Pelican Adverturing

Like all outdoor excursions into our beautiful outdoors the thought of a flight to a Dargaville Aero Club Saturday lunch had been quietly sitting in the back of my mind for some time. Covid issues in New Zealand had added a little more complexity to the issue and discussion with flying mate Steve, had proposed a diversion to Kaipara Flats for the Pancake and bacon breakfast would be a good idea.

This all fitted with the earlier plan so on the day of the flight a “blinds up” when the sun came up confirmed a great day for the adventure. This had been reviewed the previous night and fuel had been collected for the mission in anticipation of an early start.

Being a microlight pilot in New Zealand with a Rotax powered aircraft meant Mogas top ups the night before from the local New World facility and my 20 litre cans were full with 40 litres extra fuel for refuels along the way.

When the day dawned with weather as per the previous evenings forecast I knew we had an adventure unfolding. Notams and upper winds confirmed a microlight pilot’s plan to head north via the pre planned direct route. Once airborne however the relaxed attitude had changed when cloud on the direct route suggested a southern, left of track, diversion to get over the hills to the west of Whitianga. This was achieved relatively comfortably yet posed questions to others about the suitability of the day to go adventuring to Kaipara Flats for a “fly day.” I felt with my full tanks and slight left turn, to avoid the weather to the north, it should get me around the worst cloud and drizzle. This is what materialised, to cross to the east of Waiheke Island. Improving conditions allowed the view of Whangaparoa Peninsular to gradually appear showing the path onwards to Kaipara Flats Aerodrome to be clear.

An exciting start to this breakfast trip indeed. A nice sharp view of the satellite tracking station at Warkworth had me descending to join a long final approach behind other breakfast traffic also homing in on the aerodrome and I managed to sneak in ahead of an RV 14, also from Whitianga. My only other landing here had been during my Pelican conversion training after purchasing it, back in September 2008. This is where I straightened out my irregular landings which were presenting problems for me straight out of a Boeing 737 into microlight, flying a taildragger on a narrow sealed runway at North Shore.

It was good to see an enthusiastic bunch had arrived to devour the pancakes and bacon that had been on offer for the Northern Aviators Club members. A great way to meet more friends from the northern reaches and also ensure we are all keeping in touch through our aviation interests. Steve popped up shortly after my arrival, with his Savannah hangared nearby and already preflighted for his breakfast/lunch run to Dargaville, for the Saturday lunch. “Want to join me”?

“Well Steve, I am continuing on to Mata strip from there and hadn’t planned on Dargaville so early after breakfast here”  “ I can share my pizza with you Wally”

So that’s how this plan developed along the way. I just love this sort of flying around NZ when the weather suits. A sneak preview of Mata airstrip was my main focus on this trip but all of these other activities flowed into the mix to really make fine weather flying an enjoyable experience.

Leo Johns was awaiting my landing at Mata to give me the overview of his airstrip so lift off after pancakes and bacon was a smooth air sortie to fly over countryside I had not previously ventured over. The electricity pylons were easy to find but the airstrip took a little while to materialise out of the generally green surrounding farmland.

Light winds allowed me to land towards the west and roll out at the hangar where Leo was awaiting my touchdown. He had mentioned a fly in to be arranged here in another month or so and this was the focus of todays flight. Reconnoiter the airstrip in fine weather to see if there was to be any challenges if I arrived at a fly in. It all ran smoothly and discussions with Leo confirmed its suitability for their breakfast flight when it happened. ( Unfortunately it was delayed due weather)

Since Leo was ready to fly, I departed quickly to allow him to line up behind me and I was away for Steve’s pizza lunch at Dargaville.

The scenery en route between to two airstrips is very pleasant on a fine day so I enjoyed this leg immensely as I had obtained my microlight licence here some years previously with Murray Foster of the Dargaville Aero Club. Steve had already arrived and was busy talking to other flyers as I pulled up outside the clubhouse. Other flyers had also been to the Kaipara Flats breakfast so it was very easy to settle into this group again.

My next airfield was to be Kaikohe as it was en route to North Cape, my planned focus for this adventure. Steve said he would have loved the trip too but had insufficient time available to accompany me north. Setting out after the pizza and chat had me flying up the coast to Kai Iwi lakes for my first flight past these very welcoming holiday camps and outdoors summer hideaways. The day could not have been better and the lakes looked perfect for summer fun.

Passing to the north I flew over a farm airstrip that had me already considering returning
with my tent and outdoor cooker and perhaps other flying adventurers who normally encouraged me into the southern regions of NZ each year. It’s on the list. But Kaikohe was beaconing me northwards in the superb flying conditions. Road tripping through this area a number of times has always encouraged me northwards when time is available. This route had never been done by air or road so was interesting to observe the changing mountains and valleys as I flew onwards.

Latest weather checks along the way however suggested I would need to land at Kaikohe to await a change to the rain and low visibility currently displayed on Kerikeri’s reported weather. This again was a new airport to me but not too challenging as it was originally the airline airport in earlier years. A large green field emerged as I closed in on Kaikohe so had me nicely on the ground in fine conditions. Pulling up beside the old airline terminal I saw the deteriorated condition of the building which showed this to be a township long bypassed by air travellers in todays era.

I saw other adventurers like myself positioned around the close vicinity of the terminal so watched as a glider group prepared their glider, a lolly scramble sortie being prepared in a very early model Cessna 172, a house bus truck owner arriving back from his bike ride and relaxed in the pleasant temperatures.

The Cessna took off for the distant hills for his lolly scramble at a Maori Pa and I spoke with the house bus owner who was a Dargaville Aero Club member with a farm nearby to Dargaville where he planned to put an airstrip on to operate his microlight.

The return of the Cessna in due course had me in discussion with the owner who had his own airstrip on his farm near the Pa he had just flown out to for the lolly scramble. Old John was a long time resident who had run his family farm for many years but no longer farmed as he disliked sending his animals to the “works”. The stories flowed as he climbed into the Pelican for a quick sortie around the district while we waited on the weather to improve at Kerikeri. He had wanted to be an Ag pilot in his younger years but had been talked out of this idea by his mother due to the high accident and fatality rate of the earlier agricultural pilots. His interest in aviation was maintained by joining aero clubs and owning his own aeroplanes so the history lesson I had while we flew around the district was wonderful to hear firsthand.

We landed again at Kaikohe for him to tie his aircraft down in the position he had left it while I checked the latest conditions at Kerikeri to show the improvement would allow me to dispatch for my overnight destination.

A quick goodbye had me airborne for the short hop to Kerikeri for my second only landing at this far north airport. The light winds allowed me a straight in approach on the short grass runway which had me pull up beside the aero club building on the grass parking area. Ideal for my planned camping spot.

My day had been an exciting airborne adventure once again so my cool beers carried north from my home port was a great way to celebrate this arrival. After tying my aircraft down securely for the night stop I was about to pull my tent out of the rear compartment when I observed a change in the cloud cover. This did not look good for camping under the wing! Therefore my decision was to carry my overnight gear quickly across to the clubhouse which was closed up and appeared to have been that way for some time. Two or three trips later I was secure for the night stop as the low cloud and rain arrived back over the Kerikeri runway and seemed to stall there.

My overnight gear was rolled out on the verandah, my cooking equipment assembled on the surrounding bench seats and my evening meal prepared as I watched the sun pop out behind the clouds just as it dropped over the distant horizon. The end of a wonderful adventuring day.