Foiled by weather, Temora & Parkes

In 2005, I attended an aircraft safe handling course run in Stawell, Victoria.  Graeme Boatman ran the course and is one of the best instructors I've flown with.  Graeme really put me through the wringer and I learnt heaps.

Graeme's business also ran flying tours throughout Australia that were organised by Val Kennedy.  Val's an expert herder of cats, ie; pilots with differing levels of experience, their partners and/or friends all of whom think they know best.  Val and her husband John have become good friends and I've had many flying holidays with them in Australia and they've been brave enough to visit and fly with me in New Zealand on several occasions.  Between Graeme, Val & John they've taught me most of what I know about flying in Australia.

My intention was to visit them in Stawell which is about 1.5hrs flying east of Adelaide.  However, the weather had different plans.  Stawell and the alternate airfields within a reasonable driving time had been fog-bound for days, and the day I wanted to get to Stawell was no different.  After many phone calls during the morning we agreed if the low cloud didn't lift by 1pm I'd have to bypass Stawell and head further north.

1pm came and the weather reports, cameras and Val & John's reports all conspired against me and precluded a visit to Stawell.  Bugger - I was looking forward to catching up with them all.

I decided to head NE to Mildura to overnight on my own.  Val took pity on me and arranged for some people she knows in Mildura to collect me from the airport and I had a pleasant evening with them which was better than staring at the walls of a motel room on my own.

Temora

Andrew & John had made it to Parkes the day before and decided to fly south about 50nm (93km) to have a look at the Temora Aviation Museum.  My intention was to meet them in Parkes later in the day.  However, when I was midway between on my flight to Parkes they told me there was no cafe at Parkes airport and there was a particularly good one in the Temora museum.  I was gagging for a coffee so their update sealed it - I diverted to Temora!

After meeting Andrew & John, we wandered around the museum and had a good look.  Almost all of the aircraft in the museum are airworthy and are meticulously looked after.  As good as the aircraft are, the whole place is a bit sterile.  I think our Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in New Zealand is better as the aircraft are staged in life-sized dioramas with appropriate props which put them and their history in context.

Parkes Radio Telescope 

We flew back to Parkes together and then drove out to the Parkes Radio Telescope.

Built in 1961, this 64m diameter telescope played an important role in Apollo 11's moon landing as it received the video feed of Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon.  The 2000 historical comedy-drama film "The Dish" is a good watch and tells the story of the telescope's role in relaying the live television feed of the first steps on the Moon.  

Since being built, the telescopes technology has been upgraded multiple times and it still plays an important part in space exploration and research.  The visitor centre associated with the telescope is very interesting.

While there we saw the huge telescope dish move several times which was cool to see.