Wet Lands

Swans at the Clive Wetland

I read the other day that despite its fierce woolly sheep, New Zealand has been voted the world’s most peaceful country. Reading further I saw that Iceland and Finland were ranked just behind in this poll. The pollsters did not seem to cotton onto the correlation this has with countries where the only inhabitants are snowmen.

Although 80km distant from Clive, Mount Kaweka (c.1700 m.) is quite a distinctive peak. One does not have to reach the top of the Kaweka Range to obtain a 180’ easterly view that encompasses the whole of the Heretaunga Plain, out to Portland Island and Cape Kidnappers and from the Ruahines in the south to Mount Everest in the North.

The walk along the beach to Cape Kidnappers alongside the cliffs is a test of nerves. You set out hoping not to encounter any of the thousands of earthquakes that NZ experiences annually. We first tried this walk some 3 years ago, but since then there has been considerable erosion of both the beach and the cliffs. Some of the slips are very recent and the ground and rocks have yet to stabilize.
One is always grateful to make it back to the car park, and instead of walking to try something sensible like - flying.

For one whose nimble footwork was developed on the parade grounds of Diskobolos outside Kimberley, it was a miserable effort to follow in the footsteps of Snoopy the World War I Flying Ace. Having voted with my feet on numerous occasions, flying a light plane should have been easy. With left and right pedals to control the ailerons, a steering wheel that moved back and forth to control the elevators and from side to side to control the rudder it all seemed second nature.

However it’s easy to forget that the left foot is not on a clutch and what seems to look like a gear lever actually puts the flaps down. As we came into land I stole a look at my instructor mouthing a secret prayer. O-B-U-M-M-M-P-F-F-I-T-C-H-H-A. Puzzled, I wondered if he thought my accent was Australian. It was only when we were safely back on ground that I remembered his mantra had nothing to do with sheep but may have related to the briefing I’d vaguely heard before taking off.

O - Open carburettor heater
B - Brakes free
U - Undercarriage down and locked
M - Mixtures
M - Magnetos.
M - Master switch
P - Propellor Pitch
F - Fuel
F - Flaps
I - Instruments
T - Temperatures and Pressures
C - Close carburettor heat
H - Hatches or doors
H - Harnesses
A - Amen
At least Torgan seemed relieved to see his grandfather back on firm soil. Further down the road towards the coast, the soil has been a little soggier at the Clive rugby fields. Usually the toss of the coin would decide which team has the wind behind them. Latterly the toss has been to decide who takes the shallow end.