Well as some one reminded me this isn't my first trip to a country during a natural disaster. Although the earthquake in Christchurch didn't kill as many people as the floods did when I was in Rio this is the worst disaster this country has ever seen.
Not every one has been found yet they do think their are more people trapped alive under collapsed buildings. The quake registered 6.3 on the rictor scale. They were in the process of rebuilding after a 7.1 in September. That quake did not cause as much damage and I don't think any life was lost. This time the tremor was not as deep, 5km compared to 33km deep in September. It was also closer to town and during a busy time of the day.
I heard one story of a woman working on the fourth floor of a building that was standing on the street after the quake hit. About 70 people have died and many more injured. I've heard of people having limbs amputated to free them from the rubble. Constant after shocks, one reaching 5.7, have made rescue dangerous.
New Zealand is a small country with 4 million people. Christchurch is one of it's largest city's at 4 hundred thousand. It seems every one around me has friends or family that live there. It seems as every one was affected.
Australia, Japan and the US have sent people to help in the rescue. People here are opening their homes to strangers to give them shelter after they have lost everything. The entire country is pulling together to help Christchurch get back on it's feet. This doesn't really seem like any thing new here. From what I've seen in my short time here they all treat each other pretty well on a daily basis.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Kicking off the rust.
I've lost my camera but I will try to get a new one so I can post some pictures.
We had a few windy day's here so not to much flying was happening when I got here. The temps. have been great for getting my tan on tho. When the wind backed off I did a bunch of tows with Guy, one of the other tandem pilots. The first couple felt pretty rusty. It really sucks going so long with out being able to fly at home. Even after three months you feel rusty. It's been even longer since I've Areo towed, three years! It's great having some coaching from some one who does it every day.
Today Guy signed me off on my New Zealand ratings and I took my first customers. Two tour buses came in at 4:00 and we had four micro light flights to do and five tandems. Wouldn't you know my first passenger was Canadian! A girl from Toronto who giggled pretty much the entire flight. Also my good luck the airport was busier than JFK at that time. Trevor snuck out on grass strip next to the paved run way with the micro light and I had to wait for 4 planes to land before we could go.
Once we got threw a bit of turbulence for the first few hundred feet the air was butter smooth. Then I here some one calling me on the radio. It's the sky dive plane asking me to move a bit to the west as he was dropping off some sky divers. I moved over a bit but I don't think as far as he would have liked. I was staying super conservative and with a good sea breeze blowing in I didn't want to wander too far away from the strip.
Trevor my boss is very safety conscious and I'm staying extra Conservative until I become comfortable with all the action we have here. Looks like we have five great days of weather ahead of us.
We had a few windy day's here so not to much flying was happening when I got here. The temps. have been great for getting my tan on tho. When the wind backed off I did a bunch of tows with Guy, one of the other tandem pilots. The first couple felt pretty rusty. It really sucks going so long with out being able to fly at home. Even after three months you feel rusty. It's been even longer since I've Areo towed, three years! It's great having some coaching from some one who does it every day.
Today Guy signed me off on my New Zealand ratings and I took my first customers. Two tour buses came in at 4:00 and we had four micro light flights to do and five tandems. Wouldn't you know my first passenger was Canadian! A girl from Toronto who giggled pretty much the entire flight. Also my good luck the airport was busier than JFK at that time. Trevor snuck out on grass strip next to the paved run way with the micro light and I had to wait for 4 planes to land before we could go.
Once we got threw a bit of turbulence for the first few hundred feet the air was butter smooth. Then I here some one calling me on the radio. It's the sky dive plane asking me to move a bit to the west as he was dropping off some sky divers. I moved over a bit but I don't think as far as he would have liked. I was staying super conservative and with a good sea breeze blowing in I didn't want to wander too far away from the strip.
Trevor my boss is very safety conscious and I'm staying extra Conservative until I become comfortable with all the action we have here. Looks like we have five great days of weather ahead of us.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Endless Summer.
After a poor summer flying season and an early start to winter again I just couldn't stand to go an entire winter without flying again. My first thought was to try and find a job in New Zealand flying tandems. After sending an e mail to Jim Ronney he suggested Sky Adventures. I sent them an e mail and they offered me a job. After learning the process and getting my Visa I finally booked my plane ticket for the 3rd of Feb.
I had a three hour flight into San Fransico from Calgary and then a 12hr flight to Auckland. The flight was uneventful and I managed to get enough sleep on the plane that I wasn't too tired when I arrived.
My job is near Nelson on the south island so I figured I'd spend a day in Auckland as I didn't think I would be back unitl I headed home. Auckland has a feel much like Vancouver. It seems the economy has hit the young girls here hard. They can't afford skirts that much more than cover their butt's. I rented a car to explore the town. Auckland wasn't really the best place to try and get used to driving on the left side of the road. I didn't have any problems but I constantly have to think about where I am and need to be on the road.
From Nelson I rented another car to drive to Motueka and get myself familiar with the area. We operate out of a busy little airport with a pit special that does scenic flight. A sky dive out fit, and a flight school with cesnas and helicopters. The place is beautiful right near the ocean and on the edge of the Tasmin national park. This is going to be a great place to spend a few months.
I had a three hour flight into San Fransico from Calgary and then a 12hr flight to Auckland. The flight was uneventful and I managed to get enough sleep on the plane that I wasn't too tired when I arrived.
My job is near Nelson on the south island so I figured I'd spend a day in Auckland as I didn't think I would be back unitl I headed home. Auckland has a feel much like Vancouver. It seems the economy has hit the young girls here hard. They can't afford skirts that much more than cover their butt's. I rented a car to explore the town. Auckland wasn't really the best place to try and get used to driving on the left side of the road. I didn't have any problems but I constantly have to think about where I am and need to be on the road.
From Nelson I rented another car to drive to Motueka and get myself familiar with the area. We operate out of a busy little airport with a pit special that does scenic flight. A sky dive out fit, and a flight school with cesnas and helicopters. The place is beautiful right near the ocean and on the edge of the Tasmin national park. This is going to be a great place to spend a few months.
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