Getting to Golden Bay

Flying off again

Today I make a 3 night trip to Golden Bay at the top of New Zealand’s South Island.  By flight from Auckland, Nelson is the gateway to the area for me.  My flight departs at 0945 and with light weekend traffic on the roads, I left home at 0725 and made it to the off-airport carpark at 0750.  With a shuttle to the domestic terminal available immediately I was at the airport at 0800!  Door-to-door in 35 mins!

With these domestic propeller flights, there is no security check and passengers wait at the public area.  So I had oodles of time to kill.  I ate my breakfast of fruit, yoghurt and muesli which I had made for onboard consumption.

Boarding started about 15mins before departure.  I was surprised to see a random security check using a handheld metal detector.

The ATR72 plane was full.  As I was on a staff ticket, I was surprised I had been confirmed on a few weeks beforehand.  With two crew on board, the safety script was read out by one and demonstrations performed by the other.  This included the exits and the safety card.  There was no demo of the life jacket but a reference was made to the instructions on the card.

The pleasant crew served water, coffee, tea and a cookie during the 1h30 scheduled flight but we landed about 10 mins early.

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Driving

I had a car booked with Omega Car Rentals for 3 days so I could get to Golden Bay.  It was around NZD42 per day whereas a bus trip was about the same price each way.  And I’d have to wait for the bus and fit in with their schedule.  It was an easy choice.  And I’d have freedom to move around while over there too.

The drive to Motueka and then Riwaka was nice and easy.  Then came the windy bit over Takaka Hill where there were supposedly 300 turns within a 45 min period and a 30km stretch.  The area had also been hit by a major cyclone a couple of years ago meaning that part of the road was reduced to one lane requiring traffic to take turns (controlled by a traffic light).  The final stretch from Upper Takaka to Takaka was a relief being nice and easy again.

As it was around 1345 when I arrived in Takaka, my tummy was calling out for food.  I grabbed a drink and a pie at a bakery before backtracking slightly to Autumn Farm.

My home for three nights

My home for three night is a slightly alternative camping ground.  I put up in the dormitory while there were cabins dotted around the nicely kept compound.  A kitchen and ablution block (with aa composting toilet) was near the centre for all to use.

I spent the afternoon relaxing, chatting with others and taking a rather cool dip in the pool.  I thought I’d be social on the first night and eat in with some of the other guests.  One of the volunteer workers, Lautaro (from Chile, even thought he looked like a dark Brazilian) was cooking tonight.  He made a vegetarian dish similar to a ratatouille topped with purple Maori potatoes.