At Auckland airport on New Zealand's North Island, you see a statue of Jean Batten. The statue is in front of the airport's Novotel hotel.
A plaque on the ground in front of her statue describes her life and achievements. She made record solo flights from England to Australia and back, and from England to New Zealand and back. Plus other record breaking flights including one to South America. Each journey consisted of several hops from one country to the next whereh she stopped to re-fuel, sometimes crash landed due to bad weather, and had to replace bits of her plane.
Her plane is suspended overhead in Auckland Airport, which has a terminal named after her. She is also honoured in her New Zealand birthplace of Rotorua.
She lived from 1909 to 1982. She is quoted as saying,
I was destined to be a wanderer. I seemed born to travel.
In flying I found speed and freedom to roam the earth.
A few days after I arrived in New Zealand, I travelled by car from Auckland to Napier, the art deco city, which was rebuilt after the earthquake.
At the Masonic Art Deco Hotel I stayed in the Jean Batten bedroom suite.
Useful Websites include
https://www.nzhalloffame.co.nz/New-Zealand-Sports-Hall-of-Fame-Inductees/B/Jean-Batten
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Jean_Batten
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Batten
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Jean_Batten#/media/File:Jean_Batten's_Percival_Gull.jpg
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