Paramotor Rally 2005

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                                                                                                 Rally participants 2005

On the Feb 22nd, New Zealand hosted a rally that’s never been seen before in this country. 35 motor heads from around the world including South Africa, USA, Germany, Romania, France, Israel, England, Thailand, arrived in Christchurch (CHCH) with 16 days to explore the South Island by air.

Starting and finishing in CHCH, the rally’s aim was to provide a fun competition as well as the opportunity to fly the best sites in South Island. The enormity of holding a competition with very little help was impossible and it was decided after discussing with senior pilots that people were here to fly, see the country and have fun doing it.

The first few days were a bit mudly and stressful with one pilot and another pilot’s gear not turning up. A non-English speaking pilot was somewhere in Auckland, while his personal instructor / translator / flying buddy had arrived in CHCH. Within 48 hrs all participants and equipment were accounted for. - Thank God.

On the first day the convoy of adventurers, that included 5 vehicles with large double axle trailers, choker full of man, machine, and plenty of spares, set out for the Rangiroa Airstrip, 25km outside Christchurch. That day was a real eye opener with the group showing a wide range of skills or perhaps a lack of, for some. Within the group we had some of the worlds best, mixed with pilots with limited experience and abilities.

That fist day we finished with 4 motors out of action due to prop or wing damage. Thoughts were going through my head with the high attrition rate – is there going to be anyone flying at the end of the rally? But paramotorists proved they are a resourceful lot with all pilots being operational again within 24hrs. These guys brought spares for their spares, I kid you not. I swear some one bought enough props for 6 motors. I couldn’t believe one guy even managed to find an alloy wielder in Christchurch on a Sunday. Most Christchurch folk are either recovering from the night before, at church or liaison with the local sheep, as the Aussies would say. The gods must have been looking down on that lucky pilot to find a wielder.

The next day we were off to Nelson with a stop over in Hanmer Springs – South Island’s thermal area. I initially planned a thermal task to Nelson but with some pilots having limited experience with serious mountain flying it was decided to play safe a and fly locally in the thermal resort.

From Nelson we traveled towards Takaha for an aerial cruise around the golden sand beaches and coves provided by the spectacular Able Tasman National Park.

The plan was to fly around the Park. But with the approaching onshore headwind meant that for a number of pilots with limited fuel capacity, the distance may be beyond their capabilities and it was decided not to attempt the 60km flight. Instead a number of pilots flew in the beautiful Kaiteriteri area while others drove through to Takaha.

2 experienced Brits with sufficient endurance managed to sneak in the 60 km flight before the sea breeze really kicked in, achieving the honor to be the first paramotorists to fly around from Kaiteriteri to Takaha - a first of many firsts for paramotoring during the rally in NZ.

The following day a large group flew the Abel Tasman from Takaha, following the golden sand coastline with its abundant sea life showing off very large sting rays and pods of dolphins.

From here we traveled to our next port of call – Kaikoura, famous for its Whale Watch, dolphins and lobsters. 50km out from the seaside resort, a number of pilots flew down the rugged coastline landing just outside our accommodation.

The next day was going to a magical flight - from Kaikoura to Motunau Island. The skies were clear at take off but soon after, low coastal cloud came in and pilots were forced to fly high seeing the coastal cliffs and area’s rugged coastline in spurts. This flight for many was their best ever and some have been flying for many years. Again sea life was abundant. Rafaelleo from Fly Castellucio decided to carry on to New Brighton Beach in Christchurch after refueling. Some time down the track he landed beside the Pier, a flight of over 120km.

Next flying destination - Arthurs Pass. Again another beautiful morning clear skies and no wind. This flight took us over rocky outcrops created from the ice age and over large river valleys and tranquil lakes. There was some talk of a well-known figure in the group losing his prop while in flight. I think he was trying to keep quite on this one. The pilot landed to find it perfect working order, bolted it back on (I’m sure he would have double-checked this time) and took off again looking rather sheepishly.

Next stop the glaciers - Fox and Franz Josef on the wild West Coast. The next day, at first light we set off in 3 groups with the route being to follow the main rd flying South and landing just outside Fox given us a birds eye view of the ice age glaciers. The area was restricted due to the large number of commercial aircraft on sight seeing flights. 2 pilot’s, who normally can understand English, couldn’t resist the pull of the glaciers and were drawn in to flying at very close proximity to the glaciated mountains. At the time it was not clear who the culprits were but it came clear when the pilots down loaded their pictures on to my laptop. Big mistake boys.

