Brian Holden: Flying on wacky baccy plain dopey

Investigation into two of the country's most horrific recent aviation accidents has revealed that cannabis was present in the crews' blood.

The pilot of the ballooning tragedy in Carterton, causing 11 deaths, was found to have consumed cannabis before the flight. Then we hear that two of the jump crew in the skydiving plane accident near Fox Glacier, killing all nine on board, had done the same.

While neither accident has been determined as the direct result of cannabis, it is not a good look for the adventure aviation industry.

It is no surprise that indulging in a bit of hooch before extreme activities, including flying, can create a whole new dimension to the thrill, with many individuals regularly doing just that.

Despite recreational drugs not being part of my daily life, I do know that cannabis displaces the mind from rational thinking. Hardened users will argue against this, but the truth is - it does. Blowing one's self away on wacky baccy before taking to the air puts you in the land of the fairies when, really, the proper way to fly is with wings specifically factory-made for the purpose.

Even on the ground I find it shocking that drivers after having smoked cannabis, regularly share the same roads as me. For many users, the belief is that the drug merely has a calming influence and has no real effect on judgment - which is absolute rubbish.

The actions of those naive enough to think they have the right to take to the air after indulging in any type of drug, putting lives at risk, are reckless. And for crew and pilots of commercial flying companies, to even consider the practice when trusting fare-paying passengers are involved is despicable.

The laws of flight show little compromise if their boundaries are pushed past the limit. With recreational drugs there are no exceptions - they have no place in aviation.

Pain before gain. In order to get high-speed broadband up and running in the city, the pavements are being ripped up and navigating the streets, especially around Rue du Pukuatua, at the moment requires careful planning and fancy footwork by pedestrians.

The project is obviously a major with its share of the usual problems. Cutting the gas line by mistake hasn't helped, either. Let's hope it'll be all ship-shape soon.

We've just returned from an "escape" to Auckland, that's right - Auckland. Every trip we've done up that way has been planned to give the city a wide berth. This time (despite the recent invasion of an errant fruit fly) was an exception.

The And Another Thing team decided to explore historic spots such as Devonport, Ponsonby and Downtown Queen St to see how things have changed over the last couple of decades.

Despite hearing that the lower end of Queen St had lost its charm due to the invasion of two-dollar shops and cheap eateries, we found it a neat place - humming with people through to the wee small hours.

Our downtown hotel provided everything we needed. Seeing the complimentary earplugs on the bedside tables when we arrived caused us concern, but we found we could still get a great night's sleep without them - well, for the first night anyway.