Day one:

Today will start at 9am at Ardmore Airfield, in Auckland with a briefing and flight planning session.

On the first leg of the Safari, we will fly up the west side of Northland across the Kaipara Harbour, the Waipoua forest, Hokianga Harbour, along Ninety Mile Beach and around the northern most tip of New Zealand, the Cape Reinga lighthouse, before turning south down the east coast stopping at the Kaitaia airfield for lunch.

After lunch we will track down the east side of Northland, across the Hauraki Gulf islands, across the Firth of Thames to the Coromandel Peninsula and on to the picturesque resort town of Whitianga where we will spend the first night.

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a shorter route direct to Whitianga.

Day two:

This day we will fly across the Hauraki plains and North Waikato to intercept the west coast at Raglan, then head southwest towards the majestic Mt Taranaki to New Plymouth for lunch.

Fully refreshed we will take in some of the scenic north Taranaki, then head across to the King Country tracking north through the lush plains of the South Waikato, across the Kaimai Ranges to the beautiful Bay of Plenty and Tauranga for our second night stop.

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a shorter route direct to Tauranga.

Day three:

Heading SSW from Tauranga we will view the beautiful Rotorua lakes then head for the western shores of lake Taupo, the  northern face of Ruapehu and the Tongariro National park. We will then fly across the mighty Lake Taupo to Taupo Airfield for lunch.

From Taupo the route will take us across the Galitia Plains and the towns of Whakatane, Ohope, Opotiki and around the beautiful East Coast to Gisborne where we will stay for the night.

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a shorter route direct to Gisborne.

Day four:

Today we will be heading south from Gisborne to the Mahia Peninsula, then inland to the Te Urewera National Park and the pristine Lake Waikaremoana.
Our flight then turns southward to Hawkes Bay and the Hastings airfield for lunch.

On our afternoon leg we hope to be able to fly across the Kaimanawa Range to Waiouru then track southwest back across the ranges to Dannevirke and onwards to Masterton for our night's stop.

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a shorter route direct to Masterton.

Day five:

Today is a rest day.

Time to catch up on some
R & R, maintenance or take one of the local tours which will be available.

Watch this space for further details.

Day six:

After departing Masterton we will cross into the Manawatu  then to the Kapiti coast, past Mana Island and across Cook Strait to the bush clad Marlborough Sounds. We will continue our flight around Tasman Bay concluding the mornings scenic flight at Motueka, where we will stop for lunch.

Airborne at Motueka after a feast of their local cuisine we head for Takaka, flying over golden beaches to Cape Farewell and Farewell Spit. We explore down the West Coast to Westport then turn left and head east to Murchison, past the Nelson Lakes and down the Wairau River for our over night stop at Omaka in Blenheim. (Wine country)

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a shorter route direct to Omaka.

Day seven:

Today is the big one with the afternoon leg being the longest of the Safari.
Vacating Omaka we will fly up the Awatere River, over Molesworth Station to Hanmer Springs then track Northeast to Kaikoura via the inland road. From Kaikoura we will travel down the coast to Rangiora for an early lunch.
Well fed we will head for Hokitika via Arthurs Pass. From Hokitika we will trek down the West Coast to Franz Josef. If the weather is ideal we will cross the Alps at this point via the passes and head for Timaru for the night. Otherwise we will continue to Haast then to Lake Wanaka, Lake Hawea, up the Lindis pass, down the Waitaki, up the Hakataramea and across the Hunters Hills to Timaru .

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take the east coast route direct to Timaru.

Day eight:

Our second rest day.

We will be organising local tours etc.

Watch this space.

Day nine:

This morning we vacate Timaru, head north up into the Canterbury Plains for some precision navigation.
We will then fly into the McKenzie Basin, via Burkes Pass, down to the Omarama gliding country, for lunch.


After lunch we will cross the Hawkden Range, down the mighty Clutha river to the south then trek via East Otago and East Southland to our stop for the night, Invercargill. (Shadbolt country)

Vintage and microlight aircraft will fly down the east coast to Invercargill.

Day 10:

Our final day.

Airborne Invercargill we head south across the Foveaux Strait, around the magnificent Stewart Island. (you have now been from the Cape Reinga to the southern point of Stewart Island) We then fly back to the Mainland and across the fertile Southland plains to Gore (Mandeville) for lunch.

After lunch we head for Lake Manapouri then via Centre Pass, down the Seaforth River to the grandeur of Dusky Sound. From there we head north past Resolution Island to Doubtful Sound. Heading inland via Fowler Pass we cross Lake Te Anau heading for Roxburgh and then Cromwell where the navigation exercise terminates overhead the airfield.

You then fly onward to Queenstown airfield for your final landing of the Safari.
In Queenstown we will hold a gala Dinner to celebrate the event and present awards to the “better” navigators.

Vintage and microlight aircraft will take a direct route via Maneville to Queenstown