Source: MakeLemonade.nz
Ōtautahi – Flying around New Zealand through Microsoft’s flight simulator has just been updated and includes 62 points of interest.The 12th edition of the hugely popular video game was first launched in 1982 and is a long-running PC series, taking players behind the controls of gliders, wide-body jets and helicopters.
For the New Zealand update Microsoft has added seven new cities, nine airports and 62 points of interest for players across the motu.
Aotearoa is globally renowned for its breathtaking vistas from Aoraki, to Milford Sound, Auckland’s Sky Tower, and the Bay of Islands, a group of 144 islands and numerous small peninsulas and inlets.
Players can experience the stunning vistas that unfold with each glance from the cockpit above New Zealand.
The Microsoft flight simulator team brought together the latest geographic data to create World Update XII: New Zealand, including satellite imagery, aerial photography, and digital elevation models.
It’s strange one of the fly-overs includes an aluminium smelter but no famous Oamaru post office or no amazing Rangiātea church in Ōtaki.
The cities to view on the simulator include:
Auckland
Christchurch
Hamilton
Nelson
Queenstown
Tauranga
Wellington
Points of interest:
Akaroa Dolphins cruise
Akaroa St Patrick’s Catholic church
Akaroa waterfront
Auckland harbour bridge
Auckland war memorial museum
Balclutha road bridge
The Beehive
Big Lemon and Paeroa bottle
Cape Egmont lighthouse
Cape Reinga lighthouse
Cardrona ski resort
Castle Point lighthouse
Christchurch cathedral
Coronet Peak ski area
Cromwell big fruit sculpture
Dog Island lighthouse
Dunedin law courts
Dunedin railway station
Durie Hill memorial tower
Edith Cavell bridge
Farewell Spit lighthouse
First Church of Otago
Fo Guang Shan temple
Forsyth Barr stadium
Hell’s Gate
Hobbiton village Matamata
Hole in the rock
Hopwood clock tower
Huntly power station
Invercargill water tower
Kawarau gorge suspension bridge
Kerikeri mission station
Larnach castle
Majestic centre
Mohaka viaduct
Mount Cargill transmitter
Mount John Observatory
Mount Kaukau transmitter
Mus. of NZ Te Papa Tongarewa
New Plymouth power station
New Zealand parliament library
New Zealand parliament house
North Harbour stadium
Ohaaki power station
Ohakune carrot
Otira viaduct
Rakaia bridges (road and rail)
Rugby league park
Sky tower
Skyline Queenstown
Sugarloaf transmitter
Taiaroa Head lighthouse
Taramakau road-rail bridge
Tekapo A power station
The Church of the Good Shepherd
The Remarkables ski area
Tiritiri Matangi lighthouse
Titahi Bay transmitter
Tiwai Point aluminium smelter
TSS Earnslaw, Lake Wakatipu
Waitangi treaty grounds
Wellington regional stadium and railway station
Bush trips:
The North Island in a Textron aviation Beechcraft Bonanza G36
The South Island in a Pilatus PC-6/B2-H4 turbo Porter G950
A historic recreation of the country’s first air route in a Douglas DC-3 Classic
Discovery flights:
Auckland, the country’s largest city, in a Cessna 152
Queenstown in a Guimbal Cabri G2 helicopter
Lake Benmore in a DG Aviation DG-1001E neo glider
Landing challenges:
A strong wind landing at Wellington airport in an Airbus A320neo
An epic landing at the Ryan’s Creek aerodrome in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk
A technical landing at Gorge River airstrip in a Savage Cub
A famous challenge in an Airbus A310-300 at Christchurch airport
