Sick on a Sunny Day...

Well I'm home sick with another cold... too bad its my day off.. too bad its absolutely beautiful out today.  But at least it gives me some time to post some of my recent photos.  

Midweek I traveled for work.  I can't afford to fly at the moment, so I really treasure these work-paid flights.  The planes are fairly small, which makes the experience much more like when I was taking flight lessons.

That said, this was my first experience with a classic Wellington take off.  I wish that I had take a photo of us passengers trying to traverse the tarmac to the plane.  The wind was strong.  Trouser legs were rattling against our legs.  We were carefully placing one foot at a time.  You actually needed the hand rail to climb the steps, or you'd topple over.  Upon finding my seat, I realized that the plane was bouncing not from luggage being tossed in, but by the strength of the windy gusts!  I texted Traveler; I knew he would understand my excitement and mild trepidation at the thought of taking off in this wind. Then I turned off my phone and get ready for the adventure.

The wind sock tells part of the story...




I distracted myself from the stomach in throat sensation of the initial climb out by taking photos of Wellington.





The flight time is less than an hour and often feels more like a scenic ride than commute to
to Hawkes Bay which is on the eastern side of the North Island.  Napier is famous for its Art Deco artchitechure built after the massive earth quake here.

This trip I took some time to explore a historic Pa just south of Napier.  I guess during the earthquake the ground here revealed desireable minerals and sadly this lead to some unforgiveable quarrying in this archelogical spot.  The views from the top were amazing.  I also was amazed to learn that most of the city is located in what used to be an estuary!



I also returned to a favourite cafe.  Its a simple place, but reminds me of the Hope Co-op that existed in Forest Grove circa my childhood.  

There are tons of books laying around to read, great chai tea, and even a blackboard for kids 

to draw on.  I particularly love that they serve black beans, which is a rarity here.

It was a productive trip, and soon time to head home.  Here are some shots from the flight back.



And this is the famous road between Wellington and the Wairarapa... its is crazy windy

.. and oh so scary when windy.

Domestic flights... 30 minutes of photos

Today I flew up to Palmerston North to see some clients. It was a lovely calm sunny day, at least for the landings in my plane. While we waited for our return flight, I was thoroughly entertained by the small planes trying to land in strong winds. They were dancing all over the place!


There are many differences when you fly domestically here... first off you can watch the pilots fly, see the runway as you land, and on this little plane the pilots do all the pre flight chit chat.
 
This is the Palmerston International gate, the entire thing, I 'm not sure where you can go to in the world from here, but clearly it is possible to pay your $25 departure tax and go somewhere.

And for those interested in Geography, here are some aerial shots of Wellington. The South Island looks so close from here, even though it is a 3 hour ferry ride. I'm sure Cape Cod is similar from the air.






And Lower Hutt... probably the closest to the city we could ever afford to buy, and that would be a stretch...




And Porirua just north of us




and the eastern edge of the Wellington Harbour