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Down Under Tour 2015


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Great tour Loic.  I recognise the 12 apostles from the January 11th section, I saw these myself a good few years back now.  

 

There is a local story about a couple having an extramarital affair who walked across an arch for a game of hide the sausage. While they were out there the arch collapsed and they found themselves on what had become a stack.    

 

They had to be air-lifted to safety. I wonder how they explained that to their spouses!

 

Interesting is the place Horsham.  I thought that it near Gatwick Airport.  I must be wrong?

 

 

 

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Thks for your comments, Graeme.  Fortunately, getting old has a few positive points, like having a lot more free time.    I read somewhere that you really get old when you stop learning, so after o

Haha !  As you know english is not my native language ( although I have a US High School diploma, a University Master and a British Chamber of Commerce    ) and besides this you are right I spent a lo

Yep, went for a little Alaska flight for my Air Hauler company. They were surprised to see me around ! 

South Australia - Jan 19  - On the way to Adelaide
 
Portland YPOD to Kingston SE YKIG - via Mount Gambier YMTG - Coonawarra YCNQ - Naracoorte YNRC
 
SouthAustraliasem18011.jpg
 
The nice weather is still there ! Clear sky, wind 10 knts from SE, 1012 hPa and 27° C at 11:00 local.  After some days of old time navigation with the D17 Staggerwing, I decided to have some cool flights and I'm leaving Portland with a Cessna C208 Grand Caravan. Turboprop, a GPS, weather radar, ADF, DME and autopilot. It's luxury !
 
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At first I fly along the coast of the state of Victoria a last time before crossing the border with South AustraliaMount Gambier has a VOR and a NDB, so no problem for navigation. They come only for confirmation, as the autopilot is set at 2500 ft on the GPS course.
 
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I fly over Mount Gambier YMTG
 
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Next waypoint is the village of Coonawarra
 
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And some minutes later Naracoorte YNRC
 
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Approaching the coast and the village of Kingston SE, we can see the lighthouse of Cape Jaffa
 
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Almost no wind on arrival, I land on runway 2 (1010 m) and taxi to the parking.
 
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(*) Another nice job by the OzX team.
 
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Kingston SE is a town with a population around 1500 people, approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) southeast of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and 44 km from the town of Robe. It is located on the shores of Lacepede Bay
The town was named after Sir George Strickland Kingston, a South Australian politician, surveyor and architect. Kingston Post Office opened on 9 February 1869.[2] The extension on its name is to distinguish Kingston in the South East (of South Australia) from another 'Kingston' in the state which is now officially named "Kingston On Murray".
 
The main industries are fishing, winemaking, sheep and cattle farming and recreation, the district having a large influx of tourists during holiday periods throughout the year. The northern entrance to the town is dominated by the Big Lobster, fondly named "Larry" by people in Kingston.
 
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I'm going for seafood at the Royal Mail !
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South Australia - Jan 20 - Along the coast

 

Kingston SE YKIG to Kingscote YKSC - via  Goolwa YGWA

 

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The weather is still clear, only the visibility at take off is down to 20km. Wind WSW 6 knots, pressure 1010 hPa and temperature on the ground is 23°C at 10:40 local.

 

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No problem with navigation on this leg, almost the whole flight is along the coast.

 

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Visibility gets better during the flight as I fly over the lagoons behind the long beaches.

 

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Arriving at Kangaroo Island,  the wind has turned south and I land on runway 19 at Kingscote YKSC. Taxi is on the secondary gravel runway.

 

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On the parking I rejoin the Beechcraft which landed right before me.

 

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Kingscote is the largest town on Kangaroo Island ( around 2000 people ), an island off the south coast of South Australia. Kingscote is South Australia's oldest European settlement. It is a well-established tourist centre and the administrative and communications centre. It is home to a colony of the smallest penguins in the world, the little penguin.

 

The South Australia Company established its colony at Kingscote at Reeves Point on 27 July 1836, as South Australia's first official European settlement, the first settlers having arrived on the Duke of York. It was later suggested that Kingscote could serve as the capital of South Australia, but the island's resources were insufficient to support such a large community; the South Australia Company moved almost six months later to Adelaide after sending surveyors to find a better site.


