure we said goodbye to Steve and Dave the sheep of course! We’re driving to Aukland today to catch a flight to Queenstown, but will have time for a few stops along the way. First of all, we drove to the Village Green Bakery and Cafe in Otorohanga, where we shared a butter chicken pie. In Vietnam we had a mission to find the best Bahn mi, it appears we’re doing the same thing for pies here in New Zealand. This unfortunately wasn’t one of the best, but it was still a decent pie.
Being in New Zealand, we felt we had to see a kiwi before we go home, so our next stop was the Otorohanga Kiwi House.
Unfortunately it ended up being very underwhelming. I hadn’t appreciated just how shy and nocturnal kiwis were. The kiwi enclosures were in complete darkness and the kiwis themselves weren’t the most active of birds. So we got the occasional, very dark, shadowy glimpse of a kiwi and that was about it. Photos aren’t allowed in the kiwi enclosure, although I doubt you’d be able to make out any kiwis if I did try to take a picture!
I much preferred the huge walk through aviary. You walk around, and there are loads of parakeets and other birds flying around. They actually get very close to you. One parakeet even landed on a girls head when we were there (she didn’t seem very impressed though!)
There were also a few other outdoor enclosures with a variety of other birds. These were ok, but I’m generally not a huge fan of looking at birds in small enclosures.
We then continued our drive to Aukland, stopping at Hamilton gardens on the way. I was extremely impressed with Hamilton Gardens, it’s very cleverly laid out and exceptionally well maintained. Plus it’s free to enter, which is always a bonus! There are loads of small, individually enclosed gardens, each with a different theme. I particularly liked the surrealist garden, with the weird moving tendrils attached to giant sculpted hedges.
We had an early dinner at Szimpla Gastro Bar, which is right by Aukland airport. We shared a flatbread pizza and Bahn mi sliders, and the food was actually pretty good. After eating, we then dropped off our hire car at the airport.
When we checked in to our flight online, it came up with a warning to be at the airport at least 2 hours before the flight departs as there are likely to be delays at the airport due to it being very busy. We got there the recommended 2 hours in advance, and I was surprised how quick it was to get through security (maybe international departures are much worse).
We ended up being the first people to board the plane (as our seats were right at the back), and it was quite cool getting on a completely empty plane. The boarding process was very smooth and efficient, and shortly after take off the pilot announced we’d land in Queenstown early. The flight was pretty uneventful, until it came to land that is!
As we were approaching the airport, the plane suddenly changed direction and started rapidly gaining height. Apparently there was a fault with the plane. After about 10 minutes, there was another announcement. They couldn’t resolve the issue and the flight would be diverted to Christchurch, where engineers on the ground would attempt to fix the aircraft. We therefore had to remain on the plane whilst they worked.
Around 9pm we were eventually told to disembark and go to the Jetstar check-in desk to await further instructions. Being at the back of the plane, we were one of the last to disembark and therefore at the back of the queue. We waited for about 30 minutes then were told we’d stay overnight in a hotel and then fly to Queenstown at 8.30am tomorrow morning.
The queue was pretty slow moving, but we eventually reached the front where we told to walk over the road to the Novotel. We did so, only to find another huge queue at the hotel!
We eventually checked in shortly after 11pm and were told we had $30 credit per person to spend on food and drink. The restaurant was closed, but we could order room service. Annoyingly that didn’t seem to be possible, which I assume was due to the huge number of unexpected guests they now had (you had to order room service online, and it just kept saying unavailable). On the plus we had a huge, very luxurious suite. If only we had more time to enjoy it – as it was so late, we went straight to bed after the failed room service attempts, and it’ll be an early start tomorrow as we need to be at the airport by 7am.
Emma and Pete’s Asian Adventure 