Long time no see

.....and we're back. Hope you enjoyed the commercials. The world has changed a bit since I last posted - Manchester United are the champions of England again (come on you Reds!), the iPhone has been released (finally, a $600 touchscreen!), Paris Hilton got herself in and out of jail, the Simpsons made their big screen debut (and it was a huge disappointment), and I finally moved out of Auckland....to Christchurch.

Why move to Klanville, I hear you ask? Some time in 2005 I'd had enough of engineering, so I decided to become a pilot. Here I am, two years later, in Christchurch - a city deader than Auckland. On the bright side, I'm not going to get too distracted by anything other than breathing for the next year.

The school itself is excellent - it's a well-maintained facility with a large fleet of training aircraft, and it's based at Christchurch International Airport, so we get the opportunity to train in controlled airspace, which is actually a little daunting at first. The course started in April, and I've been flying since May, but I don't have too many pictures. The first month was spent in ground school, passing our PPL (Private Pilot Licence) theory papers and counting down the days till our first flight. When it finally did happen, it was awesome:


The above picture is me taking off for the first time. I was so nervous that I pulled back a little too far on the controls and almost stalled the plane on takeoff. Lucky for me my instructor took control and we climbed out pretty easily. I've since given her more than a few scary moments, but I think it's good life experience for her. By the end of this course I'm aiming to age my instructors at least 5 years.

Apart from the recent exodus of instructors, the school's been pretty good so far - one of this city's few redeeming qualities. Then again, I might be a bit blinkered. Having lived in Auckland for eleven years, I kind of started to settle in. Christchurch is a whole new story. Different climate, different people, different attitudes. It might take a while to get used to some things, but I hope not to get used to everything, like the subtle racism one encounters here every once in a while. Overall, the city hasn't been too shabby to me, but it's hard not to think about what's been left behind.

Anyway that's my personal rant for the day. I'll try to post something interesting later. That is, if anyone still reads this blog.