 

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I drop in the Ozone Hotel by the sea.

 

Ozone-Hotel-Kingscote.jpg

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South Australia - Jan 23  - Around the Adelaide bay ( Part 1 )
 
Kingscote YKSC - Minlaton YMIN ( unlisted airstrip )
 
After two days of farniente and touring around Kangaroo Island, I get the opportunity to make a tour of the  Adelaide bay with a well preserved Auster J1 Autocrat.

The Auster J/1 Autocrat was a 1940s British single-engined three-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire.
 
As the end of the Second World War approached the designers at Taylorcraft decided to develop a tourer version of the robust and reliable Taylorcraft Auster Model J AOP.V observation aircraft series. An Auster 5, registered G-AGOH, was modified to take a 100 hp (75 kW) Blackburn Cirrus II engine for trials. At the same time a prototype aircraft was built designated the Taylorcraft Auster V Series J/1 Autocrat. The long name was not used as the company changed name to Auster Aircraft Limited and the aircraft became known as the Auster J/1 Autocrat.
 
 
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Take off around 11:00 local with an average visibility and some clouds at 3700 ft. 
 
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I fly to the north coast of  Kangaroo Island at Stokes Bay.
 
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Over the water I spot a couple of ships heading for Adelaide.
 
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After 25 mns I hit the south coast of the Yorke Peninsula west of Port Moorowie
 
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On finals at the airstrip in Minlaton with some crosswind. I go for a high approach to keep some speed because of the wind.
 
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Taxi to the parking and I'll try to find something for lunch before flying further.
 
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Minlaton is a town of around 800 people in central Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. It is known as the "Barley capital of the world", due to the rich barley production in the region.
 
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Minlaton was the home town of Harry Butler, a World War I flying ace. His Bristol M1C monoplane has been restored and is preserved in pride of place in a building the centre of the town. When he flew an air mail run from Adelaide across Gulf St Vincent to Minlaton in 1919, it was the first over-water flight in the Southern Hemisphere.
 
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South Australia - Jan 23 - Around the Adelaide bay ( Part 2 )

 

Minlaton YMIN - Aldinga YADG

 

14:00, after a coffee I'm back in the plane !

 

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Heading east, I leave the Yorke Peninsula over Port Vincent

 

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And here we go for a half hour over the water to cross the bay, flying low to stay under the controlled airspace around the international airport.

 

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There is some ship traffic to add some life to the landscape

 

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I even find a large visitor near Adelaide !

 

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Approaching Aldinga. Someone should call lumberjacks, there is a couple of trees a bit close from the runway !

 

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Let's go for a last cuppa before heading home.

 

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Aldinga is a suburb some 45 km south of the town center of Adélaide. The place is known mostly for its beach.

 

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some thriving little communities you are finding, I like the OZONE hotel, however if we have had a few beers and lit the bbq we could well do the ozone some damage.....keep it coming all interesting stuff....

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South Australia - Jan 23 - Around the Adelaide bay ( Part 3 )

 

Aldinga YADG - Kingscote YKIG

 

16:30,  after a nice beer, it's time to bring back the plane home. Fortunately, there are no trees at the other end of the runway.

 

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I fly down  along the coast with a head wind and a rather good visibility

 

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Flying over Rapid Bay, in the background we already see Kangaroo Island

 

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Then we get to Cape Jervis with its lighthouse and the ferry wharf.

 

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The visibility gets worse over Kangaroo Island, as I fly over the small airstrip of Cuttlefish Bay

 

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I have no problem finding the Kingscote airfield !

 

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I just need now to give the keys back to the owner, and pay him another beer at the club bar ( it's been a hot day ! )

 

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South Australia - Jan 25  - Return to the Murray River
 
Kingscote YKSC to Waikerie YWKI - via Goolwa YGWA
 
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After the tour around Adelaide  on Saturday, I am on the road again with the Caravan, heading inside the country. Weather is still friendly with an average visibility when I take off on Kangaroo Island
 
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I come across a container ship in the strait between Kangaroo Island and the coast.
 
