Diary of an aviation nut: And We're Off

Strapped in & ready to go, Pilot Pete & Co-Pilot Rob

We were at the Redcliffe airport (YRED) at 9:45am this morning and set about weighing everything and packing the aircraft. After a thorough pre-flight and a first brief for my pax, we set off on our trip at 11:00am.

North of Redcliffe we threaded our way past Caboolture and Caloundra airfields both of which are busy general aviation fields. Then we flew a VFR route to the west of Sunshine Coast airport. It was a busy first 30mins of our trip watching for other traffic and staying clear of airspace.

We enjoyed a good tailwind of 15 - 20 kts over our whole route to Agnes Waters and comfortably cruised at 1500 - 2000' under cloud inland of the coast. There were isolated showers over much of the first half of our leg - we dodged a few and flew through a few without difficulty.

At the base of Fraser Island we diverted from our planned track and flew 30nm up the east coast of Fraser Island - the largest sand island in the world at 1,840 km². Bruce was keen to see the wreck of the SS Maheno. His Grandfather was repatriated to New Zealand when it was a hospital ship in the first World War. In 1935 the ship was under tow to a ship breakers in Japan when the tow line snapped in a storm and The SS Maheno foundered on the coast of Fraser Island.

Leaving Fraser Island we crossed Hervey Bay and flew up a very pleasant coastline past Bundaberg and its sugar plantations before arriving overhead at Agnes Waters for our first overnight stop.

The Agnes Waters airstrip is a gently sloping airstrip cut from bush. Landings need to be made on Rwy 14 and takeoffs on Rwy 32 on account of the slope and rising terrain to the south.

Agnes Waters is a peaceful resort town with a lovely beach. Interestingly prior to COVID it had a population of ~2500. It's now swollen to >7,000 as people have fled the larger cities in search of less dense living a lifestyle built around remote working.

Leg Summary
Route: Redcliffe (YRED) - Agnes Waters (YAWT)
Planned distance: 202nm (374km)
Time: 2.1hrs
Alt: 1,500 - 2,000ft