Hari Hari – a small but historic town

In Maori the words mean, “to take / carry joy”, that is unless they are said as one word, Harihari which means, “ambulance”. Not sure how this town got its name or which version is correct but we just had to stop. With a population of 348 (unchanged from the 2001 census) there is always something going on.

What a stop it was. This is one of those unexpected treasures you find by being retired and a tramp. Sorry, I meant to say tramping. Definitely not the same as…you know, that other word.

Turns out this place is a historical site, world renowned as the landing spot of the first cross-Tasman Sea flight! That’s right children, this is where Guy Menzies landed his biplane, the Southern Cross Junior, after that historic 11+hr flight from Sydney way back 7 Jan 1931!

Guy was an accomplished pilot with hundreds of hours flying. Unfortunately, Guy had very few hours landing so that became the real challenge. Upon arriving at the coast of NZ, Guy wrote a note asking where he could land , put it in a bottle and threw it out of his plane to a farmer below. The farmer thinking Guy was attacking, stood in defiance and gave a true salute to Guy. Guy thinking this meant 1 kilometer, decided to land. I believe that it was at this moment that the phrase, “stuck it” was coined. The plane came to an immediate stop and flipped upside down. At this point, Guy was noted as saying, “that’s the way we do it in Australia. Anyone can land on wheels!”

Replica of the plane

Replica of Guy

Actual landing

You know what United Airlines pilots say about landings. “If you can walk away, it was a good landing!” Guy walked away from the landing and the towns people, out of respect, immediately began to dismantle the biplane to keep it safe from thieves. The plane was never seen again but there were a lot of new awnings on the homes…….

Back on the road to Queenstown.