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Visibility gets a lot better as I am flying over  Goolwa YGWA.
 
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Next waypoint is the small unlisted airstrip of Murray Bridge YMBD
 
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I find again our old friend the Murray River
 
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Near my destination the landscape looks more and more barren.
 
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Parked in Waikerie on the banks of the Murray River.
 
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Waikerie is a rural town with a population around 1800, in the Riverland region of South Australia on the south bank of the Murray River.  The Stuart Highway passes to the south of the town at the top of the cliffs. There is a cable ferry crossing the river to provide vehicle access from the north side of the river.
 
Waikerie is well known for citrus growing ( many backpackers travelling in Australia come around for the picking season ) and gliding, as the flat dry terrain provides good thermals. Waikerie hosted the 14th World Gliding Championships in 1974. Waikerie Airport is home to the Waikerie Gliding Club. It has two runways 08/26 and 02/20.
 
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You can also cruise on the river on bord of the "Murray River Queen"
 
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South Australia - Jan 26  - to the Spencer Gulf
 
Waikerie YWKI to Whyalla YWHA - via Port Pirie YPIR
 
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Great weather this morning, clear skies, 7 knots southerly wind, 24°C and 1015 hPa. For the last time I fly over the Murray River near the little town of Morgan.
 
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25 minutes later I fly over Burra at 4500 ft.
 
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Far in front at last some hills !
 
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Then comes my security airfield of Port Pirie YPIR.
 
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I'm back to the sea over the Spencer Gulf.
 
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Once landed on runway 17 ( 1690m asphalt ) at Whyalla, right into the wind, I taxi to the parking as a Learjet lands right after me.
 
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Whyalla is with 22.000 people the third most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide and Mount Gambier. It is a seaport located on the east coast of the Eyre Peninsula. The town is known as the "Steel City" due to its integrated steelworks and shipbuilding heritage. 
 
It was founded as Hummock's Hill in 1901 by the Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) as the end of a tramway bringing iron ore from Iron Knob in the Middleback Range to sea. Its first shipment was transported across Spencer Gulf to Port Pirie where it was used in lead smelters as a flux. A jetty was built to transfer the ore and the first shipment was sent in 1903. The early settlement consisted of small cottages and tents clustered around the base of the hill. The Post Office opened in 1901 as Hummock's Hill and was renamed Whyalla on 1 November 1919.
 
Whyalla_town_view.jpg
 
In the late 1990s the spectacular annual migration of the Australian Giant Cuttlefish Sepia apama to shallow, inshore rocky reef areas in Spencer Gulf north of Whyalla became recognized by international divers. Divers and snorkellers can see the aggregation of animals from May through August each year, in water typically three to six metres deep.
 
 
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I want to see the Spencer Gulf, and I book in the Bay View Hotel 
 
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Just came across your post and realised I've missed quite a bit in the last few months.

Loving your trip so far, and like that you're checking out all the small fields. The scenery looks great too.. so much better tan the default offering.

Look forward to the next leg of your epic journey :thum:

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Yeah, I don't comment too much lately (partly out of embarrassment for not continuing my LazyM tour...hella distracted by other stuff), but have been following your travels with interest, even been inspired to Airhaul in some of the areas you have featured; Coff's harbor area not long ago, and just recently in Tazmania in a PC-12 after your ventures down that way...very very cool scenery down there.

 

Keep em coming sir...a great trip so far. :thum:

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South Australia - Feb 1st - Outback
 
Whyalla YWHA to Leigh Creek YLEC
 
SouthAustraliasem01021.jpg
 
After a few days relaxing on the Spencer Gulf ( beach and snorkeling ) it's time to head inside the country. The weather is still beautiful : clear sky, great visibility, a light SE wind, 1004 hPa and already 27°C  at 10:30 !
 
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I head north and fifteen minutes after take off I reach the end of the Spencer Gulf and the town of Port Augusta. There is an airfield YPAG with a NDB on 212 kHz which I used as a guide.
 
