All the way North

I love flying in Australia and, since 2004, have criss-crossed the continent on 9 flying trips with friends and family.  As the following image shows, there's not many areas I haven't flown over or near - but there is one and I'm about to tackle that.

The Australian outback and its vast emptiness fascinates me and is what keeps me coming back to fly in Australia.  For that reason I've always preferred flying in the interior of the continent rather than the populated "J curve" on the east coast.  However, the time is now right to explore the north-eastern part of the continent and top tourist destinations like the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands.

Good friends and aviation enthusiasts (but non-pilots) Bruce Kirkland and Rob Buckley have followed my past flying trips with interest and have always expressed a willingness to join me.  When I asked them in mid-2022 if they wanted to join me on this trip, they both enthusiastically agreed.

Peter, Ted, Bruce & Rob (cuddly Ted was left behind)

We're hiring Cessna 182, VH-DXJ and will be departing from Redcliffe (YRED) on the north side of Brisbane and flying up the east coast all the way to Cape York which is the northernmost point of the Australian continent.  In fact, we're actually flying off the top of the continent and staying overnight on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.  We'll then head south town the western side of the Cape York Peninsular and into the outback on the western border of Queensland before heading east and back to Redcliffe.  Our route is shown below: 

Planned Route 6 - 17 August 2023

While on this trip I'll update this blog for those of you who are interested to follow me.