year after year to be an awesome
time of year for flying out here.
We had 18 days of blue skies last
year. Not a cloud. So I grabbed
our rooms for the night before, but
consequently had to then revise the
timing of the first two days of the
safari. This wasn’t a problem, but
what you absolutely need to do is
nail down your big stays (like any
two or three nighters) first. So in
this order, I locked in Kooljaman
at Cape Leveque, El Questro,
Katherine Gorge and Adels Grove,
as any lack of availability in the
middle of the itinerary is going
to screw things up big time.
Can I just add here that
Windorah that night was great.
Proud breeders and trainers
furtively uncovered their buckets
of thoroughbreds to show us
yabbies, quite obviously in peak
condition for tomorrow’s races;
the beer garden spilling out onto
the main street was buzzing with
atmosphere and as usual when
touring the outback, it was not
hard to crank up a conversation.
The caravan park was bursting
with dozens of grey nomad rigs –
tourism in the outback was alive
and well. OK it was their big week,
but this tiny Channel Country town
just had a wonderfully welcoming
feel about it.Spoilt for choice
All these places are worthy of a
stopover anytime, but if you’re
searching for some action, just
get hold of the schedule of events
surrounding the Birdsville Races and
you’ll have plenty to choose from.
Just about every country town has abig race day at least once a year and
the locals will be more than happy to
knock those city manners out of you
and give you an outback welcome
you won’t forget in a long time.
Trackside antics don’t stop with
horses, either. If humps are your
thing, you can catch some honking,
spitting, wild action at camel
races all over the outback during
winter at places like Alice Springs,
Winton, Capella, Richmond andBoulia. Not to be outdone, the opal
mining town of Lightning Ridge
in central NSW hosts the annual
Great Goat Race over Easter;
Broome’s the place for tropical crab
racing and SW QLD’s Eulo hosts
a damn fine lizard race outside the
pub if that’s more your style. Cane
toad racing is North Queensland ’s
specialty – knock yourself out. In
fact, Google anything you think
of – embarrassingly, it’s sure to be
on somewhere in this crazy country
of ours and you can bet there’s anairstrip there to welcome you in.
So you’re on your way. There’s
no doubt about it. Using a couple
of weeks of your annual leave to
go flying around our country is an
extremely inspired idea. Once you
clear the coastal ranges and start
heading towards red dirt territory,
the charts tend to get decreasingly
cluttered, the skies a lot bluer and the
radio a great deal quieter. You could
be excused for thinking you’re onholidays ... bring on the soundtrack
and pass the in-flight snacks. But
sometimes when you’re away on
safari, you need to keep all the balls
bouncing and do some actual work.War Games
Nothing puts a sharper little edge
to the cruisey mood of flying the
outback than when your day includes
calling in on our defence force.
We’d reached the Top End and
our little fleet of four aircraft was
now on its way across the Northern
Territory to Katherine Gorge. We’d
just spent two great nights at Adels
Grove, complete with its legendary
gorge kayaking, swimming and the
endless photographic delights that
the Lawn Hill National Park offers.
Every time I call in here, (this was my
sixth visit), the natural surface airstrip
and parking area seem to be in better
nick than the time before. It helps that
long time manager, Rod Low Mow, is
an aircraft owner himself and knows
how to keep his north Queensland
resort on the top of the list for visiting
pilots. He has a reliable source of
avgas too; just let him know what
you’ll need before you leave home.australianflying.com.au 23
March – April 2015 AUSTRALIAN FLYING“it’s sure to be on somewhere
in this crazy country of ours”