Approaching Queenstown, New Zealand.

[charge69]

If you fly, you know there is always a sense of relief when you break out at the bottom of the cloud layer and find yourself lined up with the runway!

http://www.chonday.com/Videos/pilotnewzdalnd1

[Dino]

Although I knew that everything would be alright, I was still tense when it stayed in the clouds as long as it did.  Only when he approaches the runway can you sense the speed.  If I could go back in time, I'd have to consider flying for a career.  Way cool.

[charge69]

I was an Air Traffic Controller before I retired and have been on a few "familiarization" flights, always in the cockpit, that were much more hairy than this! Going "IFR" for a short time and popping out with the runway in sight is always a nice feeling.  Never been to this part of the world, though. Pretty place!

[tan top]

awesome sight !! thanks for posting 

[Mopar Nut]

That was really cool, thanks.

[Tilar]

That would take a lot of faith.

[69rtse4spd]

Very cool thanks.

[Fred]

Stunning footage. A pretty harrowing experience for any pilot attempting it for the first time.

Also the reason why, when we go skiing in Queenstown, we fly to NZ and take the bus from Christchurch to Queenstown. We do however fly out of Queenstown.

[remta1]

Next time fly to Dunedin I will drive you thru myself

[green69rt]

Visited Queenstown on a tour, may have been our favorite part of the islands.  Stunning.  But we would fly into Christchurch, no question!!!

Took a similar flight into Juneau Alaska.  Only diff was that at the end of the runway there is a huge mountain.  The pilot made three runs on the runway.  The first two times he had to pull up and turn because he couldn't see anything before the mountain got too close.  Third time he made it, really scary.  If we couldn't have landed in Juneau then the next stop was Yakatat (sp?) Alaska, population 488.  Not a nice place to visit.  

Edit: never Knew about Dunedin, good option.

[Fred]

Next time fly to Dunedin I will drive you thru myself

Well thankyou very much. That's quite a hike though, isn't it? I've got to say, we do enjoy the drive through the Canterbury plains.
So you live in the Scottish part (correct me if I'm wrong) of the south island. No wonder you've got that glorious beach at your doorstep. What are the winters like down your way?

[remta1]

yep im in Dunedin its only a two and a half hour easy drive to queenstown  plus you would get to see more stunning scenery ,,,mopars included gets a bit icy and the odd bit of snow but queenstown and Wanaka are where its at for the powder hounds.

seriously though would be more than happy to drive you , with my work im up there every fortnight

[Bob T]

We were on a flight a few years ago that had two passes at trying to land through the cloud before they pulled up sharply and banked hard away so then it was off to Invercargill and get the bus back up. The group in front of us were off to a wedding and were late and bitching about it. I was just happy being back on the tarmac in one piece 

Queenstown and Hong Kong are supposed to be amongst the toughest airports to land at apparently.

[remta1]

the bus trip back would drive me nuts

[JB400]

I'm still looking to have my first flight.  The views are stunning.

[Fred]

yep im in Dunedin its only a two and a half hour easy drive to queenstown  plus you would get to see more stunning scenery ,,,mopars included gets a bit icy and the odd bit of snow but queenstown and Wanaka are where its at for the powder hounds.

seriously though would be more than happy to drive you , with my work im up there every fortnight

That's very much appreciated mate. 

[Fred]

the bus trip back would drive me nuts

It's actually quite enjoyable unless you're in a hurry to get someplace. Ours made several pit stops and at one of the roadside stops we tasted our first ever venison pie and hot black current drink. First we'd ever heard of either.

[Mopar Nut]

I thought the Rockies were cool to fly over.

[Fred]

The Remarkables mountain range is truly spectacular that's for sure. In fact it reminds me a lot of Switzerland.   

[dyslexic teddybear]

Beautiful scenery

Being old and decrepit, my memory could be off, but wasn't the "Lord of the rings" filmed there?

Definitely a beautiful part of the would from everything I have ever seen.

[Bob T]

Beautiful scenery

Being old and decrepit, my memory could be off, but wasn't the "Lord of the rings" filmed there?

Definitely a beautiful part of the would from everything I have ever seen.

Correct you are D.T.  A bit further in from there at Glenorchy was where the Rohirrim horsemen hung out and also where the Uruk Hai kidnapped the hobbits and ran with them. Beautiful part of the country. I've been on a slow jet boat trip up to the headwaters on the border of the National Park, amazing place, well worth a look if your ever down that way.

