High flying success

It’s always wonderful to hear news of former students doing well – and we were delighted to see 2012 Head Girl Mackenzie Rayes featured in a recent issue of the Waikehe Weekender.

Mackenzie followed her dream of being a pilot and spent the past two years piloting small planes in remote parts of British Columbia and the Yukon, before Covid prompted her a to return to New Zealand last year.

Mackenzie’s Canadian adventures in both wheeled planes and float planes in the Canadian wilderness included a hair-raising brush with a bear at a remote airstrip, piloting several medevac flights to get injured and sick patients to hospital, and transporting hungers and whatever they’d caught. Erratic weather, temperatures as low as -44C and difficult terrain added extra challenges.

Back in New Zealand, Mackenzie’s skills and experience meant she wasn’t idle long. She’s now busy as a pilot with Waiheke Wings and Auckland Seaplanes.

Read the full Waikehe Weekender story at https://waihekeweekender.partica.online/waiheke-weekender/11-february-2021/flipbook/1/