It rains in Australia

Our first overnight stop on our eight night tour of the outback was to be at Bindara Station. Over the last 7-10 days they've had about 20mm of rain at the Station and that's enough to make the clay airstrip sticky and unsafe. Further rain was forecast and Barb, Bindara's owner, was concerned we would get stuck there.

As our visit to Bindara was removed from our itinerary we elected to stay in Port Macquarie for two nights. This gave Dave & Don a chance to catch-up with friends and family and for us all to have a couple of good nights sleep after the long Norfolk Island to Port Maquarie flights.

The plan then became a day's flight from Port Macquarie to Narromine and Broken Hill for fuel and onto Arkaroola.  However, on waking on Saturday morning we found there was an upper level trough crossing our track from Port Macquarie to Narromine that would bring rain and severe turbulence.  We didn't fancy that sort of weather in an area none of us had flown in before so we opted to skirt the northern flank of this weather system and track northwest to Walgett for fuel and then onto Broken Hill.

After taking off from Port Macquarie a climb to 4,500ft is required to clear the Great Dividing Range. This range runs inland up the east coast of Australia and keeps most of the population on the coastal flats. As we passed to the north of Tamworrh we ran into the rain system associated with the trough and it was a tense 50nm as we flew through heavy rain showers under dark threatening skies. The flight planning software I use, Avplan, overlays a rain radar on the moving map so it was good to have my iPad handy and be able to see where the worst of the rain was and to be able to pick our way through it.

Walgett is a small country airfield and there was a few guys at the local aero club preparing to go flying when we arrived. They were most interested to hear about our adventures as we fuelled up.

The first half of the 3:05hr leg from Walgett to Broken Hill was tough. There were strong westerly headwinds (when will they ever go away) which made flying under the scattered 4,000ft cloud base bumpy and unpleasant. The ride was smooth above the cloud at 6,500 but the cloud was gradually thickening and I risked getting caught on top of cloud without being able to get down.  In the end the best place to be was between 500 - 1000ft above the ground where the headwinds were a bit lighter. It was still a bit turbulent at first but the view and proximity to the ground was worth it.

The rains over the last few weeks has made a stunning transformation to the country between Walgett and Broken Hill.  Substantial patches of lush green grass which are rare in inland Australia were prevalent and standing water could still be seen everywhere.  The ponds, natural areas of sand and sparse trees made it feel as if I was flying over a huge golf course.  Sheep in Australia must associate the noise of an aircraft with mustering and as we passed at a safe 500 - 1000ft above them they would scatter. Weird - New Zealand sheep rarely move even when you fly over them trying to clear them from an airstrip.

Dave has a friend in Broken Hill who is a Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) pilot and we spent an interesting hour looking at a Beech Kingair, its medical equipment and touring through the maintenance base. The work the RFDS does in the outback is amazing. It must be very satisfying being a pilot to be able to use your flying skills to help those in remote locations who are in need of medical help.  But landing on remote station airstrips at night only guided by flare pots would be a bit scary.

As we took up a northwest heading from Broken Hill to Arkaroola finally we've left the headwinds that have dogged us from Norfolk Island behind.  The short 1:08 flight to Arkaroola was under clear skies and over land that was still peppered with ponds of water from the rains.  I've flown over Lake Frome several times but have never seen much more than a couple of buckets of water in it.  On this occasion the lake was about 75% full of glassy calm water that reflected the clouds and it was impressive flying over this.

The northern Flinders Ranges is one of the most tectonically active landscapes in Australia.  Movements along faults as well as folding have resulted in the rugged ranges that host the Arkaroola wildlife and geological centre. The area is very rocky and stony and there is not a blade of grass to be seen anywhere.  However, apart from the sounds we humans introduce there's not a sound to be heard. It's great - I love it.