Back to Reality

It's pack up, back to Christchurch day. The perennial gather everything up and squash in to fit. Usually it's an overloaded car, today it's a bag I have to get Kahu to help zip up. Without splitting the teeth. I take an old family bag, one that's been around for ages and has been superseded by cases on wheels. As with most old, forgotten things this bag has stood the test of time- one handle is all you need. I freak out about the weight and discard a woollen jersey and whatever else. Airline rules rule. I don't want to pay for extra baggage and I can live without what I've left here for the past two years. 

Lynette drives Kahu and I to Queenstown. The hills are shrouded with mist and there's water cascading through the Kawarau Gorge. We travel slowly. Compared to pre-Covid the roads are quiet. Central Otago is a popular tourist destination and there are usually more rental cars than local but not anymore. 

The airport is quiet too and, as we check in, I pick up the "we're not getting out today" vibe. Visibility is poor and there are some big lumps of rock close by. We don't need another Erebus.

Soon enough the PA grounds us. With no accommodation. I ring my cousin but she's sick. Then Kahu remembers we have closer family in town, Nic and family. We're at her waterfront apartment with limited view because of the mist in no time. We're on a 1:30 flight tomorrow. Could be worse.

                                                                    Kelsey- neice