Dunedin - then arriving in Whangarei

Whangarei Falls


It's now Monday lunchtime - 11th December 2006.

We are in Whangarei. We will be leaving for the Bay of Islands tomorrow, probably staying around that area for 8 or 9 days before making our way back to Auckland and taking a flight to Wellington.

So how did we arrive here...

We arrived in Whangarei hot & flustered after changing planes in Auckland (on flight from Dunedin) and attempting to retrieve Rita's left luggage whilst at Auckland airport.
Our flight from Dunedin landed at Auckland at 11:55. We needed to be on our connecting flight to Whangerei (pronounced Fonga-Ray) at 12:35. We had a mission to complete within this 40 minute changeover time. That was to go to the lost baggage area at the International terminal and pick up the bag that was left on the plane on our Roratonga to Auckland flight (containing lots of pounds, US $ and NZ $, total was circa 600 pounds in sterling value - soz but no pound signs on this computer).
Trouble was the International Terminal is about one mile from the Domestic, so we had to run from Domestic to International - took about 12 minutes (WR: 3 min 45secs).
When we arrived at the Int. Terminal we had to locate the baggage desk. Eventually (time now about 12:20) we found the lost baggage office. Rita scurried up to the desk..."We've come to collect a bag - prop reference xxx, we need to be back at the Domestic terminal to board a flight in 10 minutes". Baggage attendant blinked at her. "Where are you going?" he asked . "Wangawee" Rita replied. "Sorry". "Wongaway". Eventually he established that we were bound for Whangarei. "I'll send it on there - now go and get your plane". We sprinted??? back to the domestic terminal only to find that our departure gate had disappeared. Rita pushed through into the security check area of another departure gate, much to the astonishment of one of the security gate guys. "Where's departure gate 34?". "Where are you going?". She shrieked "Wangawoo", the panic is obvious by now.
The security guy laughed then pointed us to where gate 34 was, which was in fact at the other end of the airport. Sweaty & hot we arrived and our plane (if you could call it that, for in truth it was no wider than a sewer pipe) was waiting paitiently on the runway. We caught it and sat like a couple of broiled birds for the next 30 minutes, which constituted the flight to Whangerei.
On arriving in Whangarei, we found that there was no car hire facility from the airport and we were about 10 miles from town, without transport.
Fortunately, help was at hand....
A couple of Kiwis were observing our movements and obviously took pity on us. They offered us a lift into the town. We gratefully accepted.
Turns out that this couple were looking to start a car hire business and run it from the airport. At least we could contribute something in payment for our lift as we had some tales to tell with regards to Car Hire. We were shown around Whangarei and taken to some very good accommodation, which they could reccommend. Their reccommendation was good.

Rita here. Hello everyone. Sorry about the disruption to the flow but I am going to tell you about our arrival at Whangerei, so will need to recap a bit on Leigh's introduction to it that he has just made above.

And so, here we are having just landed at this airport after only a 40 minute flight and we are still hot under the collar (& not only the collar!) after our frantic and quite useless antics at Auckland airport.

So, first things first, we need to assess our position. Now lets see. It is Saturday, (9.12.06) afternoon. We have no accommodation booked. We have no transport, and this airport is a bit out of the way. Aha, we spy a phonebox. Phone takes our money but does not connect. Several dollars later and lots of sudden disconnections at the point of hearing the receiving person say 'Hello' we attempt to hire a car from the airport so at least we can escape the airport and find accommodation. At the carhire desk we are told, 'No cars available - all out. No car until Monday'. Leigh who is quick to celebrate anything is likewise quick to become morose. Lots of self-flaggation for not pre-booking carhire going on when we are approached by a couple who are in their 40's (I guess) and asked us if we needed any help, and 'were we alright?'. As I say, Leigh's mood was glum and we must have looked desperate/pathetic (take your pick). We explained our predicament and next minute our enormous rucksacks were being hoisted into the boot of their car and we were happily sliding into the backseat. They drove us into the town centre and gave us a guided informative tour of the town as we sped by. His name was Tony and she was Michelle. They advised us where was good to eat, which places were expensive and pointed out the harbour and tourist information and suchlike. Not content with that, they insisted on pulling up outside various types of accommodation and seeing if it suited us or not. Eventually they recommended 'The Aaaron Court' aka 'the Quiet Motel'. They even waited until we were properly booked in to ensure that we were sorted, and then they proceeded to unload our rucksacks. We had to settle for offering them a mere 'thank you'but what we felt like doing was inviting them over for dinner and splashing out on some decent Pinor Noir. The Welcome to Whangerei could not have been warmer. We wish them really well with their airport taxi service but one word of advice to you Tony and Michelle, next time your passengers offer to pay; 'TAKE THE MONEY!" Bye for now. Rita. (Next 'voice' is Leons!)

Yes, Hello, Trotsky here.

10/12/2006

We took up a walk to Whangarei Falls today (see pic). Whilst we were there, some guy decided to jump off the top into the water. O.K. it's only 26 metres high, but Bungy Jumping without the rubber band looks a bit dangerous to me.
He survived unscathed, letting out whoops of triumph as he swam to the shore. Good to be alive.
We were talking to a Swedish couple who have moved to NZ and visit these falls and have a meal here each year on this day (as that's what they did when they first came to NZ). They said that a few people had died leaping from the falls. Apparently New Years Eve was a popuar time for such shenanigans.In true Kiwi style there are no barriers at the top of the falls to prevent anyone from getting to the jumping area.

11/12/2006

Still in Whangga. Managed to pick up a hire car today. Rent-a-Dent Datsun Sunny.
So, we've gone from posh RCI + sporty Toyota Camra to booking Pickled Parrot & Rent-a-Dent in about three weeks. What will become of us?
Guess what, we went to look at a house while we were here. It's amazing what you can get over here for about 130,000 pounds.
We're beginning to like the lifestyle over here and we are becoming drawn to Real Estate windows and looking at prices. Bit like when we go to Cornwall really.

Tomorrow - Pickled Parrot.