My wife and I, our daughter and her boyfriend visited New Zealand 17-October through 1-November2018. We spent the first week driving around the North and South Islands and ended up in Queenstown on 24-Oct. We spent the next 8 days flying around the South Island in a couple of Cessna 172s with Flyinn. The South Island of New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places that I've ever been and seeing it from the air is an incredible experience.

My daughter, Christine, took a 14-day intensive course in the Sacramento CA area to polish up her rusty skills in a 172 before we went. 23 years ago she soloed in a 152 but never went on to get her Private Pilot certificate. Now she's taking her check ride next month. The New Zealand flying experience was something many pilots would never encounter in a lifetime and I highly recommend it. It's expensive but the exchange rate is favorable for USA dollars at the moment.

Here's a link to the entire travel blog on my website. The flying part starts on Page 5 24-Oct-2018. Click on a photo to get the larger version. Many of the photos are also links to videos which is where the real action is. The videos of the beach landing at Big Bay and the flights in Milford Sound, Quill Lake and Mount Cook are great. Christine's boyfriend, Steve, took the videos with a GoPro HERO 6 from the back seat.

New Zealand Adventure

Really enjoyed the trip report to New Zealand. And what a great way to do it!

Andy that was a great adventure. Thanks for sharing. I think we all get started in aviation looking for that great trip, that escape to someplace special. The beauty of the Maule is we have a machine that can give us that adventure.

Looks like you had a good time and got in some of the great attractions. :-j

I flew the Maule Auckland to Wanaka and back in August. Mt Cook aerodrome is pretty spectacular, as is crossing the alps to the west coast.

A good country for a maule