39 Auckland - Tonga

20. March 2007

After 2 nights in Auckland, I was off at 7 in the morning to the airport for the next leg to Tonga. I had managed to arrange, that my BP fuel carnet, which I had not so far been able to use in New Zealand, would be accepted.

In the airport I was to clear the customs in the international terminal. That went smooth – except for a requirement, that before departure, I had to taxi from one end of the airport to the other, in order for a customs officer could check, that I had no passengers in the plane on departure. A rather odd requirement – if I wanted to help someone to escape from this country, why would I pick an international airport where the airside is protected by extensive security?

A request to the customs, that they came to where the plane was parked was not accepted – the customs had no cars, I was told. But by departure time the custom officer came to the plane in a car anyway.

But it was all done with courtesy – and the tower was very helpful with progressive taxi instructions.

Getting fuel from BP, I had hoped to get oil as well. But – like elsewhere in New Zealand – they do not sell oil. Strange indeed. I tried to get oil in 2 workshops in the airport, but without any success.

I decided to get going despite the oil level being low.

The day before departure, I had managed to get a landing permit from Tonga by faxing a request. I had also filed a flight plan – and I wanted to arrive in the daytime.

But the decision to get going without a supply of oil should prove to cause severe problems later.

For the first time on my journey, I had my ferry tank filled almost to capacity, so now I had about 700 litres of fuel on board. I shifted as much luggage forward as I could, in order not to exceed the aft limit of CG (centre of gravity).

It was nice to have 3 km of runway on departure – but the plane performed beautifully without any noticeable difference on departure.

In the air I flew along the airway B575 IFR direct towards Tonga. MY HF radio did again not work properly, so I gave positions rapports by satellite Phone to Auckland Radio as I went along.

Arriving in Tonga after a long flight I landed visually on runway 11. By arrival I was met by customs and quarantine officials – in skirts and sandals.