Direct Flight
from Te Anau to Chatham Islands
Te Anau Airport at Manapouri was the
take-off point for an aviation first on Sunday when 40 people set-off on a
direct flight to the Chatham Islands. The charter, which was due to turn last
night (April 2) was organised by Te Anau aviation and history enthusiast Merv
Halliday who himself created an aviation back in November 1987 when he his wife
Jenny and son Grant, flew their family Cessna 180 direct from the Chatham
Islands to Invercargill. The flight, which took five hours and 48 minutes, had never
been done before, nor has it since. He recently seized upon the opportunity to
gauge interest in fully guided tour direct from Te Anau to the first inhabited
d in the world to see the new morning sun (time zone 45 minutes ahead of New
Zealand) - distance of 1261km. Interest in the trip was overwhelming and he
said he could have filled it twice. It had given him hope that such an
adventure might be able to become an annual event. The party enjoyed a cooked
breakfast at the airport before boarding an Air Chathams Convair 580. To their
surprise - including Mr Halliday's - they were joined on the flight by Chatham
Island publican Val Croon who was to be their host on the island. The flight
took two hours and fifty minutes. Although passports aren't required, many took
them with them and availed themselves of the chance to get the post office
there to frank their passports with the Chatham Island post date. A full guided
itinerary was arranged, including searching for and finding fossilised shark
teeth which are about 30 million years old. "To find a tooth from a
creature that was eating fish long before the first primate - let alone the
first human - walked the earth is amazing," Mr Halliday said. Other
highlights were visiting the Kaingaroa Tree Carvings and the amazing Basalt
Columns at Owenga, Waitangi West. The early Moriori carved designs, known as
dendroglyphs, are estimated to be up to 300 years old but are still visible on
the trees. The basalt columns are a series of pentagonal shaped volcanic rock
columns on the shoreline, and not found anywhere else on the island. Options of
fishing trips and flights to adjacent Pitt Island were also taken advantage of.
Mr Halliday said the flight should be
seen as a huge promotional experience for the Te Anau airport. “It illustrates
what a huge asset we have in the ability of a fully loaded 40 passenger
aircraft and to be able to ulitlise our existing our existing facilities,” he
said. “A lot of people don’t reliase we can accommodate aircraft of that size,”
he said.
Source : Fiordland Advocate - 3 April 2014
More
Chatham trips possible
Last week's inaugural direct
flight from Te Anau to the Chatham Islands proved so successful that two more
charters are already being planned for the next 12 months. Organiser Mery
Halliday said he was so buoyed by support for the excursion, not only from
those who couldn't make it this time but also the 40 people on the first trip,
many of whom had indicated they were keen to go back. The charter flight,
aboard an Air Chathams Convair 580, left on March 30 and returned on April 4. "We
were greeted with great enthusiasm upon arrival and told we were the biggest
tour party ever to arrive on the island," Mr Halliday said. The island has
a population of about 600 people (by comparison, Stewart Island has about 400).
It has a scheduled air service every day except Wednesday but sees few tourists
or tour parties. The 40 aboard the Te Anau flight were spread among a range of
accommodation providers because no one complex could cater for them all. Local
publican Val Croon and his sister Toni met the group on their arrival (the
Fiordland Advocate incorrectly reported last week that Mr Croon had accompanied
the party on the flight) and acted as personal tour guides for the ensuing four
days. "They were exceptional people. They really touched our hearts,"
Mr Halliday said. On the return flight the tour party was treated to sparkling
wine in Specially etched souvenir glasses, with the plane making a fly-over of Te
Anau before touching down at the airport at Manapouri. As well as providing an
opportunity to visit a part of the country that few people got to see, Mr
Halliday said the charter had also served t raise awareness of the quality of
the airport that Te Anau boasted and its capacity to cater for larger aircraft
such as the Convair. Given the strong interest and the unique nature of a
direct flight to the Chathams (flight time 2 hours 50 minutes). Mr Halliday
said he was working towards another tour around November and one in March.
Dates were yet to be confirmed because these would have to fit with Air
Chathams schedules. The cost was likely to be around $2000 per person. To
register interest contact Mery on (03) 249-8294 or email
merv@teanau.co.nz
Source : Fiordland Advocate - 10 April 2014
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