The Shotover Jet & Autumn Colours

While waiting to move to the Autumn Festival Rally in Arrowtown we stayed at the Arthurs Point Top10 Holiday Park for a couple of days, it's a small compact and busy site where we've stayed a few times. Our friends Amanda & Paul are tucked into their favourite spot in the corner...well it's about the only spot they would fit in so it has to be their favourite...

...and here's us in our fav site too, where we just manage to get our nose off the road. This is an important point when most of the other campervans arriving are driven by foreign drivers- sometimes you've just got to close your eyes and hold your breath. Arthurs Point is just above the Shotover Gorge and handy to Queenstown and Coronet Peak, for skiing, in the winter.

I found a great way to make the most of doing the mundane chore of buying groceries; do a few photo stops on the way. Just below the holiday park is the historic Edith Cavell Bridge which crosses the Shotover River and links Arthurs Point to Queenstown.

Built between 1917-1919, the bridge is a “parabolic rib arch design” and is one of the most iconic sights of Queenstown.

The home base for a major tourist attraction, the Shotover Jet, is just upstream of the bridge; it's where the jet boats depart on their super fast, adrenaline fueled tours upstream and down. Loaded buses arrive every few minutes during the height of the season and every half an hour or so at other times packed with tourists collected from pick up points and various accommodation suppliers around Queenstown.

The following two photos were taken just 3 weeks apart, the 2nd one was shot just last week while we were waiting for the rain to stop before heading to Glenorchy. After 7 days of rain, you can see how much the river has risen. And also how quickly the autumn colours on the slope behind have disappeared.

April 20th, 2016

May 15th, 2016

Here's a sequence of photos from one of the many jet boat trips I watched while I was meant to be away getting the groceries.

Guests board the boat-

The jet boat roars off upstream-

Before turning around and racing back down to do a spin in front of the camera (photog standing on ladder on the jetty). Added value for the company and an added bonus for the punters! At $135 per adult, what's another few dollars to have a keepsake of your ride.

Interrupted to compare again- photo spin from the other day.

Back to April, the jet boat races downstream...

...and past me standing at the lookout. I love zooming in to see the expressions on their faces (click to enlarge the photo)

They pass under the bridge and weave their way through the Shotover Gorge, passing very close to the rock face and then a few minutes later re-appearing to do a couple of spins (in the gorge)...

...before roaring back past...

...cutting in close over the gravel in the shallows...

...and doing one final spin as they arrive back at the jetty. Those are super experienced skippers.

And here another one from the other day to compare again, he travelling over an area where there was bare gravel last month.

On this latest shoot I went downstream- across the bridge and up the other side where I'd seen a pull-off area behind a fence. I thought I might have been able to see where the river opens up again after the gorge. It was a big surprise to find myself right on the edge of a very steep drop-off down to the river below (with a fence in between) and that not only could I see downstream (and a boat returning)...

...but I could see the end of the gorge upstream too.

And just because they make me smile, here's two more close-ups. I could watch the jet boats and take photos all day....now there's an idea! I could be the official photog on the ladder. There's more added value here- the buffs some of them are wearing over their faces and heads.

I finally pulled myself away from the gorge and headed back past the camp ground and over towards Frankton, stopping more than once to take photos of the beautiful autumn colours. 

This one is looking back towards Arthurs Point with the lower Shotover River in the foreground. This is where the jet boats turn around before heading back through the gorge. 

I stopped at the historic Lower Shotover bridge where I knew there would be some lovely colours. Built in 1909 this former main highway bridge, now fully restored, is used as a pedestrian & cycle bridge.

Taken from the middle of the bridge, looking downstream towards the 'new' bridge with the Remarkables in the background.

And upstream into the sun...I should have stopped here again last week. I bet that rock island is now surrounded by water.

Lucky David isn't with me, he'd be rolling his eyes and making hurumph noises...

...as I took another side road so I could get close to the 'new' bridge...

...where I could see some lovely poplars across the way... 

Now, I'd better go and get those groceries.

