SAFA Skysailor Magazine

21 May | June 2024 SKY SAILOR On my own, the next bit of the flight was low and slow, battling for whatever lift I could find with patience winning the day. Then what Louis had seen on the forecast eventuated, and a nice line of convergence formed, heading south. After leading out, Charles didn’t fly towards the clouds and landed after around 70km. I managed to link up for my first real experience of convergence flying. After 75km of struggle, the only struggle now was to stay clear of the clouds! Flying south without turning, half bar, doing 60km/h for the next 75km, Charles was kicking himself. Another pilot had seen what I was up to and was on my tail, but lower. We both flew until we reached Dunedin airspace, and the approaching southerly became evident. Content with 150km, I doubled back and headed up the valley to land in Roxburgh which I knew was on our way home. Phillip, not having got away, was already waiting for my landing! What a champ. We found a lovely camping spot for the night and headed back the next day. Unfortunately for Phillip, that turned out to be his only opportunity to fly, he was off to the North Island for work... A short hike… with long delays I was in for many non flyable days, so decided to go for a multi-day hike – a local ‘tramp’ as they call it. I decided on the Mototapu, a section of the Te Araroa long walk from Arrowtown to Wanaka, covering parts of my flights – I might even gain valuable insights along the way. I planned three days to cover about 60km – I was so naïve. Starting out from Coronet, I hiked towards Brow Peak, it was arduous and not enjoyable in the high wind. Cutting down towards the Coronet Loop trail in the valley looked like a better option, and the terrain looked easy. Off track I went, then I found what I couldn’t see from above – cliffs and scree slopes hidden by ‘rolling grassy hills’ became navigational hazards and this was just the start of my underestimation of the NZ landscape. One obstacle conquered, I followed the valley towards the Arrow River, then north towards Macetown, an old gold mining relic deep in the hills. Lovely, but the trail was criss- crossing the river, and I did many kilometres bare footed to avoid taking my boots on and