Day 2 - Strips

Geordie Hill Station

If day one was in at the deep end, day two was back to basics with us both practising flying in to a range of grass strips with Matt our host.  By range it felt like 4D, height, width, length and inclination (sometimes up and down from the mid-point or down and up, also some with a distinct sideways lean).

Makarora Airport and the two Flyinn aircraft

The plan had been to fly in to Dingle Burn on Lake Hawea but the crosswind rolling down the mountain would have made that a tad difficult so it was on to Makarora on Lake Wanaka, via 'the Neck' - a narrow gorge linking the two lakes. Makarora 'airfield' runs beside the road at the top of lake Wanaka and from Geordie Hill it's a 55 minute flight.  
 

"Hug the hill", a phrase we became used to during the first few days of mountain flying (and something we have generally attempted to avoid in the UK), allowed us to track up the runway out to the left, before crossing it and out over the lake to check the windsock.  Turning back down the lake for a southerly downwind, we were quickly on base for a landing on the northerly, uphill runway.  A quick backtrack to clear the runway as one of the other planes on the trip was to land soon behind us and it was off for coffee in the small hamlet on the other side of the road.  After a short look around the Marakora visitor centre we were soon off to a farm strip half way down lake Wanaka, known locally as Minaret.

Minarets takeoff role

Minaret sits on top of a bluff that sticks out in to the lake and the northerly 'runway' starts with an uphill section before levelling off and then starting to drop away.  Even though there was no windsock we flew overhead to assess the landing options.  With an initial uphill stretch it was important to control the height and not come in too low.  Set up with two stages of flap and 70kts I was too slow on the power when we hit some sink on short final, so it was full power and a go around and another attempt.  Second time in and with a better feel for what to expect it was nailed second time round.  Swapping pilots, Fred took over and I was in the back for the carrier like take-off as we were quickly over water.  From there it was back down the lake to Wanaka for fuel with its long tarmac runway and mountains several miles distant.  

Wanaka Airport

Back to Geordie Hill Station, we quickly picked up one of our guests and flew over to the next valley to a place called Tarras for lunch.  'Tarras International' as it has fondly been named by the locals, is purely a paddock that sits above the Tarras’s 'business district' ….. the petrol station, café, shops and the Shrek Museum!!  Not the green animation character but a Merino Sheep that broke the record for the heaviest fleece.

Parked up at Tarras Int

Tarras Ski Jump

Tarras Central Business District

I was in the back seat and following Fred's approach on the inbound leg.  There is no clearly designated runway, it is just a paddock.  “We will need to overfly the paddock to check for dead sheep" suggests Matt.  Needless to say there was a dead sheep almost in the middle of what would logically form the touchdown area. With a line of conifers and two fences converging on three sides it was necessary to maintain height before touching down on the far side, avoiding a sheep and coming to a stop before the ramp at far end, rocks to one side and steep drop on the other, easy!!  After lunch it was back to GHS for a few more circuits before retiring to Matt and Jo’s for a glass or two before dinner.  We had cracked the strips!