After getting the airplane HF equipped and ready for the Pacific crossing we headed over to the east coast of Australia and the city of Cairns .
Pilots workload on the flight from Darwin……….
NOTE: the RPM indicator is not calibrated on the Ovation 3 for Garmin 1000; we have a separate RPM gauge so don't worry about the RED line indication.
We wanted to explore the gold coast and particularly the Area north of Cairns up to Port Douglas. Our plan was to spend several days in this area then fly down to Brisbane and Sydney before going over to Lord Howe island and then up to Norfolk.
This area on the northeast coast of Australia is an adventurous and beautiful location. After arriving and getting the airplane parked at Cairns International Airport we had some help from the staff of the Flying Doctor Air Service. Otherwise we would probably not have been able to even find our way out of the general aviation parking area which is awkwardly located on the other side of the airport property. One of the staff, who had just come off a flight, offered to drive us to the other side of the Airport to pick up our rental car. That was a big help as we were tired and no idea where to go once we tied down the airplane.
We headed north up the coastal highway to Port Douglas. The town was surprisingly busy and we had difficulty finding a hotel room. Eventually we were settled and off for a good night's sleep after a long day.
The next morning headed off to explore the rainforest. We joined the Jungle Surfing tour which we had discovered in a local brochure. On this adventurous expedition you swing through the jungle on cables and harnesses stopping at various observation platforms. It was 2 hours of fun as we observed the birds, vegetation and low level flight.
Lec flying through the jungle…….
Aerobatics anyone………
After a very enjoyable time in Port Douglas we started back to Cairns to prepare for the next day's flight Lord Howe. We arrived at the Airport by 8:00 am ready to go. While checking the weather we noticed there was now a revision showing potential thunderstorms in the area of Lord by our arrival time. Since the nearest alternate Airport was more than 300 miles away we decided not to fly. Instead we would stay in Cairns and do more exploring.
We booked a diving tour to the Great Barrier Reef . This turned out to be a wonderful idea. Although neither Lec nor I scuba dive we both enjoy snorkelling which we did for more than 5 hours; 60 miles offshore along the reef. The water was warm and clear. The ocean was alive and with many creatures and massive coral formations. When the time came to return to shore we did not want to go back.
Lec’s new underwater friend…
Norm, where is the shore?????
The extra time that we spent in Cairns meant that we would only have one day on Lord Howe and Norfolk islands. We felt that flying the extra 1000 miles just to visit the islands for one day did not make good sense. So again we revised our plans and decided to fly directly to the country of Vanuatu . It was unfortunate as now we had cancelled all of our southern Australia trip as well as to its islands. However we had to observe time limits that had been put on our insurance and needed to leave Australia before November 2.
Darwin to Cairns, Australia
