Robyn Edie/Stuff The Poppy and Star Flight in Invercargill on April 8. At Invercargill's welcome event were Nazia Amaliya, Jean Wilkie, Dianne Blair, Conal Mulligan and Jonet Moore. The Poppy & Star Flight – a nationwide fundraising project with 34 volunteer pilots each flying a sector of a four-week circling of the country – hits the Central North Island and Waikato over the weekend . The flight, dreamed up by travel broker Melanie Salisbury, involves a giant poppy and star flown around New Zealand in the lead up to ANZAC Day with the two large pieces of knitted artwork being added to by locals at welcome events in each town.