New Zealand Day 1: Arrival

We started with a very early 4.15 awakening at our Melbourne Airport Hotel. Planning our arrival at Melbourne airport a full three hours before our flight was driven more by the overbooked hotel airport shuttle than our usual abundance of caution or the dire warnings of the tourist industry at the start of the holiday season. We did share the shuttle with a bunch of footy players from Deniliquin on their end of season Gold Coast Trip. The boys were no doubt disappointed that the group of women netballers they spotted at the bus drop off headed our way to the International check in and not Domestic.

Our flight was about half an hour late taking off. Even sitting over the wing, we had some fantastic views of the Southern Alps on the way in. Deplaning featured a novel experience where the door opened and customs sent in a load of arrival forms to be distributed. We then had to complete the forms on the tarmac before we could get off the plane. A few more delays saw us in the rental car a bit behind schedule.

By this stage we were pretty tired. Cutting our ambitious plans for the first afternoon back, we had one stop on the drive to Kaikoura, at the Pegasus Bay Winery. We gave up on the idea of tasting, but we did have a late lunch of some of the best beef and chicken pies imaginable. No doubt because New Zealand sets much higher food standards for the amount and parts of an animal allowed in a pie than Australia does. Pies were followed up with a walk around the stately gardens, which were a combination of yea old England with a touch of Japan.

Highway 1 between Amberley and Kaikora was an adventure in the rain, twisting and turning up and down the coastal range. The decision not to taste wines was looking smarter by the minute. We arrived at Kaikora at dusk, dinner was of course seafood, although we settled for fish and chips rather than the local delicacy of Crayfish or Whitebait.

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