Ahhh air travel. I truly believe it has never been worse than it is right now. Airlines can be pretty annoying about all their rules. I now go out of my way to avoid flying through the US, regardless of the airline, because all the customs and security stuff drives me crazy. But New Zealand is a little different. We had a bit of a kerfuffle back in 2019 when our flights to Nelson got disrupted by the weather.
Chesney and I are taking an extended weekend trip to the South Island.
We’ve mapped a short 5-day road trip from Nelson through Greymouth to Christchurch. It’ll take us down the northwest coast of the South Island, then through the mountains via Arthur’s Pass. This is my first visit below the Cook Straight, so I’m excited to see what all the fuss is about!
It’s 4:30am and we’re shuffling the last of our stuff together before heading to the airport. The great thing about travelling with a buddy is splitting the cost of stuff. Two Sky Bus tickets cost $36. One Uber ride is $33, so not only cheaper and faster, but infinitely more comfortable. No contest.
We roll up to the airport and see a ton of cancelled flights on the board, which isn’t exactly surprising when there’s thick fog outside. But by some miracle, our flight isn’t one of the cancelled ones! We’re due to board in half an hour and feeling good.
But of course things can’t go that smoothly.
An announcement plays, and our flight is now delayed by 15. No big!! Take your time, Air NZ. We’re chillin’ as long as we get there today.
Okay, new update. Delayed by an hour. That’s not great but, we still haven’t heard “cancelled” like so many people around us, so that’s positive!
The airport is starting to get crowded. Some poor souls have just hopped on a 6-or-more-hour bus ride to Tauranga. We’re still hopeful and optimistic on this foggy yet fine morning.
Yeeaaaahhhh. Now 8:15 and they’ve officially cancelled the flight. We had planned to be there by now, so this is a major bummer. As soon as we’re notified about the cancellation, both our phones are buzzing with texts and email notifications from Air New Zealand advising us to choose different flights to Nelson. Ches and I don’t get to the 9:30 fast enough and it fills up almost instantly. Then we miss the 11, but get seats on the 14:15. Could be worse. At least we’ll still get there today.
But uhhh, what do we do for 5 hours?
Do we pay $33 to get another Uber home, and then another $33 to Uber back out here? Spend 100 bucks on Uber in the first 8 hours of our trip? No.
But do we stay in the airport and allow our mental health to deteriorate exponentially until 14:15? Also no. So we look up what’s nearby.
We find Butterfly Creek
Butterfly Creek is a family attraction with a petting zoo and a butterfly room (obv), and it’s just a 7-minute walk from the Auckland airport! And even though it’s Saturday morning and it will no doubt be full of screaming children, it beats the internal screaming I’ll be doing if we stay in this airport terminal.
Our spirits are def a little lower, but I’m happy we’ve come to such an easy conclusion about what to do with this unexpected “free” time. We wander around and check out the butterflies, live crocodiles, giant plastic dinosaurs, and creepy-looking unicorns. (Also plastic, in case that wasn’t clear.)
There’s also a ropes course next door at Rocket Ropes, if that’s more your vibe.
I don’t think I’d prioritize this on your first visit to Auckland. But if you’re ever in a situation like this one where you have time to kill before a flight, it’s worth a quick visit!
Back to the airport
It’s 1 o’clock and an absolute zoo in here.
Lots of people we recognize from this morning are still waiting around and looking miserable. The weather has cleared up, but flights are still being delayed and cancelled. There’s no guarantee that our 14:15 flight will even happen. And then, an announcement plays.
*I want to preface the next part of the story by saying I wouldn’t normally find this funny. But the entire experience was laughable and I’m hoping y’all will see why this announcement perpetuated everything.*
Last call for boarding flight NZ 5073 to Nelson. Paging Steven Thompson and Chris Fagg. Last call for boarding.
I’ve taken liberties with the spelling. But I’m also over here like, how dare someone miss a flight when everything is so backed up. Chesney and I have a giggle about the dude’s name blaring over the airport lounge speakers and finish our sandwiches.
The announcement plays again.
Paging Steven Thompson and Chris Fagg. Last call for boarding flight NZ 5073 to Nelson.
Alright. These clowns are cutting it way too close. We head to the desk and see if there’s any way we can catch this earlier flight if these guys don’t show up. Worth a shot, but I know there will be some arbitrary regulations against it. The desk dude asks if we have any checked baggage, which we fortunately do not, and takes our boarding passes while making another call for these clowns who are about to miss their flight.
Steven Thompson. Chris Fagg. Chris Fagg to the gate, please.
When no one comes to the desk, he shrugs and says, “It’s your lucky day,” and lets us through.
The flight attendant scanning our boarding passes cheerfully tells us to buy a lottery ticket. We are beaming.
As soon as we’re on the other side and the automatic sliding doors are closing behind us, we realize we don’t know where to go. It’s a tiny airport so the waiting area where we’ve just been sitting is for all gates 35-45. There’s nothing on our boarding passes because, ya know, this isn’t technically our flight.
I turn to a conveniently located security guard and ask him which gate is going to Nelson. He points straight ahead, so we start running down the tunnel. The plane is literally waiting for us at this point, so there’s no time to waste. Chesney is running ahead of me and drops his jacket. He turns back for it and I shout “LEAVE IT!”
We jog up the steps into the small plane and ask if it’s going to Nelson.
Nope, this one is heading to Blenheim.
Faaaaaack. We run back down, confused and aware of the ticking clock. We hook a right past the useless security guard, gunning it down another portion of tunnel to the next plane.
This one has Air Nelson painted on the side, so we must be in the right place. Chesney steps into the plane, where the captain is standing and says he’s flying to Gisbourne. I’m hoping he’s making some kind of sick joke, but Ches looks to his right and sees not one soul sitting there.
The guys in hi-vis vests on the tarmac are now shouting at us and pointing down to the very last tunnel. We have to do MORE running. Chesney is ahead of me and gets to the end of the tunnel first, shouting “nooooooo” as he can see the door of the plane. Closed, disconnected from the tunnel, and leaving without us.
This is, obviously, not the actual plane. I did not have time to be snappin’ pics.
But wait! The back door is open!
We sprint across the tarmac and up the stairs, out of breath and embarrassed because surely all these people think we’re the assholes who couldn’t be bothered to get on the flight in time. Thankfully, we’re allocated to the very back two aisle seats and don’t have to make too much of a ruckus getting our bags in the overhead compartments or crawling over our neighbours.
I’ve successfully stolen Chris Fagg’s seat and am finally en route to Nelson.
I’m picturing either:
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- Two guys who’ve made it to the counter too late and are fuming.
- Some guy giggling to himself in the corner after having made a fake reservation under the name Chris Fagg.
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Can you imagine a flight leaving from the US (or even Canada) just letting you hop on a plane that isn’t the one you booked? Never in a million years. Love Air New Zealand.