Getting high.

I recently had a great opportunity to fly in a 2 seater plane over the beautiful Coromandel peninsula.. This 2 seater has one of those perspex bubbles that slide open when you climb in and out , the cockpit is tight enough to make ANY movement unwelcome (unless you are well acquainted with the pilot, nudge nudge, wink wink ), more dials and buttons than I have ever seen and has a big "EXPERIMENTAL" sticker on the side of it. I am not a great flyer ( I get nervous) but I trusted the pilot absolutely, so I was fine.

We took off and flew over the coastline from Pauanui , up to Opito bay via Cook's beach……and back! The only bit that freaked me out was the G-force when we did a tight turn to have a look at some engineering works that were acting as a break just off Cook's beach. I was NOT prepared to loose all the blood out of my brain and was quite nauseated by it. I had to lie down and recover a bit when I returned, but I have googled what to do next time….because there HAS to be a next time! It was magnificent up there! The view of the land is semi-abstract art, just as it is. I fell in love with the aerial perspective right there and then.

So I have to go up again and take some photos (just for reference) and the joy of being up there in a small plane was not what I was expecting to experience. A lot of my life is like that. Not what I was expecting.

Someone suggested I use Google Earth……but you know what? It's just not the same. It's like instant coffee vs freshly ground made- by- a- hot- barista coffee.

Blink
600 x 600mm
oil on canvas

This is my local hamlet, Ngahinapouri. Blink and you'd miss it. It has a school, a community hall, a golf course and about 20 houses. THAT. IS IT.

Anyway, it could be anywhere of a thousand places in the whole world and I like the universality of it .