We have booked a few days stay at Puka Park Lodge and want to explore the North Island of New Zealand, especially the area of the Coromandel Peninsula, from here. To get a first impression, we chartered a helicopter to fly us over this area.
The helicopter picks us up directly from the Puka Park Lodge. Brigitte prepares herself mentally for the upcoming flight. The “Peninsula Rescue Helicopter Services” was recommended to us by the owner of the Puka Park Lodge. He is a German Lufthansa captain who realized his lifelong dream here after his retirement with the construction of the lodge.
O.K. – we take off for our two-hour flight over large parts of the North Island and to the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula. In a steep climb, it goes directly over the lodge to the north. We are connected to the pilot via headphones and microphone, so that good communication and the necessary explanations about the area flown over and the special features are guaranteed.
The cockpit and instrumentation of the helicopter is a little different from that of a pure sports aircraft.
The first impression is already overwhelming. The island is densely covered with wild bushes, trees and subtropical vegetation. But we also fly over larger areas of pasture land again and again. In the uninhabited areas, small sandy roads lead to the mostly untouched and extensive sandy beaches.
From the Puka Park Lodge we took off for our sightseeing flight over the North Island of New Zealand. We fly over small secluded bays that can only be reached from the sea or with all-terrain vehicles.
Then we reach the Coromandel Peninsula. It stretches into the sea like a string of pearls. The Coromandel Peninsula is a tongue-shaped peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. We want to explore this area with the motorhome in the next few days and can get a good insight into the special features of this region.
The roads are mostly gravel or sand roads that are hardly used. Only in a few places does a direct, often steeply winding dirt road lead to the sea. That will still be a difficult task for us. The Coromandel Peninsula is endowed with subtropical vegetation and has a variety of small, mostly lonely, white sandy beaches.
Already from up here you can see the wonderfully wild vegetation. Large parts of the North Island are rugged and rivers pour into the sea in various places. On our return flight, we cross the slopes of Mount Pauanui, on the edge of which the Puka Park Lodge is located. The helicopter on landing…..
….a perfect precision landing. Well, we have already taken helicopter flights in other countries, but this time we are particularly enthusiastic because the landscape here is so varied and interesting.