After 2 nights here were traveled on to Hawea / Wanaka. Of course we had to do some flying along the Rugged West Coasts beaches on the way here.

The good flying weather finally stopped - our first day when it was not that suitable. But that still did not stop some pilots from flying Wanaka. They must be on a mission to fly every day.

3 nights in Queenstown – the action capital of the world followed. Here we didn’t have too much luck here flying. After getting permission from the tower we made an attempt to fly over the busy town. Our attempt was halted with leeside turbulence in the Shot Over Gorge area. We decided to head back and land at the Flight Park based near Arrowtown. This excellent paragliding and hang gliding facility is in an area, which is very site sensitive. The surrounding neighbors object to anything with a motor. So you could say they were in for a surprise with 20 odd motors flying in.(without power at 1500 AGL).

The flights at Glenorchy and Five River’s was canned due to strong winds. Glenorchy with Mt Aspiring National Park must be one of the prettiest places on earth. It’s a shame it wasn’t flyable here to really appreciate it.

The call to can the Five River’s (also a great place to fly) was made early after phoning the gliding club for an update on the conditions. Unfortunately we got this wrong and it turned out to be good for most of the day

A group of rugby crazed South African’s had decided to drive down to Invercargill to watch a super 12 rugby game with the intention of flying into the rugby ground as the pre match entertainment. It was their team playing and I suppose the Stormers needed as much support as they could get playing against the Highlanders. The guys decided to leave their motors back in Queenstown due to the unfavorable conditions predicted. We saw the guys huddled together, on the TV looking rather wet and probably kicking themselves they didn’t have their motor’s. It only started to rain just at kick off so they could have shown off their flying skills to millions of people. But they still had a blast even though their team narrowly lost.

With the group together again we headed back to Lake Hawea. The weather was windy and wet. You could say it was not suitable to fly. The guys were hanging out to fly and felt the need to be airborne again.

The next day we traveled to Mount Cook and yes it was still raining but with the good possibility of clearing. We were lucky - the next morning it was clear with no or little wind at low levels. Our original plan was to see how high we could fly, attempting to fly over NZ’s highest peak at 12 300+ ft. But with strong winds at high levels we decided to stay low. It was still very impressive flying amongst those very large and in your face mountains.

A quick pack-up and we were off to LakeTekapo for some flying. No time to waste here. We took off from the local airstrip with a light NW brewing and cruised around the lake and surrounding area. We landed at the reserve in the middle of the town.

Some of the guys decided to get some serous height with a fix wing flight up and over Mt Cook and the Glaciers to get a very high bird’s eye view of the unbelievably beautiful area.

We had one day left and still had a 3-hour drive to Christchurch. So our main objective was to get back ASAP, dismantle and clean the machines for the return flight home the following day. The evening function was on a Maori Marea with a welcoming ceremony, song and dance. Most slept on the Marea that night or shall I say tried. A Marea’s custom is to all sleep in one large room. Now throw in 3 – 4 snoorers into the equation and you have a recipe for a rather long night.

I would say there was allot of tired pilots returning home. Out of 16 days we flew 12. We drove 1000’s km and flew many hours. The most common saying amongst the group of pilots was “that was unbelievable” Our breathtaking scenery certainly left an impression on our visitors and there’s no better way to see it than by paramotor. The second most common saying was I’m not sleeping with that guy, referring to a few snoorers. .

I learnt a lot from the rally and met some great flying mates from around the world. The next rally will be a bit different, smaller in numbers, shorter in length, based in 3 areas while keeping accommodation to a max 2 persons per room.

Should you wish to know more about paramotoring or wish to see photos of the rally please look around our web site.

Parapro the paragliding and paramotoring professionals and rally organiser would like to thank the following sponsors-

Singapore Air: the official airline for the rally, assisting with pilot’s luggage and the issues associated with carrying motors on the plane. This airline rates as tops for

                       service and willingness to help.

Fly Castellucio:the manufacturer of quality paramotoring equipment and the provider of prizes for the event.