Diary of an aviation nut: I love the Kimberley

We had a gorgeous flight today over one of my favourite places to fly - the remote and insanely beautiful Kimberley Coast. Setting off from Kununurra about 9.30am we flew to the head of Prince Regent Gorge in smooth and clear flying conditions. It’s very remote in this part of the world and there are few stations and roads. As we flew down the Gorge we slowly let down to 1,000ft as the Gorge widened out.

A turn SW then had us tracking along the edge of the Bonaparte and Buccaneer Archipelagos over the numerous small islands and beautiful sandy beaches. The sea is a pale azure colour and, where there’s exposed rocky outcrops, you can really see the tide running. The tidal fall is 11m in these parts and the currents can be treacherous.

We landed at Derby and immediately encountered a serious problem. We’re being transported by float plane out to the Horizontal Falls this afternoon for a night on their floating accommodation and have just realised you can't purchase alcohol there. One of our party was quickly dispatched into town in a taxi with a shopping list while the rest of us prepared to hold the plane up until he returned. Phew - that was close!

Leg Summary:

Route: Longreach (YLRE) - Derby (YDBY)

Distance: 386nm (715km)

Time: 3.2hrs

Alt: 1,000 - 4,500ft