Chris and Alla's Excellent Adventure (2024): 33. Three Hours in Chatham Islands Tuuta Airport & Transfer to Auckland

Today's flight paths

We checked out of the hotel and checked into our flight by 5:45 am and progressed down to our gate in the Wellington Airport. The gate lounge of Air Chathams and other small domestic carriers had the feeling of an abandoned garage. We got down to the gates from two long bridgeways that ended at ground level, and the gates were just doors that stepped directly onto the tarmac from this “lounge.” As we walked down to the gates after getting coffee, we were passed by two younger guys with a 12-foot-long fishing harpoon. I told him that I wanted to sit behind him so I could keep an eye on that thing. It was ultimately destined for the cargo area of a different aircraft, and he said the plane was so small that it wouldn’t be able to be loaded anyway.

"Goodbye, beautiful mountains of New Zealand"

When the little propellor plane finally took off at 8:30 am, there were only eight passengers, we were each allowed to occupy the two seats on each side of the aircraft in the back. The front half of the plane was occupied by empty plastic bins in vinyl bags strapped into each of of the seats. We learned from our flight attendent (also a Chatham Island travel agent and the school bus driver) that they were for transporting live seafood from Chatham Island to Auckland for export. It was a novelty seeing these empty containers on the flight to Chatham Island. The process of filling them up delayed our return from Chatham Island by two hours and filled the cabin up with a fish smell.

Uncharacteristically, I fell asleep during the flight. Therefore, I missed the opportunity to see its unique landscape from the air. Then, I missed the opportunity to take a long walk. If I had known that it would take so long to load fish, I would have left the one-room airport listen to the unseen birds outside or to take a walk through the burn yellow scrub. On the way back there were about 25 people on the plane and Mom and I set across the aisle from each other. I feel asleep again immediately, but even when I wasn’t asleep, I kept my eyes closed. I was tired, annoyed each time that Mom started explaining how the schedule change affected us, and with no interest in making any new travel acquaintances.

Chatham Island airport

Number 297

Vista from the front of the airport

Chatham Island flora

Loading live seafood into the front of the plane

Tuuti Airport - View 1

Containers of live seafood strapped in for the flight

We checked into the Manha Hotel, and I was so grateful that they had an on-site restaurant. The hotel was located in an industrial area around the airport with shipping and logistics companies and not much else. We got situated in our newest hotel room, went over the flights for the following few days, and went back downstairs at 5 when the kitchen opened. With the sun still out, it was sunny and warm and we sat on the back deck listening to the birds and the roar of airplanes coming and going. Once again, I patiently went over the itinerary with Mom, pulling up the online map that I created and explaining that we were going to have two Tuesdays and Wednesdays because we were going east across the international date line – more on that when it happens).

Manha Hotel dining area and deck

I needed to get some fresh air and had brought my binoculars with me, so I left the hotel for a long walk past warehouses and half empty office spaces until I reached the edge of a wetland reserve. By the time I got there I had already walked 1.5 miles and the sun was setting, so I didn’t get to spend much time there. Besides, most of the birds that I saw during my walk were actually along the streets-lined streets with the warehouses and I wasn’t seeing much along the nature trail. The last bird that I saw was within 100 yards of the hotel. I heard it first and looked around to figure out where the otherworldly sounding hoots and clicks were coming from. I looked around to find a blue, green, and bronze colored bird with a distinctive white throat tuft sitting in a tree across the street. It was a tui bird, endemic to New Zealand (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0K1q9JriDE) . I was pretty pleased with all the birds that I had seen and identified during my walk and my mood was back on track. It was an early night again, with alarms set once again at 5 am.