Hercules over Herald Island

For some years I lived on Herald Island, which is in the upper Waitemata,
and right off the end of Whenuapai airfield, an airforce base.
These planes, and assorted others, regularly flew past my home.

Herald Island is named after HMS Herald, the ship which,in 1840, took the
Treaty around NZ as signatures were collected. During the few days in Auckand it
explored the upper reaches of the harbour and circumnavigated what was to become known
as Herald Island. There is no known Maori name, although in later years it also became known as Pine Island.

When married to Kendrick Smithyman, who was teaching in the tiny sole charge school,
Mary Stanley wrote a poem which went 'cut off by tides, we here are islanded.'

Hercules over Herald Island.

Here is a link to a page I made, Nov 30th, last year.

More Planes

A couple of blogs back I discussed how aeroplanes

are a subject that I never lose interest in, not

that I have accumulated a large number of images

to show for it.

Here is one however that I did keep, in fact I

printed up a few. This was probably about

15 years ago.

It is a RNZAF Hercules making an approach

on Whenuapai where the squadron is based.

At the time of the photo it was flying

over Herald Island.