24 May 20221

We woke up to a chilly morning next to Spring Creek so we took our time before we ventured out into cold. Brent fed the stale bread we had to the eels in the creek. They are so tame they come right up onto the bank of the water. I decided to pop down and have a look and gave them some biscuits but one of them decided that my shoe laces looked very appetising! 

We started making our way to the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre but then Brent spotted the Makana Chocolate Factory so we made that our first stop of the day. We each got a chocolate fix and continued to Omaka. 

We spent several hours working our way through the WW1 and WW2 displays. The props for the WW1 display were done by Peter Jackson. They’ve continued along the same theme for the WW2 display where each exhibit tells the real life story of a soldier. The displays ended with a 3D reenactment of a war scene where you sit inside a bomb shelter in Germany with fighter planes attacking the city. 

While we were looking at some of the planes one of the men that volunteer there came and had a chat with us and told us that you can do a flight in an open biplane. As it’s not something you get to do every day, Brent and I decided to give it a go. We got to meet the owner of the plane who told us he bought it as it could fit both him and his wife in the seat in front of the pilot. 

We had about 45 minutes before our flight so we sat and had a coffee and watched some of the other planes take off and land. 

When it was time for our flight our pilot Ryan, met us and took us to get geared up in flight overalls and leather jackets. We felt like stars in a Top Gun movie! The fit in the seat was quite tight but they helped us to get our caps, headsets and goggles on ready for take off. 

When we got to the runway, Ryan asked if we were keen to experience some acrobatic moves up in the air. We didn’t hesitate and he got a unanimous yes from Brent and I. 

The take off was so smooth …  it didn’t have the same g-force as a jet but man the wind from the propeller was so cold! Our flight was only meant to be for 10 minutes but lucky for us they didn’t have any other bookings after us so we got treated to double time and some incredible acrobatics. It was the most epic adventure ever and definitely worth every cent!

As we finished quite a bit later than expected we decided to head to Kaikoura after our flight. Just before Kaikoura we stopped at the seal colony where we got to see heaps of fur seals and some moms with pups. 

We made it to Jimmy Armers Beach where the famous crayfish street bbq food van is just before they closed. Lady Luck was on our side and we got the last 3 crayfish they had. While they cooked it for us and the guys went and parked the van up in the spot we got for the night. 

This truly was a day of making the most unbelievable memories!