Leg 5 : Flight Info

By now we were seasoned travellers, well practised in the intricate ritual of airport procedures. And then we came to Nelson Airport. As usual, we turned up 2 hours before the flight time, and checked in at the one and only check-in desk. The airport only handles domestic flights, and not many of them. In fact, the airport lounge itself reminded me of a coffee bar, only with more seats than you would expect.

For a long time, nothing seemed to be happening, and with 30 minutes to go before the flight time, we started to wonder whether we had got the right day (or place!). But, 10 minutes later, they was a tannoy announcement and we followed a group of people out the door on to the runaway tarmac:

Altho' we had booked the flight to Palmerston North with Air New Zealand, the actual flight was operated by a small company called Vincent Airlines. A very small company in fact, and we would have had Vincent himself flying the plane if he hadn't needed to take his Mum up to the hospital that day. Instead, his mate Phil was pilot. (Phil is the one on the far left in the photo above, helping with someone's baggage). The plane was a Beechcraft 1900D which is a twin engined turboprop aircraft. It carries 19 passengers at a crusing speed of 510 Km/hour and altitude of 10,000 feet. Because the plane flew a lot lower than the normal jets (which fly 30,000 to 40,000 feet up) and it was a clear day, we had a fantastic view of the landscape as we travelled north.