Flying around the Nth Island

[Guest Darren Masters]

Well it had been a while for me and I tell you what I missed it. Friday morning presented itself in the form of one beautiful crisp morning. Made the lovely drive down the motorway to Ardmore Airfield that is about 35min South of Auckland CBD or about 20min or so from my place. Could not resist grabbing some of these shots upon arriving at Ardmore. Was 2 degrees by the way!

 

Is that frost?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tower is there somewhere...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sun rises over Ardmore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil, the owner of the lovely bird, a Remos G3 microlight reg ZK-PRH arrived just before 0800 and got the lovely girl out of the hangar.

 

The lovely girl ZK-PRH in the morning sun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very comfy seating (unlike a Jabiru).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The office.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phil does the pre-flights and we strap in and start-up with the wonderful and reliable Rotax 912 roaring into life. We make a taxii out to the holding point for RWY 21 and wait for the oil temp to reach 50 degrees. Taking a while on this cold morning. Finally it happens with a green 'engine ready' indicator flashing. We line-up, Phil applies full power and very very soon we are airborne and climbing like homesick angels! What an impressive take off roll (there really was not one). This bird is keen to fly!

 

Take-off from RWY 21 at Ardmore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We fly over the fog all over the ground and start to track to the North abeam the CBD.

 

Scenery around the North Shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon we approach Gulf Harbour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ferry below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ominous looking cloud on the North Shore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Island resort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun and cloud. What beautiful scenery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The East Coast before tracking to the West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then track to the West heading out towards Helensville.

 

Some pics tracking West. Absolute magic scenery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then approach Helensville where a wealthy businessman has created various sculptures on his property. Very interesting from the air.

 

Sculptures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then track over the West Coast where the scenery is equally as impressive!

 

West Coast shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2 coming...

 

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

We continue to track down the West Coast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then approach Raglan where the fog starts to form once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then begin to track to the East again and unfortunately cannot make a landing at our planned stop of Te Kowhai, home of the Bantam factory! We were going to meet Max who manufactures the Bantam and also Dave the CFI there so I could do my conversion here to start flying my beloved Bantam once again! Never mind, going to see them soon.

 

Photos tracking to the East Coast once again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The fog starts to get thicker...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the below pictures you can see why I was confused as to whether I was flying in a microlight or whether I was flying at 36,000ft at work in the A320. It just was not burning-off with the sun. Simply magic shots!

 

The fog blankets the Waikato District.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 3-Final next...

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Tracking East with the fog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then approached the gold mining town of Waihi. I must admit I did not know any gold mining went on in NZ! It is simply amazing to see such a huge open mine in the middle of a town. Looked like a huge meteorite had taken out half the town!

 

The gold-mining town of Waihi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The huge mine at Waihi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually we found the East Coast again though this time further South than we prior were.

 

East Coast coming into sight again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then begin to descend over Hot Water Beach and Hahei and the scenery begins to change dramatically and become more and more beautiful!

 

Descent along the beaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then tracked over to Whitianga Airfield a beautiful place with full facilities and that stuff we needed-fuel. Was lucky enough to watch a Bantam come in and have a chat with the pilots.

 

Approaching Whitianga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After a refuel and stretch of the legs at Whitianga we made the flight back West towards Ardmore (approx 30mins flying) tracking over the Coramandel. It was then I had a fly of this lovely bird. Totally responsive and very light on the controls. The electric trim was effective and was not hard to keep her trim and balanced even from the right-hand seat. We cruised along most of the flight at around 120kts.

 

Coramandel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all one absolutely magic morning. About 4hrs of flying and around 300miles or so flown. Thanks Phil for getting the flying bug back in my blood! Now to head to Te Kowhai to do a conversion. Look forward to flying with you again soon. Hope you all enjoyed the trip report.

 

Baby ZK-PRH after a hard days work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest David C]

Great stuff Darren ... I'm so pleased that the flying bug is still there .. I wish John would fix up the Bantam , I love the feel of open cockpit flying at 50Kts .. We had good times at The Oaks in that Bantam ... Please keep us informed as to how your Bantam conversion went , and remember that saying " If you can't fly a Bantam , you shouldn't be walking :tongue:".... On another note ... I will pm you soon and put you in the picture re the dramas here ..

 

Dave C

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Great stuff Darren ... I'm so pleased that the flying bug is still there .. I wish John would fix up the Bantam , I love the feel of open cockpit flying at 50Kts .. We had good times at The Oaks in that Bantam ... Please keep us informed as to how your Bantam conversion went , and remember that saying " If you can't fly a Bantam , you shouldn't be walking :tongue:".... On another note ... I will pm you soon and put you in the picture re the dramas here ..Dave C

Ok. Good to hear from you Dave my dear friend I thoroughly recall about if you can't fly the Bantam you should not walk! Will let you know re the conversion mate but it is relatively simple. PM me at your leisure mate. Take care

 

 

[Coop]

Great report, Darren. Certainly some spectacular (and varied) scenery around Auckland- that is, when the fog will let you see it!

 

Regards

 

Coop

 

 

[Guest Glenn]

Great report and photos. Thanks for making us jealous and wishing we were there

 

That town looks pretty close to the mine

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Thanks guys Yes Glenn, that town is almost in the mine!

 

 

[Strawberry Muppet]

Stunning photos of the landscape, really enjoyed them. Looking forward to Part 2.

 

 

[Guest Darren Masters]

Thanks Strawberry Muppet That's it. Trip report complete. I did it in parts so as to not lose anything (which has happened before when I have pressed the back button on the browser).