Healthy Bastards 26 Part 2

Healthy Bastards 26 Part 2                                                                

The second part of our annual flight now began with

Bob - Carbon Cub ZK FXC,

Bill -Tecnam P92 ZK TES,

Murray- Savannah ZK SVA

Wally - Pelican ZK MAL.

We prepared for our mission to Tira Ora, Greville Harbour and Awaroa. I had been in contact with Tony Broad at Tira Ora to confirm all ok for our visit so was looking forward to us all meeting up with him, after he advised little wind out in the sounds that morning. I was first into the air and not tracking via the VFR route outside controlled airspace as I prefer the direct tracking through Woodburn controlled airspace.

Initially I was cleared to track to Picton but once airborne that area was low cloud and low visibility so I then asked to track to the clearer area enroute to Havelock and was pleased to be cleared that way and for the rest of the pilots to follow that course. The Havelock valley was clear to the sounds but I could see the wind was westerly by the time I flew over Havelock so kept a higher altitude in case of turbulence once into Pelorus Sound. This proved to be a good idea because I could see white caps on the water in the sounds as I neared Tira Ora and decided it would not be desirable to make an approach into the downwind area of the 2500’-2800’ mountains to the west of where the airstrip is located.

I advised the following aircraft that I would not land but continue on to Greville Harbour. They all saw the white caps too and happily continued on to Greville Harbour in good flying conditions.

This is always an interesting landing as well which once again requires pleasant light wind conditions to enjoy this outlying area.  Having visited this airstrip many times over the years that I have owned the Pelican, it is always on my southern adventures list. Overhead the airstrip was fine and smooth but the windsocks were difficult to see so I assumed westerly on the ground and let down for the low-level base and finals that keeps the aircraft on the inside of the low hills on base turn for runway 30.    

Once again, the changes since my last visit were obvious as the grassed area of the parking bay was somewhat over grown and the taxiway back to the threshold of runway 12 was more overgrown too.

Bill arrived on runway 12 as well but Murray elected to land from runway 30. I always prefer runway 12 as the go around is far better if landings are not possible due to wind changes.

Bob had stayed on in Omaka with a later start due to continuing socialising breakfasts in Blenheim and was to catchup with us for the planned overnight at Awaroa.

Anyway, after our 3 aircraft shut down at Greville Harbour it was morning tea time so we cranked up the billy for hot water and dived into our goody’s boxes in the back of our aircraft to relax and chat about our flight so far, in the middle of the parking bay. Mention was made of the landing fee box missing from its normal pedestal and the missing tie down cables. A pity to see this as time has made upkeep here more random than it used to be when Chris Brown was active out here. (See my earlier Greville Harbour stories in this sequence)

After our morning tea was packed away it was time for our Awaroa sequence to be flown. Murray, Bob and I had been there a few years ago when Volkmar Wollenweber and his wife had allowed us to stay in their new cabins, on the south of the current airstrip.

It’s now a year since I had flown in and I don’t recall that the other two had been back here since their last visit a few years ago and Bill had not visited this airstrip before. Caution is always necessary when these airstrips are unknown and unvisited as changes take place that can make take-offs and landings dangerous over time. Once again wind is the biggest danger due to its close proximity to the hills and the tall trees beside the airstrip. It is a one-way airstrip with a curved final approach to the threshold so flying overhead to inspect it is extremely important to see the obstacles and determine whether other aircraft are obstructing the landing areas and checking the windsock for any unknown winds in this area.

Bob was now also enroute to Awaroa in his Carbon Cub and had made contact shortly after we climbed out of Greville Harbour so was a few minutes behind us arriving at Awaroa. The conditions appeared to suit our arrival and landing as I passed overhead the strip so I continued with my downwind approach and wide base descent and landing. The airstrip is not well marked so I had sent map plans of the airstrip out to all those arriving so they could familiarise themselves with the layout and recommended approach.

I landed satisfactorily and found minimum parking areas so eventually managed to park off strip to allow the next arrivals in. We all arrived satisfactorily and managed to squeeze our aircraft off strip to give space to any others who may be arriving. We realised how much overgrown and less defined it has become over time with far less parking space now available. The defined parking area we had been advised to use was at the far western end of the airstrip so we knew our stay in the current position was a “lunch stop” only park.

After a quick chat about our landings and overnight position it was a short walk along the narrow track in the trees to the pizza shop in the bush setting. This was doing a roaring trade with locals, tourists, backpackers and us four itinerant aviators. We ordered our lunches and sat at the shaded tables under the trees to enjoy this great environment while we pondered our overnight parking spot at the far western end of the runway.

Lunch completed, we wandered back to our aircraft and saw movement at the accommodation where we had stayed last time we were here. Checking in with the owner was good to chat with but accommodation full so nothing nearby meant taxiing the aircraft to the far end as planned.

Meanwhile I had run out of medications so needed to fly onwards to Motueka to purchase more while we had suitably calm conditions, so I took the opportunity to depart while the others continued with their plans at Awaroa.

