ERW - The Nevis

It’s good to see that the plane is being well used over the last month. Despite the endless windy days during November, ERW still managed to clock up 25 hours in the air. Nick, Gary, Greg, Dave Burke, Russell, Aaron and myself all had flights.

It’s also great to see the club supporting our youth. The scholarship has had a good response and has created an interest from our young community. There are also plans in place to support student pilots who are financially independent, but would like help with their aviation exams.

The following is a report on today’s flight.

The Nevis
As a teenager, my brother Peter and I would earn a bit of money by mustering for local farmers. At that time, it was all done on horse back. The big muster for the year was always the Nevis. While I had mustered cattle on the flats, I never got to do the back country. Today I was on my way to have a look around and see what I had missed.

Departing on schedule from Alexandra, my first stop was Cromwell. We have had around 200 sheep grazing on the aerodrome for the last month and I wanted to check it out. The maintenance being done on the strip is starting to pay off. After a couple of really smooth landings it was back in the air and climbing to 7000ft.
(Photos - Fraser Dam and Highland Park

The Nevis valley has quite a history. A major settlement became established in the gold mining era of the 1860’s. It’s been farmed by the Brown’s for many years, but more recently it has been in the news because of a proposed Dam by the Pioneer Electricity Company being opposed by Recreational fishing groups.
(Photo – Nevis Gorge. The site of the proposed Dam)

The valley is difficult to get into, even by air. You need at least 5000ft cloud base and using the gorge is tricky. At the entrance is the reporting point for Queenstown Airport or if you use the transmission lines route, there is a dog leg that has confused a number of pilots. It is completely closed off by road for at least four months of the year.

Once there, the valley opens up to a hunters paradise. On the western side are the Hector Mountains, rising to almost 8000ft. There are several tributaries. The two main ones are the left and right branches of the Doolan Creek.
(Photos- Left and right branches of the Doolan Creek)
 
If you are looking for a bit of mountain flying just 10 minutes away from the Alexandra airfield, this is the place for you. And if you have visitors over Christmas, try a round trip to Wanaka or even better, over the Hector Mt. and drop down into Kingston.

Happy Flying

Stephen Morton