Hi everyone - sorry for the very big space of time since my last post. Unfortunately I had to delay my training for a couple of months due to having to retake some of my Mod 2 exams, although as I write this I am sitting at my desk at Clearways ready and waiting to start at the airport on Monday!
 |
| First glimpse of New Zealand on board EK412 |
So now that all of my ATPL Theory Exams are over, all I have to do now is an New Zealand Air Law exam (there is also a "differences" exam, which is a test on a combination of things we learnt at ATPL level) and then the flying begins! Starting Monday, there are five days of ground school, primarily to familiarise ourselves with the airport and how things run here. We also get to know the staff and catch up with our friends from other CPs who left for NZ before us.
For anybody who doesn't know, Clearways is CTC's purpose built accommodation centre pretty much at the end of the runway here at Hamilton International Airport! I am in a brand new block, so everything is shiny and unused! There are only five of us in the entire block - which isn't many considering there are around 40 rooms in here! As well as the rooms, each block has a large communal area, a patio as well as laundry room and a large, "restaurant style" kitchen. If not at Clearways, cadets live in Lorne Street or Knox Street, both of which are in Hamilton City itself. The airport is called "International", although there are currently only domestic commercial flights, using B1900D, ATR72 and Dash 8 equipment, all by different airlines operating on behalf of Air New Zealand. The largest aircraft the airport can handle is a 767, although I doubt I will see one of them fly over Clearways any time soon; however there are a lot of diversions to Hamilton - for example, we had a 737 land here this morning due to bad weather at its original destination.
Nothing major as of yet has happened as we have barely been in the country for 24 hours, but I have tried to get some pictures of the complex to give you an idea of what it is like here. I'll do my very best to get photos of the airport and some of CTC's aircraft this week, so expect a blog post of two in the next couple of days!
Some photos of Clearways:
 |
| The new Block 6 - "home" |
 |
| Another view of Clearways |
 |
| The block's large kitchen |
 |
| Walk-in fridge! |
 |
| Our lounge area - looking empty until Monday, when we get more goodies to add to our huge 3D TV! |
 |
| Bedrooms off of the corridor |
 |
| Laundry room |
 |
| Bit messy - I'm still unpacking! |
