Walk this way: New Zealand celebrates great treks
New Zealand is booting up its latest drive to kick-start the post-pandemic tourism industry with a celebration of its greatest walks. To mark the 30th anniversary of Great Walks — a network of nine multi-way treks across the country's north and south islands — the New Zealand conservation department is launching a campaign to encourage foreign and domestic visitors to rediscover nature. It will also celebrate the work of local Maori tribes, businesses and communities to sustain the network over the last three decades. Created in 1992, it was designed to safeguard ecosystems that were at risk of being “overloved” by a growing number of freedom walkers, tourism officials say. Now a popular tourist attraction, drawing nearly one million trekkers over the last 10 years, the 30th anniversary of the network is being hailed as a major tourism milestone in New Zealand, which suffered under some of the strictest lockdowns in the world. New Zealand is open again to Canadian travellers beginning this month. Participants can experience New Zealand's nine Great Walks by foot, but also by running, bicycling or paddling. “Visitors can stay in one of the 950 huts, do the whole 14,000 kilometres of tracks, or just a small section of it, camp in one of the 300 campsites, or visit one of the thousands of cultural heritage sites,” tourism officials state. Among the highlights are the 60-km Abel Tasman Coast Track uncovering the beaches and forest canopy of the Abel Tasman National Park; the Kepler Track exploring the mountains and glacier valleys of Fiordland; and the popular 60-km Milford Track, which the writer Rudyard Kipling branded the “8th wonder of the world.” Roughly 14,000 people walk the Milford Track each year, and nearly a fifth of Canadian travellers to New Zealand visited at least one Great Walk, government figures from 2019 show.
Airline says `aloha' to free internet service
Entrepreneur and social media activist Elon Musk is never far from the headlines, and now he's making a splash with a deal to provide high-speed internet access to airline passengers. His Spacex venture has announced an agreement — the first of its kind — to partner with Hawaiian Airlines to provide free web surfing to all travellers on transpacific flights. It will use the Starlink network of low-orbit satellites, connecting with technology to be installed by Hawaiian on its Airbus A330 and A321neo aircraft. “When we launch with Starlink we will have the best connectivity experience available in the air,” said Hawaiian Airlines president and chief executive Peter Ingram. “We waited until technology caught up with our high standards for guest experience, but it will be worth the wait.” Jonathan Hofeller, Spacex vice-president of commercial sales, said the tie-up will make hassles like downloading movies before a flight a “relic of the past.” He said: “With Starlink, the inflight experience is greatly simplified so that once passengers step on-board the plane the internet works seamlessly throughout their flight.”
Pilots blamed for `crazy' aborted landing
A French passenger plane that took off “like a fighter jet” after an aborted landing blamed on the controls going “crazy” was being fought over by the pilots, an initial investigation suggests. In a report published by the Bureau of Inquiry and Analysis, investigators say the pilot and co-pilot were undertaking “antagonistic inputs” as Flight 011 approached Paris from New York. The co-pilot was trying to land the Boeing 777ER with the nose up, while the captain sought to do the opposite, The Times said, citing the report. It left the 177 passengers on board terrified, the paper said. One, Marianne Berges, said she had been left with nightmares and anguish after the plane climbed “like a fighter jet” seconds before landing, with “objects flying all over the place.” In a cockpit recording, the flight crew appear to be panicked, with laboured breathing detectable and a pilot shouting: “Stop it! Stop it!” After the pilots had regained control, they reported to the tower: “Problems with the controls. The plane pretty much went crazy.” The plane landed safely on the second attempt.