Wednesday 15 March: Weather 15°C to 16°C
Brisbane to Auckland to Nelson: Virgin Brisbane to Auckland, Air New Zealand Auckland to Nelson
Accommodation: Nelson Downtown Backpackers
Kitchen in Downtown Backpackers Nelson
A warm morning in Brisbane but by 3.00am we’re up. Have a cup of tea, finish packing and out the door by 3.45am in my “old 2004“ BMW which we have booked into the Brisbane Airpark for 10 days for $55. It’s still dark when we park just 20 metres from the Bus Shelter. The pick up bus arrives at 4.50am and goes via the Domestic Terminal before dropping us at the International. The automatic ticket gives us a standby ticket as we have booked staff travel through Bonnie with Virgin. Luckily when we take these to the service desk we are instantly given seats 13B and 13E - not together but at least in an exit row. The 3hr flight to Auckland is easy but it takes another hour after customs to clear biosecurity where they want to check every item in our food bag down to the last pea!
It’s only a 10 minute walk through the International Terminal to the Domestic Terminal where we are given seats on the Auckland to Nelson Flight. A nice Cappuchino then onto the plane which is full of large ladies from the Cook Islands, all dressed in identical puffy sleeved dresses but different colours. We later discover they have come especially to pick apples in the Nelson region.
Ww arrive in Nelson at 6pm and get a $27 taxi ride to the Nelson Downtown Backpackers run by an Iraqi who bought the business several years ago and is doing a roaring trade. We have a small double bed in a small room with a very small ensuite - but all very comfortable. There’s a communal kitchen so we’ve no sooner dumped our bags and we’re off to the Fish Choice supermarket just a few hundred metres around the corner - onions, tomatoes, capsicums, wine, 2 pieces of steak and tea inevitable cheese. We usually buy steak rather than lamb in New Zealand as the cuts of lamb are terrible - all the good stuff is exported. It’s a cool night out at 15°C walking back to the hostel where we have a late night feast.
The sporting stores are all closed so there’s no chance of buying a gas bottle, but the manager kindly offers us an iso butane gas can left by a traveller about to catch a flight out of Nelson - no gas cans on planes - we’ve done the same thing ourselves. In bed by 10pm.
