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First time back in a place with internet access. Therefore, I will do a series of updated day by day of the last week
NYINYIKAY TO JABIRU – 197NM
The wind hadn’t let up and we had no reception to get an accurate forecast. On the ground the windsock was horizontal and there were passing showers of rain. We sat and waited and finally a MAF Airvan came in and he told the weather would get better the further we went west. We were heading for Jabiru, the only town in the world famous Kakadu national park. To get there we needed to cross some water, fly across remote, croc infested lowlands and then cross over the Kakadu escarpment before descending into Jabiru. The cloud base was about 1200ft when we left but we had good definition of the coastline and an added bonus is that there are a lot of small airstrips in this area as it is dotted with Indigenous Homelands communities. It turned out well and the weather did improve as we went west, finally allowing us to climb to 4500ft over the escarpment and into clear air – much to Gayle’s joy! The only downside was the smoke from the fire management program – they burn huge areas each dry season up this way.
We decided to spend a day n Kakadu park and managed to hire a car from some backpackers for the day (no hire companies). Kakadu is in the very nth part of Australia (you will notice East Timor on the map to the Nth). There are 2 seasons here - wet and dry. In the wet the huge amount of rain drains off the escarpment via spectacular waterfalls and floods the plains all around - the result is a vast area teaming with wildlife. The Aboriginal people have thrived in this area and there is a lot of rock art documenting there 60,000yrs of successful occupation of the area. They also traded with their Asian neighbors to the north.
This is a wonderful part of Australia and one to put on the list of any Australian visit!
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JABIRU TO DUNMARRA – 242 NM
It was time for us to start heading south again and eventually to home! This meant the last of the tailwinds unfortunately. There was a big high pressure system sitting over Australia which meant we were wanting to go Sth and the winds were strong from the SE – not ideal! Normally in this pat of Australia it is hot and it is best to get up early and fly before too many thermals get established. But this weather pattern was different. The temps were relatively cool and the winds strong in the morning and settling a bit around 11am. The forecast was for severe turbulence below 7000ft until 1000, so we waited until 1100. The best winds were forecast at 7500ft so up we went! We would much rather fly low over this interesting country but we had no real choice because of turbulence and also because the winds backed to the east the higher we went.
Out in this part of Australia, fuel planning is important as there are not many places where you can get it, nor is the supply always reliable. Dunmarra is just a road house on the Stuart highway but there is a dirt strip out the back, premium unleaded is available, you can taxi right into the camp ground and the owner is a pilot with a Cessna 182 and a Murphy Rebel. We had been there before and the owner Garry is very welcoming. So it was no brainer for an over night stop. Again the winds persisted and made for a slow trip and at least up high is was smooth – although it made for pretty spectacular landings!!
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DUNMARRA TO BARKLEY HOMESTEAD RAODHOUSE – 227 NM
Again we had to wait until late morning to leave due to a severe turbulence warning. Once more up to 7500ft where we found the least headwind component. Very remote area again but this time cattle stations which are measured in ‘thousands of square kilometers’!
The Barkley Homestead Roadhouse is a very popular stop for caravans and trucks going from Qld to the NT. They even have Avgas at $2:55/lt or Premium unleaded at $2:00/lt from the bowser. We carry a 20lt flexible fuel bladder and filter. I walked back and forth 3 times, each time thinking that I was saving $10:50 each trip and that was a couple of beers!
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BARKLEY HOMESTEAD TO GEM TREE – 214 NM
Same old weather pattern! Wait until late morning and then off – this time with a slight west heading that but us at 4500ft initially and later up to 6500ft to get clear air. And again, large cattle stations and a few ranges to create a slightly different landscape.
Arriving at Gem Tree the wind was about 20kts - with most of it crosswind as the strip was N-S. All the strips out here are red gravel and mostly pretty wide so plenty of room even if each landing is an interesting challenge!
The Gem Tree Caravan park is NE of Alice Springs and not marked on our map. We heard about it from friends and it has turned out to be an interesting stop. Fuel is available from the bowser and they have a camp kitchen at night where they cook roast dinners. The owners are retired cattle station owners from the Utopia Station to the North. They now cater for travellers in the outback who want to stop and do a bit of fossicking for zircon and garnets.
We are stuck here today because the severe turbulence warning is for the whole day. The good news is the forecast for tomorrow is better, so we will enjoy the stop then head for Mt Dare tomorrow.
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GEM TREE TO MT DARE
This was the first day in over a week when the windsock wasn't horizontal! Nice. This stretch took us to the east of Alice Springs and across the western part of the nth Simpson desert. A cross section of Australian outback that would be hard to equal in terms of rugged diversity. The photos tell the story.
It was good to arrive at one of our favourite outback pubs/roadhouses - The Mt Dare Homestead. We've been there many times now and the owners are pilots that always make feel really welcome. A lot of motor bike and 4WD traffic here as they tackle one of the iconic outback challenges - crossing the the 1300 odd sand dunes of the Simposon Desert.
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Mt DARE TO BIRDSVILLE
This stretch is remote - very remote. But one of your favourite - this is our 4th crossing now. There are a number of tracks across the Simpson desert made by gas and oil exploration companies many years ago. The one we followed was the French line ( named obviously after a French exploration team). There are no towns, shelters of any type across this stretch and is ussually a 2.5-3hour flight. The trouble is that if anything goes wrong it is a VERY difficult recovery. We followed the French line to provide a degree of safety but only saw 3 or 4 $WD vehicles the whole trip.
We stopped off at Poppels crn (the meeting of the states of Queensland, Northern Territory and South Australia. We landed on a clay pan that had a thin covering of salt. We've stopper there before so were pretty comfortable with the condition of the clay.
And now we are in the famous Birdsville - famous for its once a year race meeting that sees the population of the town swell from 70 to about 17000 for the weekend races!!
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What a great travelog!! Thanks for taking the time to share it, Ross & Gayle!
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Great trip report Ross; very enjoyable.
I just wish there was a way to enlarge your small photos to full screen. The old forum software allowed you to click on the photo and it became much larger. Maybe I just have not figured out how to do it with this new system.
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It’s a sunburnt country out there. Great log guys. One of many to remember.