It's Saturday June 5th and I'm home with a mild case of jet lag but otherwise in one piece and happy to be here. The last week in Australia was much like the previous two weeks with lots of time on the road and lots of stops to see interesting things. So the story goes back to Victor Harbor where I got up very early and hiked out to Granite Island over the causeway thinking that a nice sunrise was in store for me. Well it was a very pleasant hike but the clouds were so thick that the sunrise was a bust. I walked around the island but saw no penguins. It was a beautiful morning despite the clouds as the wind was very light and I had the island to myself. Most of the rest of the day was driving southeast. I took a ferry ride across the Murray River near the large downstream lakes that are just before the ocean. I drove through another large wine producing area along the way. The day ended in Portland which is a fair size port town. This left me just a few miles short of the Great Coastal highway that was my objective for the next day.
Weather forecasts for the Coastal highway day were grim with a large (huge) storm brewing off the east coast of Australia. The winds were forecast to be 30 to 40 even as far west as Melbourne. I was pleasantly surprised when I got up and found almost calm air but lots of clouds and some drizzle. Could have been a lot worse. The Great Coastal Highway is a very famous stretch of road that is decorated with these very pretty islands that are carved from the coast by waves. There are many arches, blow holes, balancing rocks and generally interesting looking formation all along the road. I stopped at every overlook, took pictures and walked around. At each stop there were maybe 2 or 3 cars so there was few people to get in the way of the pictures. At the first stop I got a bonus....a pod of 3 or 4 humpback whales came swimming by and were within site for at least 20 minutes. I spend the entire day working along the coast with the last stop being the 12 Apostles. This is one of those "must see" places on bus tours and reminded me of the Grand Canyon overlooks or Mt Rushmore. The buses pull up, the people spill out, walk over the coast and say wow and then they crawl back on the bus. The place was mobbed. Interesting because the rest of the coastal overlooks were so quiet. I blew out of there as soon as possible and headed over the hill to Apollo Bay for the night.
The next morning the storm had hit and the wind and rain were howling. That's when I decided to abandon plans to follow the coast the rest of the way back to Sydney and head inland from Melbourne into the Snowy Mountains. The days drive brought me to Benalla in a very pretty sheep and cattle area along the main road between Melbourne and Sydney.
Heading out from Benalla I approached the Snowy Mountains from the west and enjoyed a tremendous view at the highway pullouts along the way. The thick eucalyptus forests smelled amazing after the rain the night before. After driving over a high mountain pass I came into the town of Thredbo at the base of Mt Kosciuszko, the tallest mountain in Australia. Thredbo is a ski town somewhat reminiscent of mountain towns in Switzerland but without the cute little Swiss decorations. The ski lifts start right in the town and head up Mt Kosciuszko. The best hiking places in Mt Kosciuszko park was on another road farther to the north so I headed out and eventually ended up at the end of the road at Charlotte Pass. From this spot you can look out over the high altitude meadows and the highest of the peaks. The landscape is covered with alpine scrub vegetation, Aussie style with a bunch of snow gums, low twisted Eucalyptus that seem to have a niche everywhere in Australia. I got to Charlotte pass late in the day so I retreated to the little mountain town of Jindabyne for the night an plotted a hike for the next morning before heading down the road again. The morning temperature was right at 0 but the wind was almost non existent so I stared a 6 km hike to Porcupine rocks which was suppose to be a great overlook of the Thredbo valley and the big peaks. The trail was frosty, half frozen and wet but worth the discomfort for the view at the end of the trail. Porcupine rocks are granite and stick way up above the trees and over the promised tremendous view. I hung out on top for a half hour or so before heading back down.
The next destination was the nation's Capitol of Canberra. I spend the night in a town just east of Canberra with the objective of getting an early start at the city and then driving on to Sydney. Canberra was built from the wilderness at the capitol and because it did not have to be put into an existing city the layout of the city is very expansive with a huge lake dominating the central part and long parkways and open spaces. I located the new Parliament building and watched the protest going on outside....someone always seems to be protesting there I guess. I walked around for a couple hours then made my way over to the Australian War Memorial which has a comanding view of the city and is a very impressive building and museum. A large room in the museum is full of aircraft from the world wars including one full size Lancaster bomber that had somehow survived over 90 missions over Germany. This was a beautifully done museum in keeping with the purpose of honoring those who defended their country.
I arrived back in Sydney about 4:30 and enjoyed an evening with the Anderson's. I got out the map and showed them where I had been and shared many stories that inevitably come out of 10,000 km driving trips. On June 3rd I drove myself back to the Sydney airport in my little red Toyota covered with road grime and thankfully parked it in the rental returns with not a scratch on it. I'm sure that some of the Aussie drivers who saw my confusion over where to turn and which side of the road I should be on would have marveled at the fact that I got back with no damage. I hoped the plane and flew home via LAX and arrived on time to a very welcome homecoming.
