This post is for the #wednesdaywalk challenge and the #makemesmile challenge collaboration. This collaboration initially took place once a month, but due to its popularity, @tattoodjay (of the #wednesdaywalk) and @elizacheng (of #makemesmile) decided to make it a weekly thing.
If you want to know more about the rules, visit this week's post by @tattoodjay where you will find all the rules at the bottom of his post after you've enjoyed his beautiful photos from his walk.
I haven't published a post in the #wednesdaywalk community for some time now. Life were just hectic the last couple of weeks and to top it all, I had some computer problems as well which made a snail look like Max Verstappen compared to the pace I had to work at...lol.
But here we are, it seems like at least I have my computer problem sorted out!
The photos I want to share with you today, were taken about two weeks ago during a trip with my daughter to Umhlanga.
We had my grandson and youngest granddaughter in the car with us and on the way back home I thought it would be a treat for the kids to stop over at Virginia Airport, a small private airport between Umhlanga and Durban on the east coast of South Africa.
I have taken many photos from outside the airport in the past, but this time I thought "let us see if we can get some shots inside the airport".
In all honesty, I doubted if they would allow me to take photos inside due to the strict security these days at airports.
I approached a security officer and discussed it with him and he said we could go ahead as long as we don't go to close to the runway.
Wow! Awesome!
We entered at the main entrance and went through the arrival/departure area.
And what a treat for the grandkids!
As we walked out of the building and out into the open, a Beachcraft was parked right there next to us.
It's a beautiful aircraft and I had lots of fun, experimenting with different angles.
When we arrived at the airport, I saw a little private airplane touching down and taking off again at the same time.
While I was busy taking shots of the Beachcraft, I noticed the small aeroplane has landed again and was now approaching us.
I got the impression that it was an instructor that was spending some time with a pilot, going through their motions, such as taking off and landing.
The guy who I think was the instructor then noticed us...
...and then to the excitement of the kids, he gave us a friendly wave.
They passed right in front of us where we were standing!
They passed us and headed back to the runway for another take-off. But first they came to a stop and remained for a while...I suppose while communicating with the control tower.
While they were stationary, I noticed some activity at some of the helicopters in the background.
Then, as expected, the small airplane was on the runway again, picking up speed for another take-off.
And off they went...
Soon after that, I noticed two passengers getting into the back of one of the helicopters.
Then the pilot also got in and I heard the helicopter starting up.
It was the helicopter furthest to the left, in the center of the photo.
It was time for lift-off and I was ready with the camera...
You can see in the first photo that it is already off the ground.
Slowly, he started turning toward us...
Then he started coming closer...
He passed right in front of us before starting to gain some height.
And off they went...
After they reached the wanted height, they turned and passed over the airport again, flying along the coast line in a southerly direction.
After all the excitement it started getting quiet (to the disappointment of the little ones...lol), and we decided to head home.
So, that's it for today, folks.
Thank you for reading my post! I do appreciate it!
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