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Still going up north, I fly along Mount White and Mount Arden. I am guided by the VOR in Leigh Creek ( 117.80 MHz ) 
 
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A half hour after Port Augusta, I reach the National Park around Lake Torrens.
 
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Lake Torrens is an ephemeral salt lake in central South Australia. It lies between the Arcoona Plateau to the west and the Flinders Ranges to the east . The lake is approximately 30 metres (98 ft) above sea level. It is located within the boundaries of Lake Torrens National Park.
 
Lake Torrens stretches approximately 250 kilometres (155 mi) in length[1] and 30 kilometres (19 mi) in average width. It is Australia's second largest lake when filled with water and encompasses an area of 5,745 square kilometres (2,218 sq mi). The lake filled in 1897 and again in April 1989. It has a thin salt crust with red-brown clays beneath, which are soft and boggy. The area around the lake is sparsely vegetated with samphire, saltbush and bluebush
 
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As I fly along Lake Torrens, I can see in the east the hills of the Flinders Ranges which I plan to visit later flying from Leigh Creek.
 
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As often I am guided towards Leigh Creek by the road and the railway, with on my left the Mount Scot I have used from far as a visual clue. The landscape has now taken the typical color of the australian outback.
 
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A short circuit after warning of my arrival on the radio and I am soon on finals on runway 11 ( 1710m asphalt ) in Leigh Creek YLEC.
 
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On the parking, after stopping the turbine ( and the air conditioning ! ) the outside temperature shows me I need to quickly find some fresh beer !
 
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Leigh Creek is a coal-mining town. Situated to the west of the northern Flinders Ranges, the current town is 13 km further south than the original town—it was moved in 1982 to allow the expansion of the mine. 
 
Since the early 1990s, more changes occurred in Leigh Creek. Massive restructuring of mining operations resulted in the reduction of a workforce of over 750 to about 200. The township also became a lot smaller. The population dropped from about 2500 in 1987 to 600 today. Whilst most workers at the coalfields make a good income, the high cost of communication and services drastically reduce the disposable income.A simple medical procedure may require a trip to Adelaide, which means a round trip of about 1200 km.
 
Alinta Energy announced On 7 October 2015 that the Leigh Creek mining operations would cease on 17 November 2015.
 
In 2015 the media announced that another coal project at Leigh Creek was in the planning process. Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP), proposed by the company Leigh Creek Energy, intends to extract gas from Leigh Creek's coal seams by drilling injection and extraction wells and igniting the coal underground using a process known as in-situ coal gasification. The company has proposed that the gas would then be exported to Australia's eastern states via existing pipeline networks. An additional plant to produce fertilizers and explosives for use in the mining sector would also be built adjacent to the coal gasification plant.
 
LeighCreek.jpg
 
I found an oasis in the desert at the Leigh Creek Caravan Park.
 
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South Australia - Feb 3  - Flinders Ranges

 

Part 1 : Leigh Creek YLEC to Arkaroola YARK

 

I decided to explore the Flinders Ranges and I found in Leigh Creek a Cessna 152 that I can rent for the day. Unfortunately, the weather conditions on Tuesday were not with me : 20 kts of wind and low clouds around 1800ft, so I had to wait a day around the swimming pool at the Caravan Park.

 

Wednesday morning the wind is down to 14 kts from the south and the clouds have gone up above 3500 ft. The Leigh Creek airfield is 850 ft high and Arkaroola is 1420 ft, so it's worth a try ! I leave on the gravel 20 runway and head  towards the northern part of the Flinders Ranges and the Vulkahunha-Gammon Ranges National Park.

 

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Flying east at 82°, the first hills come after a few minutes. There are still a few low clouds here and there but I'm confident I will find a way through the valleys.

 

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I manage in fact to find a hole in the clouds and jump over the first crests to rejoin the valley of the Nepabunna aborigenal community.

 

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From there on it is the usual IFR flight : I Follow the Road !

 

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Until I get to the trails crossroad where I need to turn left to the north.