So now the trip is half over. The Defiant is still in Australia and Rod and I will be returning on December 27 to prepare the plane, and do some last minute sightseeing before heading off to New Zealand, the first leg of our return trip. I have a bunch of pictures I will be adding to the blog this week and the blog will stay active for the return trip. I hope you will stay tuned for the next phase of the adventure.
I guess I need to update my travels. It's been 6 days since Coober Pedy and I have traveled a long way since. I headed out from Coober Pedy with the general destination the Eyre Peninsula, two gulfs west of Adelaide. It was a long but interesting drive as the weather was great and I had to stop frequently to look at grazing Emus and beautiful salt lakes. I ended up in Whyalla near the head of Spencer Gulf. It is not a big resort area but is distinguished by a huge coal loading operation and an even bigger steal plant. I woke up the next morning to heavy rain which lasted nearly all day and made driving very unpleasant. I headed south along the gulf and stopped into all the little towns along the way. It was so quiet I sometimes drove an hour without passing anyone. The rain just would not stop but I finally made it to my destination Port Lincoln near the tip of the peninsula. I had an early stop that day and took advantage of it by doing my laundry and walking around town in the rain and wind.....neither are among my favorite activities.
The next day the weather had improved so I headed to Lincoln National park and drove all the roads and did some hiking. I also checked out the harbor which is quite active as there is a huge tuna farming industry there. Apparently they catch tuna and put them in large floating cages and then feed them till they get big and harvest them a few at a time and immediately put them on a plane for Japan for sushi. They do tours where you can go out and swim around in the pens with the tuna....I didn't go.
The next day I headed northwest along the west side of the Eyre Peninsula stopping along the way to look out on some spectacular cliff, beaches, and sand dunes. Emus were everywhere. I turned inland at Venus Bay and drove east through Port Augusta and overnighted in Port Pirie.
Wednesday was wine country day. I drove around two famous regions, the Claire Valley and the Barrosa Valley. These are really pretty areas and you can not throw a rock without hitting a winery. I was kind of like a dog surrounded by fire hydrants, so many wineries. I visited 2 or 3 is all as I was driving and still not completely comfortable with driving on the left. The whole area looked very much like the California Napa Valley but had a greater concentration of wineries. In some areas it more resembled the New York wine region. Very pretty but even this time of year was pretty busy. I ended up in Elizabeth Park just north of Adelaide for the night ready to see the big city today.
I got into downtown Adelaide about 9:30 today and walked all over the down town area. It is a very pretty small city with a beautiful park along the Murray River and a huge entertainment center and even more huge Football stadium. The sun was out much of the time and it was a most enjoyable walk. No Starbucks......it went out of business but I did find a killer cup at one place in the Central market. Kept me caffeinated for hours. After leaving Adelaide I headed south to Point Jervis where the ferry to Kangaroo Island takes takes off. This is a pretty isolated area with lots of cattle and tree farms. Apparently Kangaroo Island is a huge vacation destination during the Australian summer. Victor harbor is just 50 km over the hill from Point Jervis and is another big resort area that is nearly comatose this time of year. It looks like a really nice place though and I'm going to get up early and do some hiking out to a nearby island (causeway connection) where there are a bunch of penguins. A week from tonight I'll be home finally. Probably about time.
I'm in Coober Pedy again tonight.....Opal capitol of the world. The last three days have been pretty great exploring around Alice Springs and then Kings Canyon and Uluru. I spend the first day checking out the beautiful small parks along the West Mcdonnell range near Alice Springs. Each site was a cut in the limestone ridge that had a small stream or just a pool and large trees and many had endemic species of shrimp, fish and other aquatic animals. These little parks are simply gems and I had them almost entirely to myself.
The next day I headed out in the rain for Kings Canyon (google it). The drive was about 400 km but turned out to be well worth the drive. It was still raining when I got there but that's why I had my rain coat along and I headed out on the 4.5 km loop trail around the Canyon. This Canyon looks a lot like some of the little gem places from the day before but WAY bigger and it was all sandstone instead of limestone. The sandstone made for good footing even in the rain. I had the trail nearly to myself with just 3 or 4 other people braving the elements. This is a pretty special place not only for the view but the little pocket ecosystems in the side canyons with cicads left over from millions of years ago and endemic plants found only in the hanging pools near the canyon walls.
After the hike it was on to Uluru, another 300 km away. It was still raining when I arrived at the "Rock" and the visibility was down to less than a km. You could not see the top of Uluru but the little waterfalls all over it were interesting. After a brief recon I found a hotel room and kept my fingers crossed for better weather in the morning. I was up early to catch the sunrise which is suppose to be quite impressive. Unfortunately the weather was only marginally better. At least I could see the Rock from the sunrise viewing point. There just wasn't the sun around to induce the famous glow. So I decided to leave the greater Uluru experience for the next trip and hit the road again. I'm headed for the Adelaide area tomorrow but I do get easily distracted so who knows where I will end up. I do however see wine tasting in my future. Sorry about no new pictures. Still looking for a decent internet connection.
