Three years ago something happened to me that I never would have imagined in my wildest childhood dreams as someone allergic to cats and dogs – I became the owner of an Irish Water Spaniel, the only hypoallergenic spaniel breed.
Merlin arrived in Wellington Airport on February 18th 2022, having flown down from Auckland with his breeder. Eight weeks and three days old, he was just under 8kg, and small enough to lie across my forearm. He emerged from his crate and we had our first cuddle next to the airport baggage conveyor belt.
New Zealand is slightly larger than the United Kingdom by area, but with half the population of London, and split over two islands. The result is for a small country there's a great network of domestic flights, and it's not uncommmon to see dogs, cats and other small animals in the airport travelling somewhere – Air New Zealand even helps the Department of Conservation fly endangered birds and pest tracking dogs around the country.
Being a water spaniel Merlin adores swimming – he has long legs, with webbed paws the size of my palm. He's fearless in the water, and loves the surf – the bigger the waves, the happier he is. So I've been keen to get him down to the South Island to enjoy the fabulous rivers and inlets across the 'Top of the South'. I have a backlog of leave, and decided to take the first week of February off to visit friends who'd met Merlin before and weren't daunted by the prospect of him turning up to stay.
I thought I'd share some notes on flying Merlin around New Zealand as they may be helpful to others – and I remember trying to get my head around this back in 2023, when I had six weeks in Europe in and Merlin flew up to Auckland to stay with his breeder while I was overseas.
Flying with a large dog might seem daunting, but the reality is it's incredibly simple. Once I'd booked my flights I called Air New Zealand to add Merlin to my trip. The airline needed to know the combined weight of crate and beast, and reiterated that he needed to be in an airline approved carrier. Pets are counted as an extra piece of check-in baggage, and my work travel means I fly enough that I get to take a second piece free. I normally travel fairly light, so Merlin's frozen raw food for five days (packed in a soft-sided chilly bag) took up half my green duffle bag.
I arrived at the airport 90 minutes early to process his check-in. The airline's staff were unsurprisingly wonderful to deal with as they checked Merlin was happy in the crate before applying the zip ties to secure it (no need to bring your own). The rule is dogs need to be able to sit in the crate with space above their heads, and enough room to turn around. This means that while at 36kgs Merlin isn't a large dog, he's lean and rangy, and would only fit in the very largest size, called the 'Monster' (one up from the 'Giant', which is above the 'XXL'). This is an enormous thing, 120cm long, 85cm wide and 90cm high. Mum calls it his 'motorhome', as it has detachable wheels that makes moving Merlin around the airport fairly easy, albeit a bit of a spectacle. There's always lots of interest from people when we're moving through the terminal!
I paid the $120 pet carriage fee and Merlin disappeared through the oversized baggage portal. I could hear the ground crew on the other side clearly enjoying taking him on the next stage of the journey. The detachable crate wheels and his lead went into my carry-on bag – just in case my check-in bag went AWOL.
The AirTag bolted onto Merlin's collar meant I could follow his progress around the airport – and as we boarded the de Havilland Q300 I watched him being loaded onto the aircraft. The Q300 is the smallest aircraft in the airline's fleet (50 seats), and I could hear a muffled yelping from the back of the plane for a few minutes, but Merlin settled down for the 45 minute flight. When I collected him in Nelson I could see the ground crew had filled up the water bowl on the crate door before he left. All very reassuring – although I'll find a larger water bowl before we fly next as the one supplied seems to be sized for a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, not an IWS!
My friend Olivia picked us up, along with Coco, her six year old GSP / Lagotto cross. We headed for Tāhunanui's Back Beach, where the low tide meant there was a wonderful expanse for the dogs to zoom around and get to know each other.
Olivia and her husband Timo are the owners of The Pear Orchard Lodge – boutique self-catering accommodation in a charming building Timo designed, and built using timber from trees felled on their property and corrugated steel cladding recycled from when they had their house reroofed. Strictly no dogs (so it was very good of them to have us to stay). Merlin slept in his travel crate on their house's deck: cool and sheltered, his idea of bliss.
The next couple of days were spent exploring the rivers coming out of the Richmond Ranges; no snow melt at this time of the year so they were warm and incredibly clear.
The second half of the week was spent at a friend's bach (NZ lingo for a simple holiday house) in Pelorus Sound. No rivers, but lots of beaches, walks through the bush, and Merlin's first trip on a boat – heading over to an isolated beach for gin and tonics at sunset. He went to sleep each night utterly exhausted.
