LORD OF THE WINDS
Till Middelhauve, travels to New Zealand in search of one of PPG’s most prized jewels: a complete traverse of both islands. Words and photos: Till Middelhauve
I’ve just turned thirty, which isn’t proving to be as bad as I thought it might be. The years are rolling past faster, the hair is getting a bit thinner and, like all of us, I find I have less and less time to cram in all the things I want to do in life. Two things I’m always trying to pack in more are paragliding and paramotoring.
Contrary to many other pilots, I don’t see any competition between paragliding and paramotoring. Both sports are beautiful. You can enjoy them at completely different times of the day: early mornings and late evenings I love cruising around on a paramotor; when it’s thermic there’s nothing better than climbing to cloudbase on a paraglider. The two sports are completely different. They hold their own appeal and excitement for any pilot.
I began flying paragliders as soon as legally possible. I was sixteen and unlike many other young pilots in the sport, nobody in my family flew. In those days my mum was a willing driver and supporter for my passion. Funnily enough, now, aged 66, she’s finally taken to the skies herself, and even passed her beginner’s licence.
In 2000, aged 23, I discovered paramotoring. I viewed it very much as an additional, rather than an alternative, hobby. Paramotoring quickly became a fantastic way to combine two of my greatest passions, flying and travelling. In 2004 I realised one of my dreams by travelling nearly 1,700 km from Germany to Romania on a Flyke (a paramotor trike with pedals that you can ride like a bicycle). As my university thesis I produced the film “East Wind” about my adventure. The film was really well received, and went on to win several awards. The experience fuelled my desire to fly and travel even more. It was inevitable that when I read about Dave Dennis’ New Zealand 2005 “Paramotor Rally” I began to get itchy feet again.
Dave operates a flight school in Christchurch, and following the success of the 2005 rally his plans for 2006 developed into a traverse of the entire length of New Zealand. I was completely unable to resist the challenge of such an adventure and I travelled to New Zealand in 2006, along with five other flyers.
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