I'm about as close to the middle Australia as you can get. It's outback for sure. The last three and a half days have been spent in a mad dash for Alice Springs as it is one place I have always wanted to see. The first day out of Doringo I did do a bit of sight seeing stopping at a national park called Cathedral Rocks on top of Round Mountain. This is the highest place north of the Alps.....Australian Alps.....about 5500 ft. The trail was a 4.2 km loop trail that had a spur up to the top of the rocks which was a bit of a scramble. I had the entire mountain top to myself and the view was tremendous. The hike though the forest was so different and so interesting the entire way. This park is in the Northern Table lands that lives up to it's name by having relatively flat tops with huge canyons along the sides of the tables that have some downright impressive water falls. I visited a could of the waterfalls on the way through. I ended up that evening in Gunnedah a nice little rural town in NSW. Very quiet place.....my room smelled like sheep....which seemed appropriate for the area. I hit the road early the next day headed for Broken Hill in the very western corner of NSW. It was a long drive of over 1000 km but fascinating with constantly changing landscapes and vegetation. I saw 4 live Roos and maybe a dozen flattened ones which is amazing since the traffic was so light. I got into Broken Arrow just in time for a rain storm but no one in that town was complaining. I hit the road early again the next day and and promptly ran into a fog bank.....in California it would have been called a 3 dot fog. Fortunately it didn't last more than 20 miles and the rest of day was clear and beautiful. I didn't stop much that day wanting to make some miles and I was able to make it all the way to Coober Pedy....the Opal capitol of the world. Now this place is really outback. They are Opel mine mad there. I know know if the really find opels or just make the tourists believe they do. The area is litterly covered by little piles of dirt and sand that have been sifted for opels. It's truly a mess. A lot of the town is underground in old mines....including 3 hotels and the Catholic Church. What a great place. On the way north to Coober Pedy I saw two flocks of Emus grazing near the roads. That was cool and these birds are enormous.
This morning I was on the road before sunrise again and made good time up to Alice Springs. This as a really beautiful place, partly because it is so green right now after some record rains this summer. They had a couple inches just two days ago. The rocks are very red and the vegetation is very lush...for now. I saw a Dingo on the way up standing in the middle of the road. Looked like he wanted to chase me down. I'm in a little back packer hostel tonight occupying an old travel trailer that has an......uh.....interesting paint job. Picture to come in the picture section. No TV and the bathroom is about 50 ft away....it's cheap, and friendly. I'll likely be in this area or south and west at Uluru for the next two or three days. There is a lot to do here and I'm loving it so far.
I flew from Merimbula to Wedderburn on Wednesday in a very strong wind with equally strong bumps but the visibility along the coast was impressive, and I just took it slow. The southeast coast of Australia is so beautiful. The color of the water is like no other I have seen, and beaches are everywhere. The wind had dropped a bit when I got to Wedderburn and it was mostly down the runway so it was an easy landing. I tucked the Twin Puffin into Jock Anderson's hangar and we carefully taped over the little places that the bugs like to crawl into before leaving it till next January. It was a bit sad leaving the Puffin there but this plane has done everything and more over the last two months and it seems to be in great shape for the return trip.
Thursday morning Jock dropped me off at the airport where I rented a cute little red Toyota and hit the road. I started out heading North along the coast and ended up in the little town of Taree when the sun went down. I got on the road early today and headed north again stopping along the way to visit some of the cool little beach towns along the way. The surf is definitely up along the coast and I really enjoyed watching them roll in and tumble the surfers. I stopped at Coffs Harbor which is likely to be the jumping off point for our first return trip leg to NZ. From there I headed west up through the mountains and ended the day in Dorringo which is about 3000 ft (I think) and is yet another beautiful area of Australia. Rod and I had flown over this area on the way to Sydney and were both taken by how beautiful the area was from the air. There are a number of small national parks around here and I stopped at one that has a native rain forest that is well know for it's plant diversity. At last some trees that were not Eucalyptus. The visitor center had a walk out onto the top of the rain forest with a bonus view down the mountains and out to the coast. Tomorrow I will head further west and south and see how far I get. There seems to be enough around this area to keep me busy all morning so I may not get far.
