Day 1 – New Horizons

 

Queuing for domestic security Wellington Airport

It has been over three years since we have ventured further than New Zealand and New South Wales.  A special fare advertised by Air New Zealand to go to Perth and Western Australia prompted Bev and I to decide on a new adventure.  We chose a date that coincided with Bev’s birthday and now I am on the plane to Perth. 

 

I was well organised and managed to get myself to Wellington Airport with what I thought was plenty of time.  The bus I took out stopped frequently through the central city.  It goes every ten minutes at that time of the day so it was nice that it was being patronised.  It would have been almost as fast as a taxi as it can avoid the congestion.  However I had not counted on what awaited me when I went go through security.  There was a queue just to get to another queue that leads to the screening area.  It took about 15 minutes or more to get through the checks.  The plan was to have some breakfast in the Koru Lounge but that was not to be.  Nor did I have time to get a coffee. 

 

They boarded the flight to Auckland quite early and then we had to wait while the laggards arrived.  The flight was full. 

 

We arrived on time in Auckland and I had a nice walk across the International Terminal. It was quick through passport control and security and I had time for a coffee and small bite to eat. 

 

They called us to to board the plane and when we got there we found that there was a delay and another 20 minutes standing around (all available seating had been taken) while they did something  on the plane. 

 

Then it was into the aircraft.  My hopes were dashed of having a Premium Economy upgrade when I saw the crowd of people waiting to board.  Sure enough there was no offer of a seat when I got to the boarding gate.  Then I had the hope that the centre seat would not have an occupant.  I had switched my seat to the one I had allocated hoping for some space but my luck was not holding out.  Not only that a traveller’s worst nightmare happened, and I had an overweight person sitting between us.  He spilled into my seat and of course the other seat so that we two skinny people were cramped into a very small space.  I am sure that Bev is going to find me a smaller version of myself when she sees me in Perth. 

 

Later

We arrived in Perth on time to a very quiet airport.  It  seemed quieter than Wellington Airport on slow day.  It was very strange.  I found a bus to take me to the Domestic terminal where Bev would be awaiting me.  The driver was very helpful.  When I arrived, a quick phone located Bev and we rendezvoused at the bus stop to take us to the railway station.  Fortunately, the Airbnb I had chosen was very close to the airport line. 

 

Before we knew it we were at our station and soon entering our unit.  It was clean but lacked some of the touches you get when going to other places such a nice little note, some ideas for where to eat and so on.  It was very much just a place to crash.  However, it is convenient to public transport. 

 

Two areas were identified for us to go and get a meal.  One was in Beaufort Street about a ten-minute walk away and the other a 1-minute train ride.  Beaufort was meant to have a few funky cafés so we decided to walk and see what was there.  I would not have called it funky and rather than having cafés grouped in one area they were spread out along one rather busy arterial route. On the plus side there was lots of work happening on narrowing the roads and generally tarting up the area. 

 

We found a pub to have a drink and sat in the waning sun and the cooling wind chatting away before we then went back to a little pizzeria that Bev spied called Two Mad Tuscans. 

 

It was a BYO which necessitated a quick walk to the local bottle store for a bottle of wine.  We were now ready to order.  The pizza we had was superb, one the best I have had outside Italy.  The owner, Mad Tuscan 1, told Bev that while Italy was a beautiful country it was not a good place to live and work, and while they had done it tough recently he was hoping to make a go of it in the place they now called home. It was nice way to end our first day in Perth.