Day 38 & 39 - Sydney - Helicopter flight 🚁

On Thursday we had a leisurely day and walked around the city center in a relaxed manner. We visited some gift shops and even saw a fashion show. But somehow the first places weren't reserved for us 🤷🏼‍♂️😅.

Now I can reveal it: In Queenstown we really wanted to take a helicopter flight over the mountains with a glacier landing and were in standby mode with the provider for 3 days. However, the weather put a damper on our plans. That was a very, very sad thing. Well, today it worked in Sydney! Unfortunately, I have to say it in advance: It was really cool 🤪☀️🚁👩‍✈️👨🏼‍✈️!

We were a bit nervous this morning. When we got out of the car at the scene, there was a little adrenaline rush. We were able to observe how the pilot of an incoming helicopter made a “move” on the landing approach. He must have had some fun there 😅🙈. The airport itself is secured like a high-security wing. Nobody could get stuck somewhere 😜. When I wanted to take a look at the fence, someone immediately arrived - from the organizer - and intercepted us straight away, so to speak. We waited another 5 minutes and then our pilot, Leon, arrived. He is very tall and stocky and his constitution probably doesn't put him in the category of a pilot 😅.

At the beginning we discussed organizational matters and waited for the other 4 participants. During this time we had a good chat with Leon and were even allowed to choose where we wanted to sit. At first we couldn't really believe it and had to ask again whether there was actually a free seat right next to the pilot 😅. He confirmed this and Elisa and I debate who gets this spot. As a gentleman, I of course let her go first 😜. We were even able to tell him about Milford Sound, which he was very interested in 😅.

I felt like I was in a “classic war film from the USA” in the base camp. The pilots come to the “base” in a relaxed manner with a baseball cap and sunglasses in a T-shirt, they are super chilled out and ACDC is playing in the background 😂. A few films immediately came to mind 😅.

Then things started slowly after the briefing! Surprisingly, we weren't nervous at all and were just looking forward to this flight. When we got into the helicopter, everyone was given a headset and we could listen to the radio with the tower. We had to get the go. Elisa was able to examine the cockpit with the 472829488292 instruments extensively. Everything seems to be working! Ready to take off! Let's go!

The machine was started and it immediately went up pretty quickly. Unfortunately we don't know how far above the ground we were. First we flew over the airport and could see these little passenger planes down there 😁. Then we continued towards the harbor bay. Our pilot suddenly started talking about the opera house, but I couldn't see anything 🤷🏼‍♂️ ... until I realized that I had to look to the other side 😅🙈. The view was really really cool - with the best weather! We were really happy to see the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House from above. The structures were so tiny 😅. That was also the absolute highlight of the flight. I think that the vastness of the Pacific also has its charm. Then we went along the coast back to the landing site. The flight was great and it was absolutely the right decision. Generally flying over the small world in a helicopter gives a feeling of absolute freedom ☺️. Everything is so far away up there. You're just above things for 20-30 minutes, so to speak. Maybe we'll take another flight to another city.

However, I personally always notice the following: A man sat across from me who never once put away his cell phone - photos and videos on a continuous loop. He basically didn’t even see the city “through his own eyes” from above. I don't want to exclude us from this, because we also take our pictures. Nevertheless, at some point you should just put the thing aside to enjoy the moment... I've noticed this very often at the hotspots.

In the early evening we treated ourselves to a cocktail in the harbor at happy hour and went to bed a little earlier today because we'll get up early tomorrow - but not to work. I don't even know what that actually is anymore 😁.

Good night 😴