We left our hotel this morning at around 10:00 AM for our 1:30 PM flight to Melbourne. Around 2:00 PM, we found out that there was a mechanical issue that caused the flight from Melbourne to Queenstown we would be boarding to turn around and return to Melbourne. It looked like we would have quite a wait until another plane was sent to take us. And we were correct when we found out that the flight wouldn’t take off until 7:30 PM or maybe a little later. So, what do you do in a tiny airport terminal for 5.5 hours? Not much. Our guide, Jeremy, was able to contact the tour company and they sent a bus to get us and take us to an old mining town not too far away for a few hours. It turned out to be a nice diversion – certainly better than hanging around the two eating places at the airport.
Arrowtown is a charming little mining town about 20 minutes away, with tiny houses where the miners lived in the 1800’s. Most likely, the nicer houses were occupied by the bosses of the average miner. There were a number of cute shops, selling Merino wool sweaters at elevated prices and many bars and coffee shops with lots of folks enjoying a beverage. We settled on a gelato while we waited to return to the airport.
When it was time to return to the airport, we stopped at a bridge where people can bungy jump. So sad that it was closed! No doubt it would have been high on our list of things to do today. NOT!
We finally took off at 8:00 PM and got to Melbourne around midnight… totally exhausted from the journey. We know we will get a good night’s sleep, ready to get started with our tour of this beautiful city tomorrow.