Lake Wakatipu, Flight from Queenstown to Milford Sound. January 1993
Brian, MAP, and I found a tour to the famously beautiful Milford Sound from adventure capital, Queenstown. Even though it was not that far as the crow flies, the road was mostly a dirt track through the mountains and it was a long bumpy ride. This tour conveniently gave us a brief, light plane ride to Milford Sound's little airstrip, a night on a boat on the Sound, and then the bumpy land journey back to Queenstown (which was incredibly beautiful). The first leg of the journey was the flight. The plane only accommodated four passengers - it was the three of us and another woman.
We went out to Queenstown Airport and took off in a small prop plane. That always feels like being shot out of a rubber band. Jets need a long runway to take off - prop planes bounce right off the runway like those old balsawood airplanes I used play with when I was a kid. We took off and I then I remembered the small plane I took with my Mom over Pennsylvania when I was a kid. [see: flights of fancy] The flight was spectacular. We followed the mountain valley with Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu spread out below us, turned, and passed over a notch in one ridge, almost skimming the mountain top. Suddenly, we were headed straight into another mountain and the pilot said, "this might get bumpy". We quickly banked and dove into the next mountain valley in one stomach-churning, rollercoaster, aerial pirouette and plunge. It happened so fast none of us registered it until it was over. Now the amazing flight felt slightly less awe-inspiring and more like a real risk. I was no longer enjoying the views as before. I just wanted to land. It scared the shit out of me - out of all us.
We did land on that tiny runway surrounded by the towering mountains of New Zealand's South Island. We were picked up and transferred to the boat. It remains the most exciting airplane ride of my life - glad I did it, not sure I would want to repeat it.
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