VH-MFM, one of the GA8s flying in Timor Leste, has been in Mareeba for 4 weeks or so having an engine change. Since it was due to be flown back around the same time that I was supposed to fly in, I was able to hitch a ride, gain some experience, and save MAF about $1000 on an airline ticket.
We ended up spending two nights in Darwin in a quarantine hotel at the airport - waiting for additional permissions to get sorted at the Timor end for us to bring the aircraft in. Thankfully they came through on a day when the weather was good enough to get across the Timor Sea.
Here are some pictures from the trip:
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Not too many pictures from Mareeba to Normanton to Burketown,
but at Borroloola we saw two brolgas (or should that be brolgae?)
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Arnhem Land escarpment, Kakadu National Park
(where I would be on holiday right now if it were not for Covid...)
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Maintenance check on arrival in Darwin
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Last view of Darwin
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First view of Timor Leste (after 2.5 hrs of flying over water)
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Viqueque airstrip - one of our regular destinations
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Flying into Dili from the east
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MAF Timor Leste's newest relief pilot
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Settling into the new digs with a cook-up
(makes a change from room service!)
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