Saturday 26th January
I had been recruited by the Auckland gliding club in one of their PR drives to help out and instruct at Whitianga, in the Coromandal. Bhavni was on night shift, so I left at 7am before she came home and drove to Drury to pick up David Hirst around 7.30am. We took my car (David did offer) and headed out, making good time to past the turnoff to Thames. From there the SH25A got a bit more interesting as the road went over the ranges and we had to contend with a little bit of holiday traffic for the anniversary weekend, but all in all not too bad. From Tairua the road was even more windy, but we had succeeded in getting past the worst of the traffic, so it was around 10am that we found ourselves pulling into Whitianga aerodrome.
We could not see anyone from the club around, so we got to the planes (AK and DX) and DI’ed them, weird feeling salt on the wings. After a while David Moody and Marian appeared in their car and we were told to go do a familiarization flight before the punters started, so we hopped in DX, I was in the front with Bhavni’s camera – not a lot of room with the water as well. Taking the aerotow to 2000′ we got into some lift and were able to climb happily away. I did a little bit of flying at first, but mostly enjoyed the view and took some photos. The views were absolutely stunning, aqua on the coastal waters and when we were high enough we could see Coromandal Town on the other side. Well after a while we got a radio call asking us down as we had some punters. Well we were at 4000′, so as DX is not Aerobatic rated I did the only sane thing. Flew right over the town and in front over the coast at 80kts, back and forth. There is something different about flying high speed over the sea! Well that set us up for a good circuit, so it was the first time I had flown in DX and the first landing on type (since Omamara in 2008). Apparently that last show off worked as we got the flight labelled as a marketing fight and many people came who saw us flying fast overhead in the morning.
During the course of the day I had a trial flight in AK, then flew Keith (an older gentalman from the Auckland Gliding Club), who decided not to take lift (many times), and I had to get us from 1000′ otherwise we would have had a short flight… I also got signed of to instruct in DX and did a trial flight in it.
We eventually left at around 8pm (after declining to go to a restaurant with the rest as it was a long drive back). I had to make a pit stop for fuel as It was a little touch and go whether we would make it, so I filled up a bit near the Thames turnoff. David was one of the first people who did not fall asleep in the car!
Dropping of David outside the Drury club (the gates were closed) I drove home getting there around 11pm. Bhavni had a treat for me – stuffed peppers, yum.
Sunday 27th
Bhavni was still on nights, so I picked her up in the morning and while she slept, caught up on some work. In the evening I dropped her to work.
Monday 28th – Auckland Day
It was a bank holiday, so I was at home and picked Bhavni up in the morning before going for a quick shop to buy some plants for the garden in Bunnings. I planted them (and some spring onions) whilst Bhavni slept and tried my hand at some French onion soup as well as dumplings. I dropped her then off for her last night shift.
Friday 1st February
Whilst I was at work, Bhavni was off and she met up with Silvia to visit James (not her husband), his wife and their new born (well 8 weeks), before they went shopping in Ponsoby (buying some cups).
Bhavni was back home by the time I got home from work, so we had an early dinner of vegetable sandwiches and Italian bread (from Ponsoby) with olive oil for starters, before Bhavni went and got ready – giving me lots of chances to do a “Michael Kyle” impression – as we were going to see Alan Davies, which Bhavni had booked 3 months before!
The show was in the town hall, and we found parking in car park right near. We were a little early so we had some time to look around before we went in.
Well it really was a town hall, with us in the “stalls” or in other words chairs laid out in the hall like you would expect in a school hall. Alan Davies came out and poked fun at the venue as well. Generally it was quite funny, although some bits were a little too crude for me. For the intermission we went out and got some ice cream (from in the lobby and I think nearly everyone else did too).
The show finished just before 11pm, overall quite enjoyable and a good night out. We went home then and chilled in the lounge, having even more ice cream and going over the next guests visits.
Saturday 2nd
Bhavni was off and decided to come with me flying, and that after even having a little like in and not getting up till 9am. Bhavni packed lunch (I normally don’t when I go on my own) and we headed to Drury about 11am. When we got there, the day was just starting, and I put Bhavni down on the list. Soon David Hirst approached her and asked “So what is it that you are after?”.
Well we could have waited for AK (well I stated to but got itchy feet), so Bhavni and I took out DX as it was just sitting in the hanger, though it took a bit longer as it needed tips attaching/ DI’ing and the queue for the aerotow had increased.
We launched and Bhavni got to do quite a lot of flying – so much so that nearer the end she could not move the controls quickly any more, well she then just went to photography mode then. It was the highest Bhavni had been in a glider in NZ as we got to 3500′ (the top of airspace), so excellent views all round. We eventually got called down by David as there was demand on the ground by now, but we did not have to rush, so we took it slowly in and landed for a flight time over 1.30h.
After some lunch I took a trial flight up, whilst Bhavni read her diving manual.
We left around 5pm and at home we had dinner out in the garden that evening.
Sunday 3rd
I spent the day at home (well after waking up early to drop Bhavni to work). Bhavni however decided to finish early so I had to pick her up, only to be dragged to Ponsoby to look for any more of those cups.
Wednesday 6th
It was Whatangi day. I was at home while Bhavni had to go to work. When she came home we made dinner together – trying our hand at savoury pancakes as it was our nearest holiday to pancake day in the UK.
Saturday 9th
Bhavni was meant to go to work, but she was not feeling that great, so I left her at home and went gliding (especially as they were short of instructors and Marian phoned to ask me to help). I did a couple of flights – the day was not too bad, but left around 3.30pm (getting the sympathy vote for looking after Bhavni). In the evening we went and said hello to Peter as we had not seen him for a while, and we knew he had a grandchild recently.
Saturday 16th
After a bit of a like in, we went on a bit of a jaunt trying to get to Devonport. However the traffic was terrible (probably as there was a food and wine show on), so we turned around and headed back to on the motorway, and went to Western Springs, where we had a walk around the lake there. There was a lot more bird life, and we saw over 12 species of birds – not bad for central Auckland.
We headed back just before 2pm as Bhavni had to go to sleep – night shift.
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