Coming to New Zealand

This winter I will be flying at the Wellington Gliding Club at Paraparaumu, New Zealand.  On my flight over I went through Vancouver and Bangkok each having a half day to look around.  On my arrival in New Zealand I had a quick stop at the Wellington Gliding Club then went down to Omarama, one of the meccas of gliding.  On my way I stopped in Blenheim to meet up with my friend Luke who I had met during Joey Glide in Australia a couple of years ago.  He works at the vineyards his parents own.  He gave me a tour around and I ended up helping him out with some of the work so we could take off and visit the aviation museum in town.  After that I traveled down to Omarama.  There was a regional contest going on there.  I ran into a few gliding friends I had previously met at different contests.  Wilson, another friend I met during Joey Glide a couple of years ago and Devin who I met in Finland during the JWGC in Finland.  I had a quick flight in one of the Twin Astirs.  It is not cheap flying in Omarama so I kept it at that.  I may go down later with some of the fellows at the Wellington club.  Afterward I went to Queenstown.  It really is a beautiful town but the downtown is extremely touristy.  I rented a bike and had a nice ride around the mountains.  Next it was back to Paraparaumu to get my power pilot license validation.  The Kapiti Aero Club which is on the same airfield as the gliding club has a Super Cub with the original 95hp Continental C-90 engine.  It was good fun to fly and I had a nice look around the area.  The paperwork for that is in the mail and my glider instructor rating is now valid.  Now the work begins.

Coming To New Zealand