"...he seemed to hear the noise of dim waves and to see a winged form flying above the waves and slowly climbing the air...an ecstasy of flight made radiant his eyes and wild his breath and tremulous and wild and radiant his windswept limbs...". Ever since a try at para-sailing over Chamonix in 1993, I have had an interest in polyester-based aircraft, especially the motorized versions known as “micro-lights.” They are essentially hang-gliders with motors attached. Also a cockpit and wheels. Vicki saw an ad in an NZ paper and gave me a scenic flight (tandem, of course) in a micro-light for Christmas. Aviation is an essential part of tourism, especially adventure tourism, and the Mouteka airfield is easily identified by the number of gliders, skydivers, para-sailers, hang-gliders, stunt aircraft, and, yes, micro-lights, above it. Tasman Sky Adventures was the vendor—they are the only micro-light vendor in New Zealand—and on Monday I had a GREAT 45 minute ride, covering much of the tramp we did last week. Part of the flight was scenic, over incredible terrain, coastline, and sea, and part was about the craft itself, communication, how it's steered, maneuvered, etc. The take-off and climb surprised me with their quickness. We got to the cruising altitude of 1,000 feet in what seemed like a few seconds. We continued at that altitude for most of the flight, except for Bark Bay and inland a bit over the mountains, going to 3,000. Airspeed was generally 55-60mph. Low and slow, how I like it. The landing, on a grass strip, was very smooth. I can't say I was in heaven, but I was very close. Thanks, Vicki. Oh, the plane had a Rotax engine, like our snowmobile! After the micro-flight, we provisioned up at Motueka, and, having previously done the wash, repacked, etc., we set forth generally west/south-west, across the pass, and spent the night at a campground on the great Buller river, 15km out of Murchison. En route we drove way up a valley to see Mt. Owen, site of the Dimrill Dale.
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| Junior Birdman |
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| Anchorage Bay |
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| Bark Bay |
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| Some boaties at a cove |
1 comment:
I did some parasailing over the ocean in Mexico a few years back. I was scared to death, but loved it. I can just imagine how much fun you must have had.
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