Above: Our go-around before landing in Queenstown.
Kim and I fly to Queenstown together with his sister Jo for a little tripping around the Central Otago and neighbouring areas. It may be a good opportunity to do some touristy things at a low price before overseas visitors are allowed back into the country from 12 April, less than two weeks ago.
The both of us departed on the Air New Zealand flight scheduled for 1230, but delayed about 15 mins due to luggage loading. The scheduled A321 had been replaced by a smaller A320 probably because the flight would have been less than half full on the original aircraft. Despite the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, drinks are still not served on the flight but a snack given for consumption after disembarkation.
Our pilot carefully negotiated us through the Gibbston Valley and made the final approach to Queenstown airport. But after we had reached the clear open area with housing in sight, we pulled up up and away suddenly.
The pilot announced that we had to go around due to wind shear. We were second time lucky, landing about 30 mins late in total.
Jo was arriving on Jetstar, now only an hour later. We collected our rental car from Yes Rentals and got a few groceries and gifts from the supermarket before returning to the airport to pick her up. Quite strangely, we saw a neighbour from our street while parked up in the pick-up area and Jo saw a colleague who had been hunting.
It was about a 2h drive to Miller’s Flat where we would stay for two nights with friends Caroline and Mark, and Caroline’s parents Sue and Brian. They have an amazing eight-bedroom mansion by the Clutha River with the national cycle track in front of their 8 hectare property. They had bought the house for a steal, compared to Auckland standard (equivalent to two small units) and one couldn’t build it for less.
In fact, this property had been lovingly built (personally to some extent) by the previous owner as a lodge before they realised they weren’t “people” people. Since houses of this size have limited market appeal, it suited our friends personal situation with elderly parents and children/grandchildren in Dunedin.
They had a nice dinner prepared for us and we ate in.
Our friends’ property.
It is situated by the Clutha River.