North & South – June 2019

NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019| 27

morethanI wasat35,whenwehad

onlyonehelicopter.They’reoperating

fourinpeakseason.

WhenI’mworkingwithhim,it’squite

a differentrelationship.He’sverystrict

• I havetotoetheline.Heknowshis
  mindandisn’tafraidtospeakit.Youhave
  tobestrongwithpeoplearoundhelicop-
  ters,though.Thepotentialforsomeone
  todosomethingsillyis alwaysthere.
  HecallsmeBill,evenmygrandkidsdo.
  I’vealwayslikedthat,andwhatwehave
  ismorelikea friendshipanda mutual
  respectbetweenpilots.Sometimeswe
  agreetodiffer;wecertainlydon’tagree
  oneverythingbutwecanusuallynutit
  outandonewillusuallycomearoundto
  theother’swayofthinking.
  I reallyadmirehimandhe’samazing
  asa father.I sometimesfeelguiltythat
  when[heandAmelia]wereyoung,I
  probablywasn’tasgoodwiththemashe
  is withtheboys.Hemakestimeforthem
  and they’ve got a fantastic relationship.

thisebecauseI waspickedfortheOlym-

picGamesequestriansquadforthe 1976

MontréalGamesbutbrokemyanklejust

before,whichputmeoutoftheteam.

TobywenttoEnglandwhenhewas 18

todrivetractorsinstead,thenworked

inaircraftrestorationinAustralia.It

wasaroundthattimewestartedwork

ontheAvro.Doingit uptogetherwas

prettyspecial;hehadcomewithmeto

disassembleit inAustraliaandendedup

returningtoNewZealandtohelp.Then

hegotthehelicopterbug.

Weneverpushedourtwointoany

career,especiallynotaviation.Myfa-

therdidn’twithme,maybebecauseof

thesafetyaspect,maybethestress,and

I hadtoconvincehimthatwasthepath

I wantedtotake.

Dadwasreallychuffed,though,when

Tobywentintotheindustry,too,andit

wasquitea momentforme.It'sdifficult

foranyoneundertheageof 25 to 30 to

break in, but he’s been successful – way

aroundasweworked,andit’sthesame
nowwithhisboys,OllieandRuss.We’d
becontractedtoflyskierstotheNelson
LakesNationalParkandallgoasa fam-
ily.Sometimes,Tobywouldgetmeto
drophimaboveRainbowSkiField,then
he’dskidownandcatchthebushome.
Hewasa cheerfulkid,alwaysa leader,
butnotbossywithhisfriendslikehe
waswithhissister!Hewentthrough
quitea shystageinhisteens,whereas
Ameliawastheopposite.Through
school,hewasverymusicalandsports
mad,totallyintobasketballandwanted
tobeanNBAplayer.Henevergotinto
trouble– hewastoobusytraining.
Whenhesetshismindonsomething,
heholdsfocusonit.HewasintheNew
Zealandunder-18sbasketballteamand
travelledoverseaswiththem.Hereally
washeadingintherightdirection,until
hehada stressfractureinhisleg.If there
waseveranunhappyperiodinToby’s
life, it was probably then. I could empa-

TobyandBillatthehangaronthefamily’sWakefieldfarm,witha majestic view across the peaks
of Mount Richmond Forest Park, with Mt Rintoul in the far distance.