I could see the breeze had picked up while we were lunching and this became more obvious when I arrived at Motueka and watched the windsocks oscillating in the 20 kts northeast breeze. I landed on the grass runway and put the aircraft into a little wind protected area beside the Skydive Abel Tasman base before setting off on foot to buy my medications.

This completed I realised that the wind was not suitable for return to Motueka so texted to Awaroa team to advise I would overnight at Motueka and rang the Happy Apple Backpackers to see if they had any space.

“Yes, we have”. I advised I had flown into Motueka and was in downtown so would be a while before checking in as I needed to walk back to the aerodrome to collect my overnight gear. To this reply I was asked “where are you downtown as I am in town at present and can pick you up”

Well, that cut out my exercise for the afternoon as I was collected shortly afterwards by the owner manager and driven out to the Motueka airport to collect my belongings and onwards to the Happy Apple to check in. With that phase completed I saw that the Toad Hall Cafe next door was closed so I needed overnight food and breakfast from the Pelican and also needed to tie it down since it was still sitting at the airport where I had left it earlier.

I wandered over to the Nelson Aviation College to ask if I could tie the Pelican down to their spare tiedowns for the night because of the higher winds than anticipated. After some discussion that proved to be a better solution than banging my sakes in to the ground where I was and so moved the Pelican to one of their far end, unoccupied tiedowns.

That task completed I was left to continue my exercise regime and so wandered off to the Happy Apple 2.3 kms away with my overnight foods in my backpack. Since I have stayed there a couple of times before and knew the layout of Motueka after a number of visits, it was a relaxed way to fill in the spare time I had.

Next morning Flight Radar 24 kept me up to date with the other three since they weren’t responding to my texts. I eventually saw them enroute to Motueka in time for lunch at Toad Hall so wandered out with my overnight gear in my back and front packs to repack into my aircraft ready for the next leg onwards to Karamea.

When they arrived and shut down, we wandered into the Motueka Aero Club for a chat to see if transport was available for us all to drive to Toad Hall for lunch. After some discussion and a cup of coffee the CFI, Jonathan Westenra, came back into the clubhouse having cancelled the student’s lesson that morning because of a wheel problem on their Piper Tomahawk aircraft. He then offered to run us in to Toad Hall as that was enroute home for him.

Toad Hall gave us all a nice lunch spot to discuss our onward plan to Karamea and during our walk back to the aerodrome we even all managed to collect a pocket full of FREE plumbs just as we arrived opposite the aerodrome entrance. Well, that put us in a great mood for lift off and the weather was settled again to get us over the mountains without too much wind or cloud to obstruct our plans.

Departing via the Flora Saddle at 3347’amsl was an easy flight for the four of us but we were immediately reminded of the South Island’s mountainous terrain as we rose over the saddle. Definitely good weather flying required for stress free travelling here. Spectacular terrain and the difference from the North Island is immediately apparent.

Todays weather though gave us all a wonderful view of this Karamea environment as we flew along the river which descended to the coastal township of Karamea. Murray had been into Karamea a couple of months previously and had been in contact with a local pilot who had indicated to give him a call if we required transport so he became our transport into the Last Resort, where we normally stay.

Our tie downs were very secure for the first three in the landing sequence as we three parked in a row one behind the other and attached our ropes to the wire ropes running along the grass parking bay. Murray being last to land secured his aircraft to his own tiedowns nearer the terminal fence.

We paid our landing fees at the terminal and away we drove into the Last Resort to check into our accommodation, drop our bags into our rooms then trot off down the road to the Karamea Hotel for refreshments.

Weather was still on our side for the adventure but our refreshment stop prompted discussions about the approaching frontal weather that was edging its way up the west coast of the South Island. Our original plan to fly southwards via a number of west coast airstrips was now to be curtailed due to this approaching weather.

Bob had already made up his mind so was to fly back to Auckland the following day to ensure he arrived safely. Bill, Murray and I decided to proceed inland to Hanmer Springs while winds were stable enough for our lightweight aircraft to handle the inland route over the mountains. Our evening then was relaxed with decisions made and meal time approaching so we wandered back for more refreshments at the Last Resort and did our washing while we had dry weather.

Due to a previous visit when steak was ordered and not to their liking, we all avoided steak for dinner but enjoyed the menu offering and evening meal we each ordered. We also discussed leaving for the aerodrome next morning with the Manager who did not easily have the ability to take four of us with bags to our aircraft due to shortage of staff.

Murray once again called his contact who happily drove us out after dropping his children off at the nearby school. The return was via the petrol pump in town to top up our 20 litre containers for Bill. This gave Bob first start and away he flew in great conditions leaving us 3 remaining on the ground to wave him goodbye. Then it was time to finish repacking our own aircraft for flight and in turn get airborne on our own flight to Hanmer via the mountain valleys which made us very aware of the strong wind effects that were approaching. We didn’t want to be caught trying to navigate through here in a day or so or even in the afternoon when winds were forecast to strengthen.

The flight was a spectacular view of the mountains and land shapes that make up the landscape of New Zealand. Approaching the Lewis Pass we were all very aware of the difficulty navigating through here in higher winds as it was by now beginning to show more wind and a few bumps with a very good 20 knots tail wind for the descent into Hanmer.

