Yeah, my "
Good luck with that" was sincere, with just a touch of sarcasm for reality!
I actually hired a C185 a couple of times from a flying school in SE Qld.
As my old log book just happened to be sitting on my desk beside the puter, I looked it up.
PPL with 308 hrs total at the time! 40 hrs on tail draggers with about half of that on C180/185.
But that was 1980 - back in the days before someone decided that you need to be endorsed on the Space Shuttle before you can handle anything more complex than a 172!
Can't say I have ever seen a 180/185 available for private hire since - in Oz or NZ!
Interestingly, the C185 I hired (VH-IVG) is still going strong - last see by me in Cairns a couple of years ago - wearing BIG tundra tires.
I have flown five other C180/185s:
C180
VH-SDA - was privately owned in 1980 - now in the Seventh Day Adventist Museum
C185
VH-CJT - now dropping meat bombs in NZ - arrived there via a stint on the ice in Antarctica.
VH-IQS - still on the register, operating in Nth Qld
VH-KFT - rolled up in a ball! (No, not by me!)
VH-KGT - (KFTs identical twin) - also now on meat bombing duties in NZ, I believe!