We drove for an hour, over to Waipukurau, for a 1pm Tiger Moth lesson but the wind was again marginal – from the west, strong and gusty. So we did the standard-issue pilot action of putting the kettle on and talking about flying.

A couple of hours later after a nice chat with club members we left for a late lunch and found a ginger moggy to stroke thus alleviating the cat-withdrawal symptoms we sometimes have.

Before we left we rang Ross to see if the wind had got any better for a Tiger Moth flight. It was not expected to and sure enough no flying so we drove back to Napier.

We hadn’t long been back when Jan texted to ask us around for a drink on our way back from Tiger Mothing but unfortunately we were already home and they are 30 minutes away. She and Jerry had been cleaning the Tiger Moth and were going to take it for a fly to dry it before having some cool beers. 🙂 (27C today!). We were meeting friends in the evening so we weren’t able to make it.

Instead, because we have the Tongariro Crossing walk coming up, we did an hour’s walking down and up (3 times) a route on Bluff Hill, elevation gain 670ft.

After a quick shower we met Lorraine and Mark at The Gintrap at Ahuriri. Lorraine is a university friend of Noel’s. A very pleasant evening. 🙂