July. August 109William Creek’s famed
hotel is an essential comfort
stop along the dry and dusty
Oodnadatta Track in SA.
We have the use of a couple of eight-seater fixed-wing
aircraft, GippsAero GA8 Airvans. Affectionately nicknamed
f lying bricks, each has a large sliding door that can be
pulled back during f light for an uninterrupted view of the
landscape below.
Everyone’s excited about the photographic possibilities
offered by the rising waters, but on the first day we f ly off
in the opposite direction, to photograph a recently discov-
ered geological marvel – the Painted Hills – in the late
afternoon light. The strange, Martian-looking landscape,
daubed with strokes of ochre, yellow and red from minerals
leaching from the rocks, rises up from the otherwise f lat
gibber- and claypan-studded plain on the vast Anna Creek
cattle station. It’s not accessible to the general public by road
but it’s possible to f ly in from William Creek and land on
a recently constructed airstrip to explore the area on foot,
or simply enjoy from a scenic f light.
Canon tutor Steve Huddy has advised us on the camera
settings best suited to a low-altitude f lightpath over the
fast-moving scene in rapidly changing light. We reset our
cameras accordingly (see page 111 for advice) before strapping
in for take-off. During the f light we take turns rotating
around the aircraft to sit in the hot seat next to the open
door for an unimpeded view of the drama.
Everyone here is a dyed-in-the-wool Canon devotee, me
included. Today I’ve agreed to try out a new Canon camera
system but I’m a little nervous. I know my way around myThis airvan is moved into
position for take-o
on the
recently built airstrip at the
Painted Hills.