[dyslexic teddybear]

Beautiful scenery

Being old and decrepit, my memory could be off, but wasn't the "Lord of the rings" filmed there?

Definitely a beautiful part of the would from everything I have ever seen.

Correct you are D.T.   A bit further in from there at Glenorchy was where the Rohirrim horsemen hung out and also where the Uruk Hai kidnapped the hobbits and ran with them. Beautiful part of the country. I've been on a slow jet boat trip up to the headwaters on the border of the National Park, amazing place, well worth a look if your ever down that way.

Slow jet boat trip.....sounds awesome. Not at all a movie nerd about where something is filmed.....with the exception of Lord of the rings. Would love seeing that scenery in person.

Both my lady and I feel that if retirement lets us do any far away travel, New Zeeland and /or Australia would be at the top of the list.

[Fred]

Beautiful scenery

Being old and decrepit, my memory could be off, but wasn't the "Lord of the rings" filmed there?

Definitely a beautiful part of the would from everything I have ever seen.

Correct you are D.T.   A bit further in from there at Glenorchy was where the Rohirrim horsemen hung out and also where the Uruk Hai kidnapped the hobbits and ran with them. Beautiful part of the country. I've been on a slow jet boat trip up to the headwaters on the border of the National Park, amazing place, well worth a look if your ever down that way.

Slow jet boat trip.....sounds awesome. Not at all a movie nerd about where something is filmed.....with the exception of Lord of the rings. Would love seeing that scenery in person.

Both my lady and I feel that if retirement lets us do any far away travel, New Zeeland and /or Australia would be at the top of the list.

Believe me when I say..........you can't much go wrong there.     And we speak the lingo.

[green69rt]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

[Fred]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

I'm not a New Zealander so probably shouldn't be giving advise but I'd go with the south island too. And check out Queenstown if you can and take the cable car to the top.  

[remta1]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

I'm not a New Zealander so probably shouldn't be giving advise but I'd go with the south island too. And check out Queenstown if you can and take the cable car to the top.  

yep Freds dead right,  I am back up their on Friday so I will take some more pics for you guys

[Fred]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

I'm not a New Zealander so probably shouldn't be giving advise but I'd go with the south island too. And check out Queenstown if you can and take the cable car to the top.  

yep Freds dead right,  I am back up their on Friday so I will take some more pics for you guys

That would be great. Post them up 

[Bob T]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

That is a long haul and yes its a whistle stop tour, did you do any coach trips or just hire a rental and fly between the major cities? What were your highlights?
We did a 2200 mile 3 week trip around the South Island a few years back, down the West Coast and back up the East coast and it was great, some days we only did 50 miles some days 200, just cruising around.

In the North Island, Coromandel peninsula and the bays around there and also Gisbourne and the East Cape are fantastic places to visit.

Have a look at this site, there are some amazing places to see


http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/


One neat place I did a roadtrip to last summer was the New Zealand Stonehenge, I took a few pics along the way

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,98112.0.html

[green69rt]

We did the coach tour thing, down the east cost and up the west then return to Christchurch for the return flight.   We missed seeing any of Christchurch, the earthquake hit a short time (3 weeks??) before we got there and the city was in a shambles.  I'd have to go back thru our pictures but Queenstown and the Milford Sound have got to be high on our list.

[Fred]

It's a long haul from Houston Tx to NZ but we may do it again.   Last time we spent a week on the north and another week on the south Island.  Not enough time.  Next time maybe two weeks on each and if we had to see only one it would be the south island.

That is a long haul and yes its a whistle stop tour, did you do any coach trips or just hire a rental and fly between the major cities? What were your highlights?
We did a 2200 mile 3 week trip around the South Island a few years back, down the West Coast and back up the East coast and it was great, some days we only did 50 miles some days 200, just cruising around.

In the North Island, Coromandel peninsula and the bays around there and also Gisbourne and the East Cape are fantastic places to visit.

Have a look at this site, there are some amazing places to see


http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/


One neat place I did a roadtrip to last summer was the New Zealand Stonehenge, I took a few pics along the way

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,98112.0.html

I was away from the forum all of January so missed this whole thread. Just checked it out now.  Great pics, enjoyed it very much.  

[Bob T]

Cheers Fred, it would've been one of the best road trips I have done, only topped by the South Island journey. A lot of fun, made better by doing in the Charger

I just saw this on the net, as the premiere of the new Hobbit movie is on today, bit of a travelogue, some great footage of the landscape down south and in the mid North Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TidGyBLTTRQ