Quick trip North and back

Sometimes I guess we all wonder why we don't go and get another job.. yep, even happens to us.. then you have a day like last Thursday.. I had to help some friends get a light plane to Auckland in time for the start of an Around New Zealand Flying Safari.. none of them had flown there before, so we all loaded into the 4 seat Cessna, and by 8:50am, we were heading straight across the South Taranaki Bight (thats a bit of the Tasman Sea) direct from Motueka to New Plymouth on the West coast of the North Island... its a flight I do a few times a year to visit family, and is really easy.. Just point North, and generally by about 3000ft you can see Mt Egmont (click here for a google map of a spot we flew over, and sent a message to the base to show our position) almost dead ahead. If not, I have at times had to turn East, and head for the Wellington coastline, but that takes almost double the time, so I prefer not to. Anyway.. as you can see from the photos, Egmont was completely clear, and a little over 1 hour later, we were having a coffeee in the airport cafe in NP. Filled up the fuel tanks, and then off up the stunning coast North of Taranaki under a cloudless blue sky. Makes navigatiing really easy.. Just keep New Zealand on your right, and Auckland will arrive in about 1 hour. Zipped over the lovely little town of Raglan on the way to show the crew where the airfield was. Brilliant spot, as there is a campground over the fence from the little grass airstrip, and a 5 minute walk in to the excellent little township.

Approaching Auckland, we got all serious about not busting into some over anxious air traffic controllers bit of controlled airspace, and then negotiated the bit of air traffic around the Ardmore airfield to a nice landing in time for lunch. Beats the hell out of driving.. (unless the weather is yuk, then I'd prefer to be in a nice warm car!) Once the plane was all tied down, they dropped me at the Auckland airport, and by 6pm, I was back in Nelson . sure beats working for a living.. well.. sometimes! now if only there weren't so many desk bound idiots who live for nothing more than making an aviators life complicated!