 

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I find the small airstrip of Arkaroola on the side of the trail as expected.

 

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Now I only need to fly past it and come back to land into the wind.

 

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Time to empty my lunch box, find someone around for a coffee and I'm on my way to the southern part of the Flinders Ranges.

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South Australia - Feb 3 - Flinders Ranges
 
Part 2 : Arkaroola YARK to Rawnsley Park Stn YRYK
 
I leave Arkaroola early afternoon for an around one hour flight to the south of the Flinders Ranges and the national park with the same name. Clouds are now up to 4700 ft, but at my flight altitude I will have 22 knts of wind right in the nose, which is going to make the flight a litlle longer.
 
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Visibility is around 20 km, average but good enough.
 
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From time to time a trail or a road crosses this moonlike desert landscape.
 
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After fifty minutes of an almost straight line flight, I reach the  Flinder Ranges National Park, where the overall colors get greener.
 
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Soon I find my first waypoint, the small dirt airstrip at  Wilpena Pond YWPD, right at the hills feet.
 
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I need to fly around the top of the Point Bonney to reach my destination.
 
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A few minutes later I am on finals at the 1100m gravel runway 21.
 
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A short stop at the Park Rangers station and it will be time to get back to Leigh Creek.
 
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The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia, which starts about 200 km (125 mi) north of Adelaide. The discontinuous ranges stretch for over 430 km (265 mi) from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna. Its most characteristic landmark is Wilpena Pound, a large, sickle-shaped, natural amphitheatre that covers 80 km2 (31 sq mi), and contains the range's highest peak, St Mary Peak (1,171 m (3,842 ft)) that adjoins the Flinders Ranges National Park. The northern ranges are protected by the Arkaroola wilderness sanctuary and the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park.
 
The first humans to inhabit the Flinders Ranges were the Adnyamathanha people (meaning ‘hill people’ or ‘rock people’) whose descendants still reside in the area and the Ndajurri people who no longer exist.  Cave paintings, rock engravings and other artifacts indicate that these people  have lived in the Flinders Ranges for tens of thousands of years. The first European explorers to the region were an exploration party from Matthew Flinders' seagoing visit to upper Spencer Gulf aboard HMS Investigator. They climbed Mount Brown in March 1802. In the winter of 1839 Edward John Eyre, together with a group of five men, two drays and ten horses, further explored the region. They set out from Adelaide on 1 May 1839. The party set up a depot near Mount Arden, and from there explored the surrounding region and upper Spencer Gulf, before heading eastward to the Murray River and returning to Adelaide
 
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South Australia - Feb 8  - To opal country
 
Leigh Creek YLEC to Coober Pedy YCBP
 
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We already have 28° C at 10:30 this morning ! A great day, clear skies and an outstanding visibility, 14 knots of wind from SSE, and we take off for a one hour and twenty minutes leg.
 
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Ten minutes later I'm crossing the salty grounds of Lake Torrens.
 
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First waypoint on the flight path, Andamooka YAMK. I used the NDB there from the start.
 
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And here we go for one hour over the desert !
 
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I find a few clouds at the end of the flight.
 
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I fly over the town of Coober Peddy after I followed the Stuart Highway for the last miles,  before landing on the secondary 832m long runway 14.
 
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It will be a short landing thanks to the reverse on the Caravan and I taxi to the parking.
 
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Coober Pedy is a town of around 2000 people, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway. The town is sometimes referred to as the "opal capital of the world" because of the quantity of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its below-ground residences, called "dugouts", which are built in this fashion due to the scorching daytime heat. 
 
Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality opal. Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry to provide the community with employment and sustainability. Coober Pedy has over seventy opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the world.
 
The local golf course – mostly played at night with glowing balls, to avoid daytime temperatures – is completely free of grass, and golfers take a small piece of "turf" around to use for teeing off. As a result of correspondence between the two clubs, the Coober Pedy golf club is the only club in the world to enjoy reciprocal rights at The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
 
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Both the town and its hinterland, for different reasons, are very photogenic and have therefore attracted film makers. The town itself was the setting for the 2006 film Opal Dream and is a pivotal location in Wim Wenders' 1991 film Until the End of the World.
 