It was good to arrive downwind at Hanmer looking for the windsock which I automatically took to be 10-20 knots westerly on the ground but I couldn’t see the windsock so landed on runway 24 anyway. After landing very fast and a little high on approach I realised the windsock wasn’t registering any wind, so calm conditions on the ground tricked us all from what we mentioned after our landing discussions.

That then led us on a look around the hangar area for suitable tiedown spots as most of the area was gravel and very difficult to hammer our tiedown stakes into. We did eventually find a spot with more grass showing so the other two started the tie down process on their aircraft while I contacted the owner of the station wagon parked at the side of the hangar.

Once I had permission to use this vehicle and drove over to the others who packed their gear into it, I moved the Pelican over in line with their machines and tied it down for our planned overnight and tiki tour of the close in areas of Hanmer.

It’s always an interesting area to explore but the current airstrip is a little further out of town now that the original airstrip closer to the township has been closed. That one was was where we used to just walk into town via the small river crossing and enjoy the outdoor experience getting to our accommodation.

The vehicle though gave us the ability to roam around a little more so we enjoyed the views from the top of the ranges during the afternoon. We had checked into a small motel close to town and left our belongings there while we went out and about.

Dinner was at Fire & Ice Cafe a few doors along the street from our Glen Alvon Motel so all very handy after we had finished our afternoon dip at the Hanmer Hot Pools.

We planned our next day’s flight over dinner and that was to keep us ahead of the approaching weather so chose to fly out to Kaikoura for lunch then onwards to the north island again.

Bill was planning to fly onwards to Koputaroa for a refuel then onwards to Tauranga while Murray and I were to fly to Masterton.

Next morning dawned settled weather again so we wandered off to the village to have an early breakfast at a nearby café then we were ready to roll for Kaikoura. The vehicle needed a refuel and more Mogas was required for topping up aircraft and this was done at the service station enroute to the aerodrome.

Once packed up we were airborne to view the landscape which was quite different to yesterday mountainous terrain. This leg had many farmed areas with mountains mainly to the north of us which are also ski fields during the winter months. We also passed a number of farm airstrips along the way.

Kaikoura came into view and we heard the whale watching aircraft out and about off the coast as we made our approach and landings on the grass runway 23. As the whale watching premises were open we wandered in but very little activity apart from another flight preparing to get airborne and no café. After being upstairs at the departure area watching and chatting to other visitors who were watching the aircraft action before their flights were operating, I wandered along to the Kaikoura Aero Club to se if they had any transport to Kaikoura town.

I struck it lucky as the Aero Club had passengers disembarking from one of their flights and needed to be transported back into town and they willing put us 3 into their vehicle and away we all went. In turn this gave us our opportunity to have a small wander around the township of Kaikoura before we chose a suitable lunch cafe to enjoy this relaxed tourist spot.

After lunch it was a taxi ride back to the aerodrome for our last flights together on this adventure. Bill was first away under the prevailing low cloud that had drifted up the east coast while we were lunching. Murray was second into the air and I brought up the rear hearing about the low cloud from the two ahead of me. I only made 6-700’ initially but the coast was otherwise visible in the accompanying lower visibility that accompanied the low cloud.

Reaching Cape Campbell I was slowly catching Murray who had climbed to around 3000’ in his Savannah, on top of the cloud layer but my ground speed was better so I stayed low at around 1000’. I eventually overtook Murray at low level and continued across Cook Strait to reach Lake Ferry first and then continued up to Masterton in improving visibility and less cloud.

Well, this was a real gathering of the clan again as a few of the Healthy Bastards pilots were out and about around the hangar I pulled up at.  Murray arrived and between us all I was offered a nearby hanger for my Pelican’s night stop. I was pushed in among 4 other Savannahs so a little outside my league. A new refuel system was pointed out to me and I refuelled my 20 litre Mogas containers ready for the next day’s journey to Whitianga.

I stayed the night at Murray and Miri’s place but saw little of them as they loaned me their car so I could race off and visit Alistair and Pauline McLeod who had left their old airstrip and home at Martinborough and moved into a small two-bedroom place in Masterton. This was great timing for me to be able to visit them and they were both home so it was dinner at their place to yarn away a couple of hours and see them settling into their new environment in Masterton.

Next morning it was early up and away with Murray as he had decided overnight that he would join the 4 or 5 other pilots on an early morning sortie into a few bush airstrips nearby. They we all rising into the air around Masterton as I finished refuelling the Pelican and readied myself for dispatch back to Tauranga and Whitianga.

My journey north was initially hampered by low cloud and visibility but by the time I reached Woodville I could see over the hills and wind turbines that the weather on the western side of the hills was blue sky. This allowed me to fly a lot higher via the Desert Road and then directly to Tauranga. I had rung Malcolm Saville to see that he would be there to make an adjustment to carburettor idle as I passed through so texted him my arrival time as 11 am to speed things up.

Tauranga was a short stop then with the idle adjustment completed, I was underway back to Whitianga where I arrived with about 3 hours to spare before the rain caught up with me after I had packed the Pelican away in its hangar.

Another 14 hours of fun in the air.

Click to View