Wellington to Timaru (WLG-TIU) on NZ Beech 1900D

Another day, another flight. Head to the lovely NZ domestic Koru Club lounge at Wellington, BP in hand. Get a nice surprise in that the seasonal specialty beers are back - a very big selection currently with 27 different ones! Burp. Oh yeah and half a dozen wines and selection of spirits. 3 different fruit juices plus the sodas/soft drinks on tap.

Food is the usual good stuff. This time there is a hot tomato-ey chicken dish with rice, salad, cheese, cold meats, bread rolls, scones, lamingtons, tarts (no I'm not calling any punters this, I mean the sweet food), carrot cake, fruit selection.

I think the boarding call in the lounge was a bit late since less than a minute later (while I was on the way out of the lounge) I hear "Kiwi Flyer flying to Timaru, this is your final call". Get to the gate downstairs (this time not on the finger pier so only a moment's walk away) to be greeted with "Kiwi Flyer I presume?". As I board the door is swung shut in behind me. It is a totally full flight - 19 pax plus infant.

We have a short taxi out to the runway, followed by a short take off roll. This time we bank right away from the central city and follow the eastern edge of the harbour - giving good views of the fold hills and valleys between Wellington and Wairarapa, and glimpses of the plains beyond. Despite being a windy day there are very few bumps. Before we climb through the high cloud we have good views across Cook Strait to Marlborough Sounds, the Wairau and Awatere Valleys with their multitude of vineyards laid out across the valley floor, the various colours of the Grasmere salt works ponds, and of course the mountains that appear to leap from the sea.

We spend much of the flight above the cloud layer and only catch glimpses below, of the sea, Akaroa Harbour (the little French town at its head), the shallow expanse of Lake Ellesmere flanking the volcanic cones of Banks Peninsula, and the patchwork of the Canterbury Plains.

After nearly an hour we descend through the cloud and emerge over South Canterbury - the dairy factory towering over the small settlements and farmland. We fly straight in to Richard Pearse airport - named after the early aviator who flew, supposedly a year before the Wright Brothers, across some paddocks very near to the current airport. As we approach I see the sweep of the bay around which Timaru is based and the rolling hills in the distance which mark the end of the plains.

Timaru airport's terminal is fairly small, but bigger than Oamaru and Westport for example. Still limited amenities (toilet, plenty of chairs, get cold drinks from check in, hot drinks from vending machine).