Sunday morning 14 August and the weather turned-up as forecast for a flight to Norfolk Island. The locally based Customs officer arrived at the airport right on time and by 10:00 am we had BAZ pointed skywards on climb to our chosen cruising altitude of 8,500 feet for a straightforward three hour flight to Norfolk Island (YSNF).
Along the way we were provided with several indicators of the massive cold weather system that was making its way northwards from the southern ocean. One particular broadcast heard on the HF frequency we were monitoring came from a passenger jet somewhere between Sydney and Christchurch; "Flight level 330, temperature minus 63 degrees, wind 210 degrees, 123 knots". Now that was some wind and very very cold air so it was no surprise to learn later in the day that snow was falling across much of New Zealand.
The four Comanches from Aussie all landed at Norfolk Island shortly after 3:00 pm and it wasn't long before the 10 of us were sitting around chatting and filling in the gaps since we were last together. The Coral Sea Safari team was now complete and anticipating a first-light take-off in the morning for La Tontatua (NWWW) at our next destination of New Caledonia.
The Safari Team
ZK-BAZ PA24 / Barry & Sandra
VH-MMN PA39 / Ian & Irene
VH-TSJ PA30 / Tony & Jan
VH-ESL PA30 / Jim & Vivien
VH-CBD PA24 / Jim & Ross
Monday morning 15 August at 6:30 am we taxied for take-off on runway 22. Ten minutes later we had BAZ climbing into a sky that was still waiting for the sun to appear and the other four aircraft positioned behind us at around one minute spacings. For the most part we maintained 9,500 feet for our flight northwards to La Tontauta.
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