Chatham Island Sunrise

[flyjoe180]

On Monday night we were called out to go to the Chatham Islands to pick up a young pregnant mother. We left Wellington at about 2:45AM and arrived at Chatham Islands just over two hours later. As we got there the sun was rising. I had never seen the sun rise so fast, it was like you see in those movies with African themes. Just a big orange ball rising steadily above the horizon. Here are two photos. We finally got home via Christchurch the next day at 2:30PM.

[Dave Homewood]

Wow. Nice shots.

Did you see Hunger For The Wild last Saturday? The two guys on that flew to the Chathams. It was interesting to see that they have so many Weka there that the islanders are allowed to eat 5000 per year. I'd love to taste one. They're cool birds though, I'm glad they're protected here.

[flyjoe180]

No didn't see that programme. What type of aircraft did the two guys fly to the Islands?

[Dave Homewood]

It was an Air Chathams one, I think a Convair. I only caught a glimpse of it.

[flyjoe180]

Oh yeah, Air Chathams fly regularly to the Islands using Convairs. I thought you were going to say a couple of nutters flew out there in a microlight or something There sure is a lot of sea betwen the Chatham Islands and the NZ mainland.

[Dave Homewood]

Do you guys go there regularly or just special flights like this one?

[flyjoe180]

Just medical flights. Probably once a month, but it's luck of the draw as to which crew is on at the time (some would say bad luck of the draw, but I enjoyed it ). I heard a ticket to the Chathams is about $600 return, so I'm pleased the opportunity comes up occasionally to visit such a wonderful place. We had a good nosey around when there, the local (only) policeman took us for breakfast at the local cafe where we were appreciatively given a free meal, then took us for a guided tour. The main island is actually quite large, mainly covered in scrub and farm land. It is a very flat island. The policeman's main criminal work involved stopping drink driving (apparently a few cars have ended up in the sea opposite the pub).

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, it sounds like a grand place to visit. I couldn't live so isolated though.

[flyjoe180]

I guess they make their own fun.

[Dave Homewood]

Ooh, not like the Pitcairns I hope

[flyjoe180]

No, I don't think so. There are a lot of people who moved there from mainland NZ. Didn't see any six fingered children running around.

[vs]

Here are some more pictures from the Chatham Islands

ZK CIB


Chatham Island Airport

[beagle]

looks like a J-41, ex origin. Who is operating them now, or are they still doing cargo ??

[Peter Lewis]

beagle said:

looks like a J-41, ex origin. Who is operating them now, or are they still doing cargo ??

Looks more like Fairchild SA227-AC Metro III ZK-CIC which has been operated by Air Transport (Chatham Islands) Ltd. since 1993. They did have a tie-in with Origin Pacific for a while, hence the current paint scheme.

[flyjoe180]

VS, did you go out there very often? Simon said he'd only been out a few times. I guess the Metro wasn't used often for that run.

[vs]

Howdy Joe180. It was like all things in airline flying....feast or famine!......First time I went out there was for the opening or Air Chathams new office complex which also now houses the convair 580 simulator. I went the odd time after that but last year went out quite a few times in a 3 week period. It is a good opportunity to learn HF/oceanic skills which has helped me greatly in the flying I am doing now!

Hope you enjoyed it....certainly not many people with that in their log books!

[flyjoe180]

I thoroughly enjoyed it, be good to do the trip again in daylight. The HF stuff was new to me, so that was fun to do something different. CI in the logbook is certainly a good souvenir

[Dave Homewood]

I'll bet it was a very long trip in the days of the Bristol Freighters!

Does anyone know when the airstrip was first built there and when the first plane landed there? Was it pre-war (ie a flying boat...), wartime, or post-war?

[flyjoe180]

Funnily enough whilst I was at Blenheim talking to one of the Post guys, it transpired he used to travel out to the Chatham Islands on a Bristol Freighter, and he said it took about 4 hours. I imagine you would be rather deaf after that time. Imagine running into a westerly on the way home!

This from Wikipedia: The grass landing-field at Hapupu, at the northern end of the Island, proved a limiting factor, as few aircraft apart from the Bristol Freighter had both the range to fly to the islands and the ruggedness to land on the grass airstrip. Although other aircraft did use the landing field occasionally, they would often require repairs to fix damage resulting from the rough landing.

In 1991, after many years of requests by locals and the imminent demise of the aging Bristol Freighter aircraft, the construction of a sealed runway at Karewa, Tuuta Airport, allowed more modern aircraft to land safely. The Chathams' own airline, Air Chathams, now operates services to Auckland on Thursdays, Wellington on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Christchurch on Tuesdays. The timetable varies seasonally, but generally planes depart the Chathams around 10.30 am (Chathams Time) and arrive in the mainland around noon. Then they refuel and reload, depart again at around 1 pm, back to the Chathams. Air Chathams operates twin turboprop Convair 580 aircraft in combi (freight and passenger) configurations and Fairchild Metroliners.

The propeller of the Short Sunderland that was wrecked there in a storm (thre was a thread somewhere here a while ago on this) is mounted in concrete outside the cafe near the pub and hospital. Sorry, again I didn't get a photo.

[flyjoe180]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chatham_Islands_from_space_ISS005-E-15265.jpg