Aus trip suggestions..
 

Folks,

I'm in the early stages of contemplating a 'big trip'. Something along the broad lines of: Melbourne - adelaide - up the middle of aus (maybe not all the way to the top?), hang a right, and back down the E coast to melbourne. Probably in something like a 172.

Would be very interested in advice, hints, tips, places to go (and to avoid), fuel etc. Intend to take in the rock, and at least some of the reef, but otherwise open to the collective wisdom..

Cheers :ok:

are you doing it as hour building for a CPL or just for S**ts and Giggles?

Bit of both - does it make a difference?

Don't know whether i'll go CPL yet, and if I do it will most likely be JAA back in pommieland; I'm liable to be 'repatriated' in the not too distant, wanted to do something special before I go, and get past the magical 150hrs required to start the jaa modular course in the process.

If it was for hourbuilding with the idea of getting a commercial job, I would suggest going to all the places where there are operators that might give you a job. Just drop in, say G'day and let them know you are intersted in having a chance of an interview once you have the licence. They might even give you a bit of local advice as well. Most guys I have met through they years have always been more than helpful.

If It was purely for pleasure, It would be well worth your while to go all the way to the top end of the NT. Darwhine and Jabiru are great launchpads for Litchfield and Kakadu national parks respectively. If you are heading up around the wetseason, take yourself for a scenic flight over Jim Jim and Twin falls, just south of YJAB.

The flying over outback QLD is remarkable, and if you have a bit of time, do a bit of island hopping along the east coast. Plenty of stuff to see and do along the way.

Hope this helps mate, Fly safe, and dont forget all your emergency equipment if you are travelling through a designated remote area. Aus can be a bitch when she wants:ok:

Great idea, go for it, take some friends, camp under the wing where you can, take lots of photos and videos :ok:

I did a trip around the continent last year with a group of like-minded pilots, and it was one of the best experiences ever! The variety of sceneries, people, and experiences is awesome, something you won't forget!

If you have the time and money, do the whole lot and go through the Nullabor and over to the Kimberley's, which is probably the top spot scenery-wise from the air, together with the Whitsundays. Up the top coast, some great coastline to fly over there, down to the Rock, over to the East Coast with all its variety, not least some dense airspace to navigate. Don't miss flying over the Reef and into Chute Harbour -- fantastic spot! On the way down the coast, fly over Mount Kosciuszko if the weather allows, can't beat it!

Invest in a GPS at least as a backup, some of the legs will be over featureless terrain and will be very difficult to navigate visually. Try, however, to do exactly that on some of the longer legs, the training effect will be great!

Make sure to be prudent and plan properly, there will be fuel critical legs, and don't be silly, log flight plans, especially if you haven't got anyone else flying with you. Take enough water, an EPIRB/ELT and a NextG phone. If you have the dough, get a laptop/tablet PC with AirNav software, saves you hauling around all those maps and gives you a (backup) moving map GPS, that way you can also get up to date weather and radar pictures on the go.

If you have an ADF, take a list of ABC frequencies (PM me for the one I compiled a little while back if you like) so you can listen to news and sports on the long legs.

That's my 2c off the top of the head :}

The Birdsville Races are on September 4 - 5th and are a fairly unique Australian icon, if the dates suit you. Birdsville's close to the border of Qld and SA.

www.pbase.com/uli1/birdsville2003

Wilpena Pound, SA. Nice place, Excellent aviators up there too.

Aus trip suggestions..
 

Nelson-west coast-Fox Glacier-Haast-Wanaka-Queenstown-Mt Cook-Christchurch-Kaikoura-Nelson....:ok:

Adels Grove / Lawn Hill Gorge is an ideal stop over, you fly right into the joint, the woner is a pilot and they will look after you!

Best thing you can do before going back to the penal colony!:}

Good suggestion Lineboy, after all, it should be ours anyway, seeing as half of you are over here :) :ok:

Seen this?

YouTube - Australia - Invade New Zealand Tv Ad

Classic!

j3

P.S. I think some of the most beautiful coastline is from Gladstone, to Newcastle, so you've got to do some of that, at 500'

Make sure you stop at Arkaroola, Flinders Rangers. It's very aviation friendly!

Coffs Harbour are very friendly to :ugh:

Why not form a 'team' and enter the RFDS Outback Air Race? There should be one coming up soon. You can get sponsors to help cover the cost of the plane, and then work on donations for the RFDS.

We did it in 1998 from Alice Springs to Broome via Darwin (and obviously had to go Perth - Alice Springs to get the plane there) and it was a wonderful experience, with the added safety of having 30 light planes nearby for the remote bits.

We did Perth - Sydney - Melbourne - Adelaide - Perth the year before, and as long as you be mindful of the weather and don't go with the 'must get there because accom is booked' philosophy that nearly overwhelmed us, you'll have a blast - wherever you go.

Horizontal waterfalls near Derby WA is magic as well as Jabiru & Bungle Bungles as previously mentioned.

Enjoy! I'm jealous...:D

Matt

Here's the file with the ABC frequencies, compiled a few months back from the various pages of the ABC web site:

abc_am_freq_copy.docx - FileFactory

Or as a text file if you haven't got Word2007:

abc_am_freq_copy.txt - FileFactory

:ok:

All the AM broadcast frequencies (not just ABC) are in ERSA together with station lat/long.

So you have a reason to have them dialed up.

If you don't want it to be TOO big.

One suggestion would be Melb - Cobar - Lightning Ridge - Birdsville - then to Coffs Harbour - and down the coat to Moruya - Merimbula - home.

But maybe just get an atlas and dream. How much money do you have becomes the crucial issue.

If your going soon, check out Lake Eyre. Along with Mt Dare SA, Birdsville and the Whitsundays. :ok:

Deaf, thanks, it's always surprising what you can find in ERSA :}

It's in NAV/COM 3 just before EMERG..

Forget the rest!
 

Boulia Camel Races, 3rd weekend in July

I'd look at staying at some of the statioins that have B&B facility such as Wirraminna or My Ive in SA