The $200 Apple Incident

The bus from Hervey Bay to Brisbane was nice and uneventful. This bus driver treated everyone like adults and as a result we had a smooth, pleasant ride :) Tinbilly's, the hostel I had booked in Brisbane, was right across from the transit center and so I was able to drop my stuff and go exploring. To be honest, the only thing I really did was to visit an outdoor store to buy long underwear for my trek in NZ. Or if it's really that cold, I might just wear it all the time :)

Thursday I took the convenient airport link train from the transit center to the airport for my flight to Sydney. I was astonished to learn that there is no free transport between the domestic and international terminals and I was required to pay $4.70 to get there on the subway. Is there another airport in the world with this set-up? I arrived at the international terminal, only to wait more than an hour to check my luggage. Virgin Blue (or Pacific Blue) really is something. They do not offer complementary drinks (all items, including coke are for sale) or blankets/pillows on any of their flights, including this international one. They make Southwest look downright luxurious by comparison.

The real problems began when I went through the NZ Biosecurity checkpoint. I had declared food (one jar each of nutella and peanut butter) and stated that I had been hiking in the last 30 days. They checked out my boots... no problem, unlike when I had arrived in Australia. NZ doesn't take your word for it, however, they put all your luggage through an x-ray machine to ensure you're telling the truth. Apparently I had a small apple from the Fraser Island in the bottom of my bag; I had completely forgotten it was there. If I had declared this innocuous piece of fruit, they would simply have confiscated it. But because I had not, even though I was not deliberately trying to bring contraband into the country, they charged me a fine of NZ$200 right then and there. And this was for an unintentional offense. Am I the only one who finds this a tad bit unfair? If I was a NZ citizen who knew the rules, that would be one thing. But I truly forgot about the damn apple. A slap on the wrist, in my opinion, would be a lot more appropriate.

To top it all off, the Uni games are being held in Christchurch this weekend and beds are in short supply. I had to call almost every hostel listed at the airport before snagging the last bed at Coker's. This turned out to be not so lucky after all, since my thin blanket did little to insulate me from the cold window adjacent to my bed; I spent a very sleepless night.

Did I mention it's cold in Christchurch right now? Really cold? I am grateful for the hooded sweatshirt I purchased last minute at the Sydney airport; it's currently my warmest item of clothing. But things are looking up: I've moved into a more centrally located YHA, and am about to go exploring. Now if I can just put the apple incident behind me :)