Part 2- Warbirds Over Wanaka, 2016

Warbirds Over Wanaka, 2016 continued on from Part 1...

Air War in the Pacific; Avenger, Corsiar and the P40 Kittyhawks-

Grumman Avenger- one of the largest single engine fighters of its time. Used by the RNZAF in the Pacific campaigns of WWII.

Corsair FG-1D- The Corsair is my most favourite plane (ahead of the Harvards), I fell in love with it at the Tauranga Air Show a few years ago. 

I love the wing shape, how it dips down near the plane body. And although rather quiet, I also like the deep throaty grumble of the 2000hp Pratt & Whitney radial engine (I looked that up!) 

The Corsair was nicknamed "Whistling Death" by the Japanese because of it's stealthy approach.

I failed to get photos this time, of the wings folding on the Corsiar & the Avenger (I was just too far away) but here are photos I took of them during the 2014 Warbirds.

The Curtiss P-40N and P-40E Kittyhawks

The RNZAF operated 297 Kittyhawk fighters in the Pacific during WWII. 

Eventually replaced by the Corsiar, the Kittyhawks returned to NZ to be used as advanced fighter trainers.

Another iconic aircraft; the Douglas Dakota C-47 - DC3. The Dakota C-47 was a modified version of the civilian DC-3. This particular C-47 was delivered to the US Army Airforce in 1944. After being decommissioned in 1959 it was commercially used in the Phillipines, New Guinea and Australia before being retired and becoming a static display. The New Zealand Warbird Group then brought it to NZ and performed an extensive rebuild. It was repainted to represent the aircraft NZ3546 from No.42 Squadron of the RNZAF.

This DC3 has a 100%  New Zealand pedigree. Currently owned & flown by Air Chathams, it left the USA and flew to Hamilton, NZ in April, 1945. In May 1945, it became known as RNZAF Dakota NZ3543. Once decommissioned it was flown by our very own NAC (National Airways Corporation).

The Catalina Flying Boat and the DC3s put on a great flying display and took many visitors for the ride of their lives.

Often used as a bomber escort, the American built P51 Mustang was armed with six .50 calibre Browning machine guns.

It was fitted with long range fuel tanks and modified to perform at high altitudes.

The Mustang was a formidable game-changer in the latter stages of WWII.

The Mustang was known as the "Cadillac of the Skies" I think it looks like one of those model aircraft you make up; the air intake underneath looks like a clip that holds the wings in place! Add to that the little model man in the cockpit and it could have come straight out of a box.

Next up are the "Air Bandits", Jurgis Kairys & Rob Fry, and their aerobatic planes performing some death-defying maneuvers. These are two very brave men.

Jurgis Kairys, is a Lithuania national is one of the most experienced aerobatic pilots in the world. Jurgis is an aeronautical engineer and he helped develop the Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft (the blue plane flown by Rob). This Warbirds Jurgis has brought his very own aircraft; the Juka to perform in. The Juka weighs less than the lightest Sukhoi and is powered by a 400hp Russian M14PF engine.

That's an impressive eleven turn cork screw Jurgis is performing on the right.

Later in the programme Jurgis sneeked in on the DC3, tucking in under the belly as they flew passed the crowd and then barrell rolling around the large plane on their way back down the runway.

Two Strikemaster Jets put on a fast and furious display...

...highlighting the incredible skill level of their pilots.

They were then joined by two De Havilland Vampires for some precision flying.

The Vampire was considered highly experimental in its developmental stages and came on line too late to see any action in WWII.  

The Vampire was used as a training aircraft and remained in service in NZ until 1972. And they still look futuristic to me!

The grand finale saw the airfield under attack by enemy aircraft (poor lonely Messerschmidt) and the Fighters scramble to do battle.

Followed by a mass flypast and a massive explosion, that caught many on the hop.

And again on Sunday.... and that was Warbirds Over Wanaka for another two years. 

Here are a couple of other aircraft that took part in the Classic Flypast...

This one made me giggle...it looks like he's peering over the top of the screen... 

And in a paddock at the end of the runway; a plane park- for those that arrived by wing.