Christchurch International Airport
In 1935 the Christchurch City Council selected the current location of the Christchurch International Airport as the site of a new aerodrome for the city. A purchase of 227 hectares of land in 1936 was the beginning of the development of the aerodrome. A 60 square terminal building and a 915 metre runway were constructed in 1937 and in 1940 the airport was officially opened, known as RNZAF Station Harewood and also "Harewood Airport". It was used as a training base until 1945. In 1950 Christchurch Airport became the first international airport in New Zealand. The United States Antartic Operations began at the airport in 1955. The main runway has been extended twice since the initial runway was constructed, and is currently 3287 metres long. The secondary runway is currently 1,741 metres long.
Christchurch Airport 1947
Christchurch International Airport 1960s
Christchurch International Airport today
Currently the Christchurch International Airport is the second busiest in New Zealand (behind Auckland International Airport) with 6,732,730 passenger movements, and 95,432 aircraft movements in 2017.
It is served by 11 commercial airlines (Air New Zealand, Jetstar, Air Chathams, Sounds Air, Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines, Emirates, Fiji Airways, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia) flying direct to 11 international destinations and to 15 domestic destinations.
It is currently a base for any RNZAF (Royal New Zealand Air Force) flights arriving in the city, for the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) airborne space telescope, the base for all Antarctic flights operated by the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, the United States Air National Guard and the Royal New Zealand Air Force as part of Operation Deep Freeze, and various other aviation services and maintenance facilities. It is currently owned by the Christchurch City Council (75%) and NZ Government (25%)
As part of the most recently development of the Christchurch International Airport buildings the airport company commissioned some sculptures. One of these sculptures is a subject of this virtual cache. "Cumulus Gate Pavilion For Richard Pearse" is a sculpture by Gregor Kregar located outside the Christchurch International Airport departures terminal.
Cumulus Gate Pavilion For Richard Pearse
The sculpture was commissioned in early 2011, and was the second of two sculptures by the same sculptor to be placed at the Airport (The other is called Clouds for Richard Pearse and is located in the baggage claim area)
In the words of the sculptor
"The works are inspired by Cantabrian Richard Pearse’s pioneering experiments in aviation. In 1903 (nine months before the Wright Brothers flew their aircraft) Pearse flew and landed a powered airplane. I wanted to create a work that responded to the location and context of the new terminal building as well as commemorating Richard Pearse and his visionary inventive spirit. His achievement is remarkable and I wanted to draw attention to this great New Zealand accomplishment, one that represents the pioneering and resourceful character of New Zealand people."
Taking pictures in front of statues or sculptures to qualify to log a Virtual cache is boring, so the requirements for this Virtual cache are a little different.
As this sculpture reflects its surroundings, including lights at night and surrounding vegetation, this is the logging requirement.
- Take a photo of your reflection in one of the mirrors of the sculpture outside the main terminal building. There are bonus points (not really) if you include a picture of your reflection pulling a silly face (this is not a mandatory requirement) If there are signs to stay off the grass, then please obey them. A photo of you or a geocaching item (GPS, trackable, sign with your geocaching name on it) with the sculpture in the background is acceptable.
- Photos of just the sculpture with no reflection of you, or your geocaching device will not be accepted.
- Feel free to log the cache when you visit it, but finds with no photo attached after 1 month may be deleted.
- Just after this virtual was published, parking fees were introduced at the nearby "free" parking areas. Parking waypoints have been added.
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.