Friends take flight for ultimate 10,000km aircraft adventure
By Deanne Jeffers
TOURING the country is often regarded as the “Great Australian Dream,” with many thousands of Aussies heading out with their caravan or four-wheel drive to see the outback.
This week, a group of locals are embarking on a similar Big Lap of their own, except instead of taking to the wide-open road, they are flying light aircraft through the big blue skies.
Paul Phillips and Neil Campbell departed Wahring Field on Monday in a Cessna 182 Skylane, heading for Stonehenge, Queensland. From there, they will continue to Dunmurra in the Northern Territory, where they will meet Andrew and Sharon Clement, who left Wahring on Saturday in their Victa Airtourer and have travelled via White Cliffs in central New South Wales as part of their own detour.
Over the next two weeks, the group will cover significant ground, ultimately ending up in Perth.
Along the way they will stop at Halls Creek, Kununurra, Talbot Bay and Broome, where they will meet friends from Shepparton for the next stage of the journey. They will then continue to Karratha, Onslow, Coral Bay, Carnarvon, Kalbarri and Geraldton before arriving in Perth to meet family for further adventures.
“The original objective was simply to get to Coral Bay to visit a friend I haven’t seen in more than 50 years,” Mr Phillips said. “We also have friends from Shepparton meeting us in Broome, and from there will be four of us in the 182 for the next stage of the journey.”
Mr Phillips said the group planned the trip for April to make the most of favourable winds, with a strong tailwind expected for much of the journey.
“There was a chance we weren’t going to be able to do the trip though,” he said. “Cyclone Narelle, which affected areas like Onslow and Exmouth, almost stopped it from happening. At one stage, the eye of the cyclone was right over Coral Bay. We’re fortunate that should no longer be a problem for our trip.”
Highlights along the way include visiting the famed Wolfe Creek Crater, the Bungle Bungles, Horizontal Falls, Lake Argyle, swimming with whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, a fishing charter at Kalbarri, and flying east to west over the Tanami Desert.
Mr Phillips said they expect to complete around 55 to 60 hours of flying in total, spread across 12 flying days, with two additional days allowed for weather or diversions.
“We’ll fly for three days, then take a rest day, then fly another three days before another break,” he said. “We’ve allowed longer stopovers in places like Coral Bay so we can take our time and enjoy it.”
The Clements also plan to diverge from the main group at points to explore additional destinations, including White Cliffs in central New South Wales. Neil Campbell will meet his wife Wendy and daughter Nicole in Perth to explore southern regions of Western Australia before returning the Cessna 182 home.
The group will cover an estimated 5,000 to 6,200 nautical miles, which is around 10,000 kilometres, over the course of the two-week journey, flying across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia before returning to Victoria via South Australia.
