When we flew into NZWN Linda looked at me and said, “Huh, I
thought there’d be mountains here.” I replied, “They must be hiding in
those clouds”. I got the look.
When we arrived in New Zealand we knew 2 things. The first
thing we knew was that we pre-arranged to transition a TBO Jet Ranger from NZWN to NZAA for gas (Jet-A)
money. The second thing was we could take 48 hours to do it …oh yeah, and a third
thing. Linda could only bring 30 pounds of luggage. I got 5 pounds.
Central New Zealand is a bigger land mass than we’d expected.
Not really knowing much more than our basic fuel requirements & navigation
we left the Little Bird in good hands at Wellington Intl and headed North East.
Our plan for the evening was to stay overnight at a Farm B&B in Hobbiton
just outside of Matamata. We were off to find Linda some mountains.
Shortly after we departed NZWN we arrived over Kaitoke Park, home of Rivendell from the Lord of the Rings films. We followed the
mountain range North East overflying Lake Taupo into scenery that seemed to
transport us into a living Tolkien novel. |
| Lake Taupo |
In route to Matamata, once out of the mountain ranges, we
overflew vast open spaces with pockets of life gathered around collection
points of what seemed to be an endless supply of rivers and streams.
 |
| Matamata NZ. Hobbiton ahead on hillside |
After we
set down in Matamata we opened the door of the Jet Ranger into Middle Earth.
Now we know how Peter Jackson must have felt using a helo to look for Hobbiton.
How could our sunrise flight into Auckland tomorrow morning
ever top this? Once again on this journey that question arises. Can Linda really
survive another 48 hours living with only 30 pounds of luggage? That is the
real question. Her favorite “S” words
have become Shopping & Shipping.
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