Let us do the work.
While you enjoy what our guests refer to as the vacation of a lifetime.
Born from a pilot's vacation, 30 years in the making.
Thirty years ago Flyinn's co-founder Matt planned a flying vacation in another country. He loved the logistics and the thrill of being in control of his own adventure. After that he was hooked, and the seed for Flyinn New Zealand was planted. Matt and Jo McCaughan built Flyinn from Geordie Hill Station, their working high-country sheep farm near Wanaka, and recently handed the controls to new owner Mark Nicholls, who flies the same tradition forward.
Three decades in the making
The spark
A vacation that changed everything
Thirty years ago Matt McCaughan planned a self-fly vacation in another country. He loved the logistics, the freedom and the thrill of being in control of his own adventure, and came home convinced New Zealand could offer the world's best version of it.
The home
Five generations at Geordie Hill
Geordie Hill Station is a 5,500-acre working high-country farm near Wanaka, home to five generations of the McCaughan family, running merino sheep and beef cattle. The station's airstrip and the mountains around it were Matt's flying classroom long before Flyinn existed.
The idea takes off
Flyinn New Zealand is born
Matt and Jo turned the dream into a business: guided self-fly vacations based from Wanaka, with customised 180hp Cessna 172s, carefully developed itineraries, and an experienced mountain guide in the right seat of every flight.
The world arrives
Guests from every corner of the globe
Pilots and partners from the United States, Australia, the UK and Europe have flown with us, many returning for a second and third itinerary. FLYING Magazine called touring New Zealand this way a true bucket list experience.
The new chapter
Mark Nicholls takes the controls
Flyinn recently passed from its founders to new owner Mark Nicholls, who carries the same personally hosted, small-group tradition forward. Different hands on the yoke; the same vacation of a lifetime.
A working farm, not a tourist stop.
Every Flyinn tour still begins the way the very first one did: morning coffee and hot scones at the Geordie Hill homestead. Mustering, working dogs, merino sheep and high-country life. Guests get a genuine window into a New Zealand most visitors never see.
5
Generations of McCaughans at Geordie Hill
5,500
Acres of working high-country farm
30+
Years since the idea for Flyinn was planted
4
Continents our guests fly in from
