Kiwi Northland

Kiwi Northland
For Wednesday, January 12, 2025
Michael MacKuen

Today we shall take another look at New Zealand’s north country in MSFS2024 – and note some of the new simulator’s strengths and weaknesses. We begin with the sights of Auckland and then head to the more rural country to the north. We shall visit the happily-isolated Great Barrier Island and return to the main city Whangarei. Then up the peninsula over the historic Bay of Islands and the beautiful coastlines of Northland to the northern tip, Cape Reinga.


Rounding Cape Reinga

We depart from Ardmore [NZAR], after a lunch at the Auckland Aero Club. From the 1940s, Ardmore has long been one of New Zealand’s main general aviation airfields – with businesses located in buildings on the aprons circling the runways. We head north toward Auckland passing over Mount Eden, the prominent hill that sited a Māori fort before the Europeans arrived. And then Eden Park, the city’s main sports stadium and the home to the All Blacks, the legendary rugby side. We fly over the high towers of downtown to turn at the Sky Tower, the city’s most prominent landmark. We pass southwest of the main port facilities, crossing the Westhaven Marina and fly over (or under) the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Then over the northern suburbs, noting Albany Stadium [ALB] before landing at North Shore Airport [NZNE].

We turn northeast, over water, to the small commercial field at Great Barrier Island [NZGB]. The local residents are happy to have escaped the modern New Zealand lifestyle, instead engaged in farming and tourism – all while living “off-the-grid.” We visit the grass strip at Okiwi Station [NZOX] near the beautiful bayside beaches, and then pass over the sheltered bay at Port Fitzroy to execute a touch-and-go at the remote Kaikoura Island [NZKD]. Then we return to the mainland, passing the oil refinery and port at Marsden Point to land at Whangārei [NZWR], a commercial airport with regularly scheduled services to other parts of the country. The metro area, to the northwest, is by far the largest city on the peninsula.

We head north to the more rural parts of Northland. This is a rugged sparsely-populated region of agriculture and forestry … and now tourism. We head for the relatively prosperous east coast to visit the grass strips at Whananaki [NZNI] and (optionally a touch-and-go) at Whangaruru [NZ2J]. Then out to the lighthouse at Cape Brett and beyond to the often-photographed Piercy Island (The Hole in the Rock). (Due to an undocumented feature, MSFS2024 pilots may find it necessary to adjust their sunglasses! Caution: those flying through the hole should look out for jumping dolphins.) After circling, we come back to the Bay of Islands, the internationally acclaimed spot for boating and especially deep sea fishing. This was made famous by American writer and fisherman Zane Grey in the 1920s, when he established a lodge at Otehei Bay that attracted sportsmen from around the world. We slow down at Paihia, the main town for the busy vacation islands now better known for their natural beauty. (This bay was also the location of the first European settlements in the early nineteenth century.) And then we turn a mile northwest to circle over the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. This site celebrates the 1840 treaty between the Māori and the British which  provided a legal accommodation between the two sides – one which was often ignored over the next century. In the last generation, the treaty has been resurrected as a symbol for the developing relationship between the Māori and the New Zealand government. This relationship, and the symbolic meanings built into the relationship, continue to generate heated political debate.

We continue onward, turning at the old town of Kerikeri and the site of the historic first British Mission Station (we can see a hand-crafted model of the old Mission House and an iconic Stone Store). We land south of the town at Kerikeri [NZKK], a modest commercial and tourist airport.

Then northward along the coastline, first taking a gander at the excellent Kauri Cliffs Golf Club. This dramatic site is routinely listed among the world’s top 100 golf courses – more for its scenic setting than its technical design. We pass over beautiful Whangaroa Harbour on the way to Kaitaia Airport [NZKT]. Originally a WWII bomber base, Kaitaia was refurbished early this century to provide better access to the northland. It has light commercial connections to Auckland and Whangārei and accommodates business jets in the Gulfstream class. The airport also provides a fueling point for GA flights from New Zealand to Norfolk Island, Australia, New Caledonia and the Pacific.

We depart north along the Tasman Sea and the world-famous Ninety Mile Beach, actually only 55 miles long. The beach is nominally a public highway – now used mostly by tourists and Top Gear whilst racing a sail boat. This is a much-loved landmark for New Zealanders. Along the way, we can examine the emergency landing strip at Arterial Road [NZ2R] – a low pass or touch-and-go will do the job. At the top of Ninety Mile Beach are the Te Paki Sand Dunes whose high desert landscapes are used for the increasingly popular sport sandboarding. We turn at Cape Maria Van Diemen along Te Werahi Beach to reach Cape Reinga nominally at the northernmost tip of the peninsula (not quite the northernmost tip of New Zealand). In Māori legend, this is the “leaping-off place of the spirits,” where the spirits of the dead enter the underworld. From the Cape Reinga Lighthouse, a New Zealand icon, you can see the whitewater tidal clash between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. In 2010 it finally became possible to reach the Cape via sealed road and the number of visitors has grown to thousands a day during the peak season. We turn east to the beach at Spirits Bay and then south to land at our final destination Waitiki Landing [NZWQ], a small settlement with a general store, café, holiday park, and vehicle refueling and electric recharging stations. The airstrip is operated by Salt Air for tourist excursions from the Bay of Islands to Cape Reinga.

Documentation
The flightplan is available here. Pilots with a TDS GTN750 should note the extra false destination.

Aircraft
Today’s flight is 314nm, so we’ll need something that will fly at 150-155kts. Several of the airports are of modest length, so plan accordingly. (The very shortest are touch-and-go material.) I shall fly a Bonanza. As ever, please fly what you like.

Additional Scenery
Most airports are in the default simulator, but not all. I would recommend the following freeware sceneries. Thanks to these fine authors.

New Zealand North Island Unregistered Strips Part 1. phr34k86.
  (You want Arterial Road NZ2R, Whangururu NZ2J)
Ardmore [NZAR]. CoolGunS and Ron Watson.
North Shore [NZNE]. CoolGunS. (Choose FS2024 or FS2020 version.)
Great Barrier Island [NZGB, NZOX, NZKD]. STR1KEStudioz.
Whanaki Airstrip [NZNI]. STR1KEStudioz.
Kaitaia Airport [NZKT]. CoolGunS. (Choose FS2024 or FS2020 version.)
Waitiki Landing Aerodrome [NZWQ]. rizzeld.
Bay of Islands improvement mod. rizzeld.

Temporarily, you can get a package for MSFS2024 scenery or MSFS2020 scenery (91MB).

Time and Weather
For takeoff on Saturday, set the simulator at 3:00 pm local for October 15, 2025. In reality January 15 is a late summer afternoon in New Zealand (but we shift the time a bit to avoid the MSFS2024 southern hemisphere biome bug) . We typically prefer real weather.

Multiplayer Particulars
Date and time: Wednesday, January 15, 2025. 1900 UTC
RTWR Multiplayer Discord Channel
Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Please be kind enough to enter the title exactly as it stands in the title=”xxx” line of the aircraft.cfg file. Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!