Very Scenic Commuter Flight New Zealand Style

[Aharon Dayan]

Shalom and greetings all my pals,

Presenting a beautiful commuter flight New Zealand style from NZDN Dunedin Airport approximately 22 kilometres south west of Dunedin to NZCH Christchurch Airport located in the suburb of Harewood 7.5 miles to the northwest of the city centre of Christchurch.

Passengers boarding through gate one jetway



Jetway disconnecting from the plane



You can tell from the tail of the plane that it is in middle of pushback



Checking through windows of the terminal to see if there is any late passenger running to gate 1 before starting engines (yeah we offer extra personal service)



Starting right engine with nice background view of the terminal



Starting left engine with nice view of ground markings



Activating flaps to degree suitable for take off with nice background view of airport tower and first and second gates



Entering into runway 21 with nice view of airport sign showing you distance on both sides of runway



Now on runway 21 for more taxi with nice background view of cool hangar



Starting backtracking with background view of how nice and proper mowing job on the airport grass



Backtracking!!



Airborne now with background view of Taieri River seen below right fin and view of Waipori River that leads out into ocean via Taieri Mouth seen on the top of the screenshot where you can also see under the tail a bridge called Henley Road crossing the Waipori River



Still on climb to FL200 passing waters of Lake Waihola where you can see in front of the plane nose a town of Waihola



Wing view of same lake



Another view of the same lake where you can see road called Finlayson Road seen on right side of the left engine



Wing view of Taieri Mouth



Passing town of Waldronvie seen in front of right wing where you can see bridge called Brighton Road crossing waters of Kaikorai Lagoon while the island called Green Island can be seen below the tail



Wing view of squarish or block shaped town of Mosgiel whose name was named after the farm of Robert Burns who was national poet of Scotland



Closer view of the same town where you can see Wingatui Race course





Wing view of Otago Harbour in front of South Dunedin



Ohh you want closer view of that harbour?? Sure here is closer view where you can see cruise ships docking at Port Chalmers



Approaching view of Hawksbury Lagoon and its town of Waikouaiti renowned for farming operations of 500,000 chicken to meet demands of eggs for New Zealand



Same wing view of the same town and same lagoon



Cruising along the coast



Cruising past Waitaki River



Cruising across nice green landscape of South Island



Approaching city of Timaru where you can see suburbs of Redruth and Kensington as well as waters of Saltwater Creek seen below the plane



Passing waters of Caroline Bay seen on right side of the plane and Inner Harbour seen below right wing



Leaving view of city of Timaru



Cruising along the coast



Passing wing view of Rangitati River which is home of Chinook salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, and brook char





Passing TWO rivers both called Rakaia River which is home of black-billed gull, black-fronted tern, and banded dotterel as well as more salmon



Passing two rivers signal time for descent!!



Passing Lake Elllesmere where you can see Hector's dolphins, Southern elephant seals,  fur seals, and Basking sharks



Same view of the same lake



Approaching Banks Peninsula



Passing Lyttelton Harbour



Approaching beaches of The Pine Beach



Passing Waimakarari River where you can see off left wing two highways where one is route number 74 that runs through town of Northwood and the other one is route number one seen just next to the tip of winglet of left wing



At 10,000 ft flying above the same route number 74 that passes through town of Redwood where you can see off right wing waters of Styx Mill Reserve



You can see the stadium but oddly enough they do not call it stadium.  They call it Landcaster Park located in suburb of Waltham in Christchurch



Passing Woolston suburb of Christchurch where you can see red building in front of right engine which is actually The Tannery Mall of shops and restaurants as well as Deluxe Cinema.  Also the red building behind the right wing is National Storage which is self storage facility located at 89 Garland Road. You can see the river called Heathcote River



Passing town of Clifton where you can see beach in front of left wing which is called Sumner Beach. Just off right fin is where Christchurch Yacht Club is



Passing towns of Sumner and Scarborough



Wing view of Akaroa Harbour



At 5,000 ft with background view of Banks Peninsula



At 4,000 ft passing some tiny town



You can recognize this same lake from the previous screenshot



Now at 3,000 ft getting ready for runway 02 approach



Making right turn toward the runway



On final runway approach past background view of town of Russley





Check out those buildings



More view of the buildings



TOUCHDOWN



Nice tail view of exciting tire smoke



Look at the fire house



Look at cargo buildings



Look at clever hotel sign



Zoomed in the view of the clever hotel sign to catch passengers' attention



Front wheels making ground contact



Engaging reverse thrust with background view of the airport



Exiting from runway 02 into taxiway A4 toward gate 22



Check out next day delivery service building



Look at Air New Zealand very very far in background where you can see hangar with blue sign in front of hangar



Look at two buildings that are for United States Antarctic Department



Looking for gate 22 using easily marked taxiway with great gate guidance numbers



Found gate 22



Entering gate 22 apron



Arriving at gate to drop off very satisfied passengers



Van arriving to take care of some unknown problem



Luggage tray tractor pulling full luggage trays to be loaded into the plane for next flight to Auckland



Whatever you do during layoff break, never never use that phone on right side to call your wife



Thank you for viewing!!!  Stay tuned for next exciting flight.

Regards,

Aharon

[Antony Radley]

Great shots, as a kiwi can confirm very scenic. Try the approach into NZQN, tricky to get right.

[Aharon Dayan]

Great shots, as a kiwi can confirm very scenic. Try the approach into NZQN, tricky to get right.

Thanks for your kind words.  Glad you confirm accuracy of my geographical identifications on ground textures.

As for NZQN approach, I did that during Vatsim event for that airport.  Have screenshots somewhere that I will publish in future.

Regards,

Aharon