Some words of wisdom from our brave and clever friends.
One of the best parts of working at MOTAT, New Zealand’s Museum of Transport and Technology, is the chance to meet truly inspiring and generous New Zealanders.
At this strange time in our history, it makes sense to reach out to these brave and clever friends to see how they’re coping and to learn from some of their hard-won lessons.
Cliff Tait is one of our special MOTAT friends.
Cliff is the legendary Flying Kiwi who, in 1969, became the first to circumnavigate the world in a single-engine aircraft (an Airtourer ZK-CXU, also built in Hamilton, NZ).
Having turned 90 earlier this year, Cliff is enjoying a quieter pace these days, happy, comfortable, and relaxing with his beloved wife Joyce, at their home in Whangaparoa.
But this brave adventurer certainly knows a thing or two about overcoming periods of isolation and staying positive when you feel your loneliest.
Flying the tiny Miss Jacy across oceans and continents, with limited, if any radio contact or connection to loved ones, makes Cliff a bit of an expert in navigating the emotional ups and downs of ‘social distancing’.
So it was lovely to touch base with him, during the first few days of New Zealand’s COVID-19 induced lockdown.
Cliff was kind enough to share the following words of wisdom, with all the MOTAT community and all those who might be struggling during this challenging time…
“Well MOTAT, I’m humbled you think I can contribute in some way at this time, but here goes…
On all my journeys, I found the disconnection from family extremely difficult to cope with and I cried a lot through missing them, especially my wife whom I love so much.
But my primary thought, immediately on taking off from Hamilton, was I’m going home the long way, around the world and I never lost the thought that this was a temporary absence that would soon be over and we would be united once again.
Even though contact was sparse and then only via voice (during brief stops to sleep and refuel) I could visualise my family whom I felt were with me all the way and I could gaze at their photo which I had hung in the cockpit of Miss Jacy.
Today it’s a lot different because we have access to media like skype and Joyce and I have both found this to be a great way of easing the loss of physical contact.
Life has many lessons for all of us and maybe this is a time to reflect and learn to appreciate each other, especially those near and dear to us, not forgetting those we have come to regard as our friends.
Joyce and I are ok so far and had our flu jabs the other week.
Love and best wishes to all at MOTAT.
Keep in touch,
BCNU
Joyce and Cliff
J&C
JACY
- MOTAT is the proud guardian of Cliff’s ‘little yellow aircraft’ aka Miss JACY. She is on display within the museum’s Aviation Display Hall. But rather than wait for the lockdown to end why not pay our museum and the Cliff Tait collection a visit online here.
