SAFA Skysailor Magazine

18 SKY SAILOR May | June 2024 My New Zealand adventure – Part 1: More hike than fly by Tim Marshall Part 1 of my latest adventure, a five-week trip to New Zealand’s South Island, started with some adventurous hikes and flights, and culminated in Part 2 next issue – the Wanaka Hike & Fly race. This trip had been in the planning stage for what felt like an eternity. Hike & fly or vol bivouac had been my inspiration well before I’d realised it was even a possibility. My time spent in competitions fast-tracked my learning. However, the stress of comp flying took its toll and anxiety turned my passion into torture. During last year’s comps, I decided to stop and hike up Mt Buffalo instead of tasking – the enjoyment this gave me couldn’t be ignored. This prompted me to focus on hike & fly. The research for light equipment began – wings, harness, vol-biv kit, destinations, whatever blogs and videos I could find – Nick Neynens, Ben Kellett amongst others... Insatiable, I consumed everything. But nothing beats experience. Time to kit up, and book the flights. Time was ticking, I needed a suitable wing for this adventure. Few manufacturers make lightweight performance wings in a size suitable for larger people... until Ozone released a Zeolite2 GT certified up to 115kg – my bare minimum. Given the lack of choice, I ordered, knowing full well a full vol-biv kit would have me well over the certified weight. I ordered the Bogdanfly Van harness, purpose-built for vol-biv with loads of storage, and opted for the heavier, more durable Oxford fabric – the thought of having issues with gear while in the wild terrified me. My kit was coming together with some light camping gear, simplified instruments, a small solar panel and battery bank that charged while being used – I was as ready as I’d ever be. Easy, just like Ben Kellett’s videos! Coronet Peak On my first morning in New Zealand, I was on Coronet Peak launch at 10am, another pilot, Ben, was setting up to fly to Mt Cook. It was on, but windy, and I realised I wasn’t prepared for such an epic introduction. I took my time watching Ben and his mates get away, all but one who struggled with airspace issues and top landed to restart his instrument. Setting up with Adam, a guy without much XC experience who’d given me a lift from Arrowtown camp, we decided to just do our own thing. He was content to fly to Wanaka, I had hopes of flying to Pakitui hut on the eastern side of lake Hawea. I ended up with tangled lines on launch... after trying to untangle on a windy launch, Adam offered to help, and suggested we take the glider to Coronet Peak base to sort out. I soon found the cause of the problem: A pressure knot in the cascades from cleaning out the wing in preparation for NZ customs* meant no matter what I did, there was always