WANGANUI to WELLINGTON (WAG-WLG) on NZ Beech 1900C (operated by Vincent Aviation)

This route has only very recently restarted and so I’d managed to get a reasonable introductory fare. When I originally booked there was to be a 1 hour connection, however in the interim the schedule had been changed to reduce the connection to 30 minutes. I not only got notified by email but the Wanganui airport agent also called me to make sure I was aware of the change.

When the aircraft arrived from Wellington they offloaded the passengers, no checked baggage and called us to board immediately. A small load with just the 2 pilots and 3 passengers, and no checked bags either. So the flight left early with the aircraft spending less than 10 minutes on the ground including taxi time! Amazing how much more efficient they can be for the last flight of the day. In the end I got to Wellington more than an hour early – more time to enjoy the evening entertainment.

We were warned to expect a bumpy flight along Cook Strait with winds around 50 knots. Sure enough there was a big surf pounding the beach we crossed just after take off, and the sea was full of white caps blown along in the wind. We cut the corner of the broad sweep of the southwest coastline and passed near the rugged Kapiti Island – its seaward cliffs plunging from the ridge in contrast to the lush forested hills rolling down the other side. Flying in across the northern hill suburbs we got a neat rollercoaster ride. Seeing through the forward windows the pilots struggling to keep the runway in line. Then finally a hard landing, making good use of both length and width of the runway. The Lyall Bay surf was crashing up against the road beside the runway. As is often the case at Wellington we had a long walk from past the end of the prop finger pier to arrivals.