A Series of Unbelievable Events

Tuesday, February 22, 2000:  A Series of Unbelievable Events

Approx. 8:00 am:  I woke up to see Doug hang up the phone and begin pacing the floor, muttering “45 minutes.  45 minutes.  45 minutes.”

“What’s 45 minutes?”

“We’ve got 45 minutes to leave for the airport.”

“No, we don’t leave until next Friday.”

“We’re done here.  There’s nothing else to see.”

“But…”

“We need to pack.”

I got out of bed; took a quick shower and packed.  Luckily, we didn’t empty our suitcases when we first arrived, so nearly everything was already packed.

We’re out the door in about 30 minutes.

On the way to the airport, Doug saw a sign indicating that Huka Falls was just off the side road.  He turned the car onto the side road, saying,

“Huka Falls?!  Let’s see the falls.”

Bewildered, I ask, “Won’t we miss our flight?”

“If we do, we’ll catch the next one.”  Doug responded cheerfully.

Just off the side road, hidden among a forest of trees and tall bushes is Huka Falls.  It is a small, beautiful fall with loud rushing water.  I snap a photo and we’re back in the car heading for the airport.

9:30 am:  Our flight departs for Queenstown.

Our flight briefly stops in Christchurch on the South Island.  We’ve got 10 minutes to run out of the airport to snap a photo of us under a post full of direction and distance markers from that point.  We then dash back into the airport to board our flight to Queenstown.

Arriving in Queenstown, Doug realizes he hadn’t secured a car or a place to stay.  Hmmm.  Think fast.  Doug picks up the phone, and then calls National Car Rental.

James, from National Car Rental answers the phone.  Doug proceeds to tell him that we’ve just arrived with no car reserved and no lodging lined up.  James cheerfully replies, “No worries, I’m on my way to the airport to pick up two customers now.  Why don’t I bring you back to our office and you can look at my guidebook to choose a place to stay?”

Within a half hour, James arrives.  We all load into his car back to his office.

At his office, we reserve a car for the rest of our stay.  James hands Doug a guidebook, highly recommending a few bed and breakfasts, in particular, The Stable.  James calls up The Stable to enquire if they had availability.  As luck would have it, yes.

Doug and I thank James profusely before finding our way to The Stable with the maps James gave us.

Upon arriving at The Stable, we are greeted by our lovely hosts Gordon and Isabel McIntyre.  We sit down for tea to discuss our plans for the South Island.  We’ve reserved an overnight cruise on the Milford Sound on Friday, February 25 returning for our car Saturday, February 26 then touring the South Island, returning Saturday March 4.

Isabel showed us to our room for tonight.  I caught that she said “tonight”.  I clarified that we needed three more nights.  By this time we were back in the living room, sitting on the couches.  Gordon explained that they were full up the rest of the week, BUT Murray and Barbara, their neighbors and good friends across the street also had a bed and breakfast.  Gordon had arranged for us to stay there.  Mind you, Murray and Barbara were currently leaving for their vacation, so we’d have the entire house to ourselves.

Doug and I were stunned by the good news.  Mistaking our stunned looks for disappointment, Gordon added, “Of course, you can come over here every day for breakfast.”

Still stunned, Doug and I looked at each other and instantly agreed on the arrangement.

With that, Gordon escorted us across the street to Number Twelve Bed and Breakfast to meet with owner Murray, who was busily closing up his house for his vacation.

Murray greeted us cheerfully with open arms.  He showed us around the house, including our room.  In the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator saying, “Help yourself to anything in the icebox.  It’ll all spoil, if you don’t use it.”  He then showed us to the pool and deck, which we were free to use.  He also showed us how to turn on and off the Jacuzzi.

We thanked Murray for his generosity.  Murray replied, “No, no, thank YOU.  The place won’t be empty and it’ll be safe with you here while I’m gone.  Here’re the keys.  Bye.”

We walked back across the street to The Stable.  After a brief discussion with Gordon and Isabel for suggestions to do in the area, and pulling some brochures from their display, we took a walk into town.

While in town, we exchanged traveler’s checks at the Bank of New Zealand.  We also stopped at Habebe’s for chicken pita sandwiches.

On our way back to The Stable, we stopped at the Skyline, which offered a gondola ride up to a restaurant.  We took the gondola ride to (and from) the restaurant’s bar for cocktails.