GOOD BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR OLD BUGGERS

Dads birthday falls on Boxing day - this year sis and I decided to give him an introductory helicopter flight with his instructor grandson who works for Helipro.
We left Rangitumau and headed over the hills to Paraparaumu. We decided to take the hairaising but stunningly scenic Akatarawa route. Don't ever attempt it if you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome.

Anyway Dad, 73, was up and away within minutes of us getting to the Paraparaumu airport. They flew over Kapiti Island and watched a school of tuna. Dad flew the helicopter by himself.

He has flown in helicopters hundreds of times but never with his grandson and he has never had the opportunity to fly himself. We took the more sedate Heywoods Road back across the divide and Dad grinned the whole way home. It was one of those days that will be indelibly stamped on the family's collective memory.