My stay in Melbourne was great fun highlighted by the company of several Canard guys. Thanks to Bruce, Wayne, Mike (and Mike's wife) and Dave for treating me so well and sharing such great canard hangar talk. I spend my first day in Melbourne wandering around downtown and enjoying all the big city stuff. Melbourne has a bunch of sports stadiums as the city is sports mad (their words, not mine). There is also a huge theater and convention complex that seems to be busy all the time. It is simply a very pretty, active and alive city. Now let me talk about the driving in Melbourne.....but I was warned. The mix of cars...all driving on the wrong side of the road...and trollies all over the place makes for some.....uh....interesting fun for those of us that have not quite mastered the left hand side of the road thing. I did survive, as did the tiny yellow Hundai I was driving but I'm sure how. The second day I drove out into the country and ended up at Phillip Island which is a popular place for summer weekends. It had some of the most impressive beaches and surf I have ever seen and a charming little town full of B&Bs and coffee shops. This was a place I would love to go back to when I have more time.
Today I flew east and then North along the coast and landed in Merimbula, NSW. The weather was perfect after clearing clouds around Melbourne. I saw many many huge and remote beaches that may not get visited very often, along with several tall lighthouses. Merimbula is a beautiful coastal town with lots of vacation cottages, beaches and souvenir shops. I drove about 10 km south and ended up in Eden, a pretty little fishing town with a much slower pace than Merimbula. The town basically folds up after 6 pm but maybe that is because this is the off season here. Tomorrow I will tour around this area and enjoy the beaches, and forests around here. This area is very different and I'm really enjoying it.
Today I headed south again landing about 2 pm at Melbournes Essendon airport. Most of the flight was in cloudless skies but the last 75 miles was over a solid overcast that I had to let down through. I was on an IFR flight plan and had no trouble with the plane or controllers. Can't say I'm that comfortable with Australian procedures yet but I'm getting there. I have gotten a lot of advice and help from Chris Byrne who flies 767s for Qantas. It's raining here but suppose to be a nice weekend so I'm going to wander around the city tomorrow and head for the coast on Sunday to see what's out there. I'll be getting together with some of the local Canard guys tomorrow and Sunday then heading off on Monday. Not quite sure where I'll be headed Monday but I will end up back in Wedderburn on Wednesday to put my plane to bed for a few months. The Puffin is looking like it needs a good bath with all the Aussie bugs we have smashed. One bug smash in particular covers about 10 sq inches on the canard, big smash. One peculiar thing that Jock and I have noticed on both of our Defiants....there are a lot more smashed bugs on the rear face of the rear prop than on the front prop. Hard to figure that one.
Rod wrote today that our first attempt at flying to Tarawa when we had to turn back because we could not contact anyone on the HF radio was on a day when there was a large solar flare that caused all kinds of disturbances in communications satellites. We also noted a few GPS outages that day so the flare was probably messing with them too.
I am back in Sydney for a few days after spending a wonderful weekend in Orange playing with airplanes and flying them. My host here in Sydney, Jock Anderson, has a Defiant also and I worked with Jock and his Son Ian to make it fly a little straighter and faster. We accomplished all of that and he now has a beautifully handling and very fast Defiant. It is a pleasure to fly. We flew the two Defiants to another airport about 50 miles away where we met up with Chris Byrne in his beautiful Cozy and then flew back to Orange as a flight of 3. Our pass over the town of Orange attracted a lot of attention as 3, 4 place canards flying together is too common in these parts. The whole weekend was kind of like the old days, hanging out at the airport, flying together, working together, few beers after work. Way more fun than a guy ought to be allowed.
I will be here in Sydney for the next 2 or 3 days then will be flying off to Melbourne for a few days. I hope to meet up with some Canard friends in Melbourne and maybe do some flying together. Check out the picture section....there should be some new ones.
We had a wonderful 2.5 hour flight south from Gold Coast to Wedderburn airport south of Sydney yesterday. The highlight of the flight was the Victor 1 procedure that is a VFR corridor procedure that let us fly at 500 ft just off shore past Sydney harbor. It was a very beautiful day with no clouds at all and light winds. We were able to see the Sydney Harbor bridge and the Opera house as we flew by. A breathtaking sight. We met up with Jock Anderson again at Wedderburn and headed to Jock's beautiful home south of Sydney. For dinner last night Rod and I were hosted to a very impressive dinner at an even more impressive site on the dock looking out on the Harbor bridge and the Sydney Opera house. One of the truly great views in all the world and a huge highlight of this already memorable trip. This morning we had a leisurely visit with the Anderson family then headed for the airport to drop Rod off for his flight. Jock and I headed back for Wedderburn and I flew my Defiant and he flew his Zenith to Orange, about 80 miles west of Sydney. Orange is where Jock did the test flying on his Defiant and it is still there. We will be working this weekend on a few details of Jock's plane and so some flying together before heading back to Sydney. I saw my first two Kangaroos at the Orange Airport today. They were inside the security fence at the airport.....not sure how they got there but they seemed harmless.
I was able to get a few new pictures of Tarawa loaded onto this blog today and hope to get a bunch more before leaving high speed access land.
