So what was supposed to be an easy day flying from Queenstown to Wellington to Napier turned into a bit of an adventure.
Woke up at 09:00 and went for a quick walk along the lake before walking to the airport. Flight to Wellington was ok, had about an hour and a half before the flight to Napier at 16:00 so grabbed a sandwich and coffee. The flight appeared on the board, then 10 minutes later showed cancelled. In all our travels this was the first time we’ve had a flight cancelled. Went round to the information desk and was told we’d be put on a flight at 19:50 to Taupo, then a bus to Napier, arriving at about 23:00. We’d arranged to pick up a car at 17:15 in Napier which we’d have to cancel. Decided to pick up the car here instead and drive to Napier which would take 4 hours – or so we were told. The car was a Nissan X-Trail which was bigger than I’d booked but it was ok.
The trip actually took about 5 hours because of an accident (not us), road works and the fact that the road is single carriage way with passing places every so often. We drove along the coast a bit, through lots of small towns, and then through a magnificent Gorge. At least I think it was, it was dark by this time.
Got to the hotel to find reception closed, but luckily the lady was there to give us the key. The room was great – a lounge, small kitchen, King size bed, 2 televisions and a spa bath. Very welcome after the drive, unfortunately we only had one night here. Tomorrow we’ll look around Napier, there are a lot of Art Deco buildings, then drive to Taupo.
