Amongst the most memorable
are Barb at Bindara Station
on the Darling, Ross and Jane
Fargher at the Prairie pub at
Parachilna, Pleun and Hennie
at the Lily Dutch Windmill, Di
Williams at Lake Paika, crazy
Roy on Haggerstone Island, Rob
at Rylstone, Neil at Merimbula,
the Creed family at the Old
Station, Raglan and all the hard-
working hosts of the Outback
Beds f ly-in stations.
If you’re looking for high end
hospitality, it’s out there in spades.
Steep accommodation rates in our
outback are not uncommon and
don’t always mean ultimate luxury.
They often ref lect the remoteness
of the location, which means that
stocking the place with beds,
gourmet food, vehicles, equipment
and staff costs a bomb. But,
hand on heart, I am yet to come
across any place where I have not
considered the high prices worth
it. My favourites: Faraway Bay
(WA), Kimberley Coastal Camp,
Bamurru Plains (Kakadu) and
Haggerstone Island (far NQ ).
Not in the eye-watering cost
bracket but absolutely on my
favourites list: Three Hummock
Island (Bass Strait), Cape
Leveque, Wooleen Station, The
Lily Dutch Windmill and Dirk
Hartog Island (all in WA), Forrest
(Nullarbor), Strahan (Tassie),Adels Grove (far NW Qld),
Arkaroola (SA), Katherine Gorge
and Kings Creek Station (NT).
And I love calling in to these
wonderful towns across this big
old country of ours: Winton,
Hungerford, Longreach,
Windorah, Birdsville,
Cooktown, (all in Qld), Loxton
SA, Orbost, Vic, Margaret
River. There are more, so many
more, but I have already filled
these pages with their stories
over the years, and you’ll find
most of them on my website
(f lyingtheoutback.com.au).
So, grab the Princess, grab
the bloke, headlock your mates- whatever it takes ... I urge you
to get out there and try out some
places for yourself. It’s taken a
lot of time and study to get your
pilot’s licence; use it!
Don’t be a hero
Perhaps you’re lacking confidence
about heading out on your own.
Feeling nervous? I’ll give you
nervous. For the first few years of
my f lying, I’d stress out something
shocking before I’d go f lying. God
only knows what catastrophe I
figured was about to be unleashed
as soon as I got airborne, but I was
headed for those Pearly Gates, no
doubt about it.
Driving out to the airport, I’d
busy myself rehearsing checklists.AUSTRALIAN FLYING July – August 201820 Destinations australianflying.com.au
boys who proceeded
to cook up a storm
for our dinner. It was
a sight to behold.
From juggling demon
GPWT charts and
max cross-wind
components that
morning, to expertly
coaxing thickened
cream into soft peaks
that afternoon,
the boys took it all
in their stride.
Nearing wine
o’clock, we loaded
up the cars and
headed through four
paddock gates to set
up in Jenny’s winery,
Maygar’s Hill. And
here, amongst the
vines of shiraz and cab sauv
grapes, we passed an incredible
night of joy and friendship,
completely unexpected a day ago.Stars of my
bucket list
And this is why I keep f lying.
I know I go on about it, but it’s
so much about the people. We
all know the landscape around
Australia can be breathtaking
when seen from the air. But it’s
the people you meet along the way
that bring out the true soul of this
country. I want to leave you with
my favourite f ly-in destinations,
and I find I’m drawn back to
places primarily because of the
hosts who we meet there.and C were discussed for various
weather scenarios.
Outside, that windsock was
starting to strain at the leash, and
the incoming clouds were taking
on a kind of warhead mentality.
Low, grey and accompanied by
plenty of mates. Maybe this front
was indeed going to be as bad as
forecast. The clocks ticked over to
our go-or-no-go decision time.
In the end, it was a no-brainer
to abandon the day’s f lying, and
stay another night exactly where
we were. But this is the thing, you
know. We had an enormous bag
of reasons why we’d have all loved
to keep on going on our planned
itinerary, but we just had to shelve
the get-there-itis and think safety
and more safety.Plan B
Once we’d made our decision to
spend another night in Euroa,
there was unanimous agreement,
and quite frankly, tangible relief.
One phone call later, we were
swept up in the whirlwind of
energy and hospitality that is one
Jenny Houghton – local pilot,
winemaker, and all round best
mate to have when in a crisis.
Within five minutes, Jenny and
her husband Ian had everyone
sorted for the next 24 hours with
beds (half at their place, half in the
winery cottage where, by the way,
you can stay too), food and cars.
Three of us were thrown the car
keys to go food shopping. Jenny
then handed over her kitchen to
Sling pilot Kate and four of the“ In the end, it was a no-brainer
to abandon the day’s lying ...”
Curtis Aviation’s workhorse C182 looking right at home over the Territory.Grounded by bad weather at Euroa, the girls are devastated. L-R: SR,
Catherine Fitzsimons, Kate Porges, Jenny Houghton, Kate Shilling.