Yet Another Flying Kiwi: December 2014

And electricity... Something of a luxury here in Indo...

And just to prove the point... The power just went out and the guys have turned the backup generator on! Haha...

Anyway, between the "full on" 6 day tours in northern Kalimantan, where electricity, nevermind internet access, is a "sometimes" thing... A roster that can (and does) change daily... Flights cancelled because of smog/haze caused by locals burning native forests so they can create palm oil plantation... Waiting days/weeks for government departments to issue various pieces of paper... And crazy weather that seems to follow no logical pattern... The last 6 months can be best described as "chaotic" ;)

Still... Beats sitting at a desk 9-5! :P

Some of the highlights so far:

Smashed through the 1000 hours total time, having racked up over 200 hours on the line
Had my photo taken with countless random passengers... Including ones who have just got off another airline and were just walking across the apron! ;)
Carried a 43kg "strong" box... Full of cash... That was strapped to the back of a scooter on arrival and driven away! :-/
Flew my first emergency "medivac"... An elderly gentlemen from a village in the mountains who had been shot in the abdomen with an arrow!!?!
First prisoner transport... Not exactly sure what the guy had done, but they slapped him in cuffs after he was onboard.
Carried live baby chickens...
Crossed the equator...
Strapped a woman into a separate lap and shoulder belt harness... While she was breast feeding!!?!
Had a tower controller try to vector me right through the middle of a 12 mile long wall of VERY active thunderstorms and CBs... That was within view of the tower! "Errr Negative, cannot comply due weather!"
Learnt Indonesian maths... Captain: "Max load is 980kg”... Ground crew: "thats Ok, we only have 1020kg total"... ??!?
Found a place that has decent coffee (harder than it sounds!)
Discovered that you can "shower" using wet wipes... For the record, about 20-25 should suffice...
Successfully negotiated the Indonesian banking system to get an ATM card replaced... Only took 2 visits to the bank, my passport, long stay visa, 3 forms, 5 signatures and about 6 hours of my life!
Spent more than 5 minutes in direct sunlight without burning to a crisp!
Got given a pineapple as a "thank you" gift, from one of the remote villages...