A JAUNT 2

Jaunt 1 is our planned trip to Queenstown in August.

To be clear, this doesn't make us well-heeled holiday makers. What it does demonstrate is that there are some great places in New Zealand to visit that, for once (or again) are available without having to queue up behind well-heeled overseas tourists who put pressure on bookings and a premium on pricing. COVID-19 is a right bastard but the border closures will, for a time bring a lot of these tourism destinations within reach of the average New Zealander.

Before anyone bleats about the unfairness to the tourism and accommodation owners might I remind them that these same operators have been enjoying inflated revenues for quite some time and it's long overdue that prices come back a bit. Many Kiwis should take advantage of this 'window' which is really a 'win-win' giving them a deal and enabling the providers to get some return on their assets.

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Jaunt 2, in July was supposed to be cheap flights to Christchurch and a return trip on the TranzAlpine train to Greymouth with a couple of nights stay on the West Coast.

I heard that NZ Rail were running trips all through July at a heavily discounted price of $75 per person. I quickly tried to book but learned that all tickets had sold out fast. Bummer. I enquired about August but was told that July was a one-off and there would be no trips in August or later.
That's why we are going to Queenstown instead.

So, when I go to Wellington next week, in the second week, The Old Girl will take a week's leave and we plan to hire a car and drive to Napier via Martinborough. Given the polar blast that the region is experiencing, we'll have to hire a SUV or other type of 4WD vehicle. I'm glad that we're not planning to do that this Sunday as I heard that the Rimutaka hill road is dodgy and the high-points on the way to Hawkes Bay might be snow-covered. With luck this might change by 12th July. In Napier we'll stay with relatives for a couple of nights and, on the way up there, plan to have a couple of nights in Martinborough with some vineyard visits during the day. I'm hoping that there will be deals to be had for some extra-special accomodation.

Before Robert decries us for conspicuous spending I'll remind him that there are deals to be had in making such trips affordable and available to the average Joe.

The Old Girl's employers have a great arrangement with a rental car company since they use them a lot so I'm hoping we'll get a good deal.

We were planning, on The Old Girl's retirement, to have some overseas trips over the next few years but COVID-19, other pandemics, airline collapses and likely global financial crises have made this plan redundant. We now plan to do domestic tourism, visiting places we've never been or places we want to revisit. The next two months is a start to this.