It’s not supposed to happen here - diversion due weather

Mornington Wilderness Camp has limited internet connectivity so it was difficult to peruse the weather forecast for our comparatively short, 224nm (414km) flight to Broome.  That wasn’t really a problem as the sky was blue, there wasn’t a breath of wind and we knew we could get mobile internet coverage about 30 mins into our flight.

Off we went, picked up the weather and filed a flight plan in flight which was necessary as Broome is a controlled airfield.  The technology and resources we have available in our AvPlan flight planning software which Simon and I run on our iPads is amazing.

As we proceeded we regularly checked the METAR which provides the actual weather conditions at an airfield and is issued every 30 mins.  The first METAR we saw mentioned there was sea fog rolling in to the airport.  A SPECI was issued shortly after.  SPECIs are issued within the validity period of a METAR if the weather conditions change significantly.  The SPECI indicated the fog had arrived and that was shortly followed by advice on the Brisbane Centre area radio frequency (which is an information service over the northern half of Australia) that Broome was accepting instrument approaches only.  Oh oh - we can't do one of those 😧

At that stage we were about 145nm and 1.25hrs from Broome.  If we decided to proceed, hold and then have to divert to Derby we’d be getting low on fuel so it was a no-brainer decision to divert to Derby, fuel up and sit there until the fog cleared.

As it happened, the fog was short-lived and it would’ve been clear by the time we arrived in Broome.  However, once you’ve made a plan you stick to it.

We had about 30mins on the ground in Derby, fueled up, checked the weather again and set off for Broome to arrive in clear blue skies.

I was last in Broome in 2007 and it's changed a lot since then.  It's gone a bit up-market and now there’s lovely homes where previously there was just scrub.  The main street is now full of swanky pearl shops as Broome and the Dampier Peninsular is the heart of Australia's pearl industry.  We did a quick lap around the shops (not our scene) and then found a nice boutique brewery.  The things you have to do while on holiday ...

I’m not sure if I’ll enjoy it here - Cable Beach Club Resort & Spa

Beautiful Cable Beach

Sunset over Cable Beach