Today we left Montpellier near Townsville and headed South , after just a 5 minute flight we could spot the sea and finally we could say we had flown from the West Coast to the East Coast of Australia via the North coast.  I took the opportunity to fly at 500ft for about one hour down the coast skimming both the sea and beaches.  It was the most exciting day and another part of the dream.

At Julia Creek we soon learned that the residents were very proud of their town (Population circa 600). The water ...   more »

After a successful flight we arrrived in Julia Creek, a small town between Mount Isa and Townsville. The weather was perfect and there was expectation that we could reach Townsville the next day.

We were woken up around 2.30am with a howling wind that was trying to pick everybodies tent up and fly it across the airfield. At various stages of the night people were getting up to put in more tent pegs. By dawn it was obvious we would not be flying. This is where we experienced the hospitality of the Julia Creek people and how special they are.

The Owners of the local Bar/Restaurant ( The Country Club) Steve & Linda found out we had been left stuck at the airfield and they said they would open up the restaurant so we could get Lunch. It was over lunch that Linda offered to cook us a Roast Chicken for Dinner for the whole team ( A free donation to RFDS).

As the team were camped at the airfield with very limited facilities ( a Toilet and small sink). Steve gave us the keys to his house so we could have a shower.

These are very special people and a big thank you goes out to both of them for their very kind generosity and hospitality. It made up for the frustration of losing a day to the Wind  

5^th August – a WINDY Day….

We didn’t plan to stay at Julia Creek but at 4.00am I was woken by rustling trees and my tent flapping about a bit. After listening for a few minutes I decided to dress and popped out to check the aircraft. I later learned that Howie had done the same at 3.30am and that Ian did the same at 5am.

The wind kept growing but at 8am Howie was voted as the best bloke to go up and check the headwinds. Warren was going to join him but I think he feigned a rough tummy and kept disappearing into the toilet! Strangely, the Brits were nowhere to be found. (We were all hiding in the waiting room).

By the time Howie was nearly ready the windsock was horizontal and even though he really, really wanted to go, discretion became the better part of valour – just as well really because the wind only increased throughout the morning!

Ian and Warren had taken their wings down the previous evening but the rest of us had left them up and simply tied them down as they were. By the time I finished, I had the trike tied down fore and aft together with a further eight tie-downs on the wings.

Unfortunately Dave Seymour was a clot and decided to turn his aircraft round into wind on his own, (which had shifted overnight). His trike was instantly converted into a land yacht and it tried to take off on its own. He clung on but it still tipped over bending a few more bits, (see previous entries and ‘photos. The rest of us were soon on the scene and we tied it down again as quickly as practical.

John Sharman and Roger Bunny eventually brought the support vehicles round the back of each aircraft in turn so that we could lower the wings and present less area to the wind.

The wind was so strong that our 18” fence posts were being dragged out of the ground in some cases – we had to keep going back to knock them back into the soft ground. At one point, Sharon and I were holding onto the front pole of my trike for about half an hour to stop the base bar from bending it as the wind pressure bore against us.  

Fortunately the wind started to ease in the late afternoon though it was too late to go anywhere. This was probably just as well because we were all a little tired and weary by now.

It has to be said that everyday of this trip has been different!  

The flight from Mount Isa to Julia Creek

On 4^th August we travelled from Threeways Roadhouse to Mount Isa in the morning. However, while every day has been different, none of us expected the excesses of the flight from Mount Isa in the afternoon to Julia Creek!

The plan was to spend the early part of the day in Mount Isa visiting the Zinc/Copper/Copper mine or the RFDS Visitor Centre. We were then going to fly from Mount Isa to Cloncurry or finally Julia Creek if the wind was favourable.

All of the way round we had been told to expect headwinds but….

We took off at about 3pm and all seemed normal until about 500ft – then the turbulence started! What turbulence it was too – I can’t remember the last time I was bounced around so much! Normally we found that turbulence dissipated at a maximum of 4-5,000 ft but today we didn’t start to feel a change until after this and it only became comfortable at about 7,000 ft! (In fact some of us went to 10,000 ft plus!). Note that these circumstances were very unusual and difficult. We would not normally even consider flying at anything like this height! Safety and fear of fatigue were the only reason this happened. A combination of the mountains, the heat and the wind combined to make this the roughest trip so far by a BIG margin.

After battling to this height we then found that the tail wind was touching 40 mph and several of us recorded ground speeds in excess of 105mph for a considerable period. The only problem with this was the cold air – none of us were dressed for these temperatures, we were only wearing shorts, tee-shirt and thin gloves under our flying suits…

It also occurred to some of us that we were in Jet territory which is a sobering thought. But hey! What a blast!

I think we were all expecting a difficult descent at Julia Creek (which we all made in under two hours), but it was actually rather pleasant, particularly as the feeling returned to both hands and feet.    

Of course we were late into Julia Creek and we then had to wait for the ground crews to arrive which meant more putting up tents in the dark…..

We thought the evening would be time for a rest and after a good night’s sleep we would be fit for the following day. Little did we know!

What a blast!

This morning we set off at the usual time - sunrise! We have now entered our third ...   more »

After leaving Darwin, we headed South back into the Northern Territories, for the last three days we have spent 12 hours flying over flat wasteland with nothing but dust, dust and more dust to see for hundreds of miles.  I was playing "I Spy" with  Jon on the last flight but after " I spy something beging with D"  ( Dust) and  " I spy something begining with  S " (Sky) we ran out of options.

Saturday was Lennie and Diana's 5th Wedding anniversary. so we had a group meal in the evening, and i had bought a balloon saying happy anniversary but it needed Helium to fill it and surprise, surprise there was a shortage of Helium in the outback so i just taped the empty ballon to their tent.

Todays flight was to Mount Isa and for the first time in three days we had a chance of scenery, we had a few hills and a lake which was very exciting after the flatlands of the last three days.

Mount Isa is a  busy mining town, and we decided to get here early and spend the day herecatching up before leaving the afternoon to head East towards the coast.  

Threeways to Camoweal

From Threeways Roadhouse, we had another early start. Plane readied, I starting the engine and taxied ...   more »