Its environment also attracted movie producers, with parts of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Pitch Black having been filmed in the area.
 
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I could sleep nowhere else than at the Opal Inn !
 
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South Australia - Feb 10 - A Cold War feeling

 

Coober Pedy YCBP to Woomera YPWR

 

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The temperature is climbing, already 33° C at 10:00 on the Coober Pedy airfield. I am flying back south towards a very special place.

 

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And I'm getting some more desert !

 

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First waypoint is the small dirt strip of Ingomar YIGR in the middle of nowhere.

 

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I can only spot a few dirt tracks on the ground.

 

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I get in touch with the Woomera tower, because this lost place has an airfield with a 2375m asphalt runway and a controlled airspace ! I get clearance to land on the runway 18. Then it's taxi to the general aviation parking.

 

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The simple name Woomera, generally refers to an iconic Australian 'town' located in South Australia. In reality, 'Woomera' also refers to the wider 'Woomera Range Complex' (WRC), a huge Defence systems testing range covering an area of approximately 122,000 square kilometres (47,000 sq mi) (roughly an area the size of England).

 

Today, Woomera 'township' is in fact part of a new Australian Defence Force base (RAAF Base Woomera) which, along with the 'Woomera Test Range' (WTR), forms the larger entity known as the 'Woomera Range Complex' (WRC). 

 

Woomera Village (as it has always been known as) is a Defence owned and operated facility. Woomera Village is within a 'Green Zone' area of the WPA and thus public access to the facilities and services of Woomera, including the several museums located in this historic site is permitted year round.

 

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Visitors may also stay in the Defence operated 'Eldo Hotel', and there is a privately operated public caravan park at the entrance to Woomera Village.

 

The Eldo Hotel is historic. (‘Eldo’ is an acronym - European Launcher Development Organisation). It was the officers' mess when Woomera was a closed base. From the outside the main building looks like a 60s high school. Inside is a modern, cool restaurant and bar with a large balcony where you can have a 'sundowner' overlooking the desert. The accommodation at the Eldo Hotel allows you to experience a part of the life of the people who lived and worked here during the Cold War. It’s a time capsule.

 

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South Australia - Feb 11  - Back South

 

Woomera YPWR to Cleve YCEE

 

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Still nice weather, great visibility, 29° C at 10:00 and 12 knts of southerly wind as I leave Woomera. And there we go for a little over an hour flight, heading south using the GPS.

 

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The first part of the flight looks like the previous days : desert and salt lakes.

 

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Then later we start finding again some green.

 

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And finally real vegetation !

 

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I fly along Lake Gilles Conservation Park, glad to see some water !

 

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Flying over Kimba YIMB.

 

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The wind on the ground has turned to SW with 11 knts, I choose the main runway 26 in Cleve - 1347m asphalt.

 

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 Cleve is a small town ( 800 people ) on Central Eyre Peninsula. The town has its origins in the 1850s, with the town established some twenty years later. Cleve is a hub for farmers and suppliers on the Eyre Peninsula.

 

The landscape has been heavily modified since European settlement and now is predominantly farming land, with patches of native scrub in places. The Cleve Hills are a major topographical feature of the region and have areas of preserved vegetation in their bounds.

 

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A hotel with bikers in front must be a good place !

 

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South Australia - Feb 15  - Eyre Peninsula

 

Cleve YCEE to Cleve YCEE

 

On this Monday a discovery flight of the peninsula.

 

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This morning we have some broken clouds at 4500 ft, still some southerly breeze and an average visibility by the sea.

 

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First waypoint, the small airfield and town of Tumby Bay

 

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Further south, the airport and town of Port Lincoln

 

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After flying over Lincoln National Park, I reach Thistle Island

 

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I turn back to Cleve over the small strip at the end of the island

 

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And head back home along the nice cliffs

 

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On the way back, I fly over the islands group of the Sir Joseph Banks Group Conservation Park

 

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Tomorrow we'll be heading west !

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