Diary of an aviation nut: Up the East Coast

After a welcome two nights rest in Brisbane we were back at Archerfield airport for the beginning of the REALLY big trip counterclockwise around Australia.

Archerfield to Shute Harbour / Airlie Beach

While packing the aircraft, we were able to whistle down a passing Avgas tanker and our aircraft were refueled in the parking area which is a novelty for us Kiwi pilots.

We left Archerfield on Friday 3 July and even on a weekday morning it was busy. Two parallel runways operating with an air traffic controller dedicated to arrivals and departures for each runway and another providing taxi instructions for aircraft maneuvering on the ground.

With a clearance for a "Northern Departure" I was cleared for takeoff, after Andrew and John passed the end of the runway in ZK-LDY and I was off. The departure procedure holds you down at 1000' for the first 5 miles and it was bumpy and a bit unpleasant. Even when we were able to climb, it was still bumpy as we passed around Brisbane International Airport's airspace to the west.

The Australian air traffic system is very good. Brisbane Centre coordinates all air traffic outside controlled airspace in the northern half of the continent and Melbourne Centre takes care of aircraft in the south. If you file a flight plan and contact Brisbane Centre and request Flight Following, they will advise conflicting traffic and pass you from one controller to the next as your flight progresses. Once you're talking to a Centre, in busy airspace, it takes away the need to determine which airspace you're entering, what radio frequency you should be using and who you should be talking to.

The Centre controllers can be very busy, but as we progressed north there was sufficient time for one of the controllers to ask how we got our our "ZK" (New Zealand) registered aircraft to Australia. He was impressed when we told him we flew them across the Tasman.

The trip north up the East Coast past Hervey Bay and Bundaberg was nice.

We landed at Gladstone for fuel and a bit of lunch. To access the cafe in the terminal we had to pass through security. As we were the only people in a largely closed terminal we had a bit of banter with the security lady as Andrew and John tried to get knives they were carrying (to cut seatbelts if necessary) past her. She gladly held onto them while we were in the terminal but it was ironic that she gave them back when she knew we were walking out onto the apron and our aircraft.

Leaving Gladstone we were routed through Rockhampton and Mackay's airspace before descending and setting heading for the Whitsunday Islands. We descended to about 1,000–1,500 feet and wandered between the islands, taking in the scenery. With the sun sinking low, the light carved out every ridge and contour, making the islands look spectacular.

With our meandering around the Whitsundays complete, we joined for and landed at the beautiful Shute Harbour Airpark. This is a beautifully manicured airport with lovely hangar homes lining the runway. I could live there very easily.

Shute Harbour to Karumba

We'd had to rethink the second day of our trip but it all turned out for the better.

We were planning to overnight at Burketown but found the runway was being torn up and re-sealed. Over breakfast at Shute Harbour's Hangar Cafe we re-worked our plan and decided to head for Karumba on the east side of the Gulf of Carpentaria. You've got to be flexible on these trips.

As we planned our route to Karumba, we found our track passed over a little airfield called Pinnarendi (YPNA). Looking into that, it seemed they had a cafe and was about halfway to Karumba so it was a good spot to pop into for a coffee. After a call to the Pinnarendi Cafe to check on the airstrip conditions, we were off.

Climbing to 8500' we were cleared over the busy civil/military Townsville airspace and tracked NW across the Great Dividing Range to Pinnarendi. It always cracks me up that the mighty “Great Dividing Range” tops out at under 3,500 feet. In New Zealand we call that “a gentle rise in the lawn.” We routinely fly over hills that would give Australians altitude sickness.

Pinnarendi was our first taste of the outback on this trip and was great. Very remote and Australian red dust coating everything. The coffee and toasted sandwiches were great.

Leaving Pinnarendi we tracked over largely barren and featureless terrain. Looking down and trying to identify the stations, wells and roads shown on the chart passes the time. And I always have music playing quietly in the background when not taking off or landing.

In the early afternoon it was hot and bumpy, but at 8500' the ride was sweet. But what goes up must come down and the descent into Karumba through convective turbulence was a bit wild in parts.

We were followed into Karumba by Allan & Sandy who were also on a tour and we spent a pleasant time over dinner with them swapping flying stories and places to visit.