A loving Scots Dad has sent a special Christmas message in the sky to his daughter all the way from New Zealand.
Stuck on different sides of the world for the festive period, Robin Rother took to the skies in his plane and flew around Scotland, tracing the shape of a Christmas tree to surprise his daughter Catriona Rother.
She said: “I was just totally surprised, but it also seemed exactly like something my dad would do.”
“He’s drawn Christmas for us over in Scotland.”
We previously told how the private Siai-Marchetti F-260D aircraft left Dornoch at 12.11pm and took in Dalnessie, Loch Choire Lodge and Syre peaked at Strathy before heading south-east.
It passed Achiemore, Forsinard and Gobernuisgeach on the way home.
The FlightRadar24 website tracked its passage with the aircraft touching back down at 1.48pm, with the entire route tracked on radar.
The identity of the mystery pilot was unknown.
However, after her father sent her the link, Catriona immediately knew he was the one who had gone to all of the effort.
She said: “It’s probably the biggest Christmas tree ever, we think!”
She’s now planning to print the flight tracker map and have it framed for him as a belated Christmas gift.
Catriona, who works as a doctor at Wellington Hospital and moved to New Zealand over four years ago hasn’t been home since 2018. She said this gift came at the perfect time.
She added: “It’s just something really nice in a difficult time, in a difficult year, when families can’t be together.”
“It’s a lovely way to show that he loves us when he can’t be near.”
Like many others, the Covid-19 pandemic has stopped her from being able to go home and spend Christmas with her family.
Her brother, who is based on London, was planning to visit their dad until stricter measures were brought in as a result of the new strain of the virus circulating.
Robin, a retiree with an interest in flying, recently moved from Edinburgh to Dornoch, and will be alone on Christmas day.
Catriona described her dad as a “strong New Zealand enthusiast”. He has visited five times since she moved, and always sees as much of the country as he can.
She said: “He’s much more well-travelled around New Zealand than we are.”
Robin was booked to travel to Aotearoa in March, but when quarantine requirements were put in place, he cancelled.
