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Part 2: Exploring New Zealand’s Grand Islands by Air

If you have the time and money, a flying tour of the country is a great adventure and a true bucket list experience.

Exploring the mountains and fjords of New Zealand on a flying tour was the ultimate bucket list experience. [Courtesy: Sam Weigel]
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Key Takeaways:

  • The author embarked on an exhilarating week-long self-fly tour of New Zealand's South Island with FlyInn, navigating a Cessna 172 through diverse and challenging mountain and coastal landscapes.
  • The flying experience was intense, requiring the author to develop advanced mountain flying and ridge soaring skills in frequently strong winds, while exploring breathtaking sights like Fiordland, Mount Cook's glaciers, and remote valleys.
  • Beyond the demanding aviation, the tour immersed the author in unique cultural and natural experiences, including impromptu landings in sheep paddocks, visiting historic sites, wildlife cruises, and enjoying local hospitality, ultimately earning a New Zealand PPL validation.
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When I left you hanging last month, dear reader, my wife and I and Kiwi flight instructor Matt McCaughan had just taken a Cessna 172 on a tight, slow flight circuit around a cloud-scraped, rock-walled thimble of an alpine lake in New Zealand, exiting with a rakish wingover down the enormous 2,000-foot waterfall cascading from its outlet. This was the fourth or fifth stunning sight in just the first two hours of a planned weeklong flying tour of the country’s South Island with FlyInn, McCaughan’s self-fly vacation operation.

Describing these two hours required three pages crammed with significantly more words than my usual monthly allotment, and yet I promised to cover the balance of the tour in a single additional installment.

Sam Weigel

Sam Weigel has been an airplane nut since an early age, and when he's not flying the Boeing 737 for work, he enjoys going low and slow in vintage taildraggers. He and his wife live west of Seattle, where they are building an aviation homestead on a private 2,400-foot grass airstrip.

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