Recently the call came through from Arnhem Land to say they needed an aircraft ferrying up from Mareeba, so with the students being scheduled for lessons in basic instrument flying (which I can't teach yet), it was the perfect excuse to fly a plane myself for a day. A very long day, in fact - 7.5 hrs in the air...
Although I've flown the route a couple of times before, there were some different wet season sights. The salt flats between Normanton and Burketown, in particular, looked very different as this time they were covered with water. I opted to fly at 6500 ft most of the way as it was above most of the cloud and provided cooler temperatures for me and the engine (not to mention a slight tailwind at times). As the day progressed there was more and more cloud build-up, which meant I had to divert around it, which was good practise for decision-making and in-flight calculations. Interestingly, these deviations only affected my ETA by a couple of minutes (on a 2.5+ hr leg)!
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Early morning pre-flight inspection, Mareeba
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White fluffies on the way to Normanton
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Cloud reflections in the water on the salt flats
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Big leaky clouds on my direct track. I opted to deviate to the right
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Towering cumulus
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The obligatory selfie!
Cargo this time included 60 kg of metal signs (strapped down)
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A double rainbow on descent to Borroloola
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Limmen Bight River
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Afternoon tea...
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One final towering cumulus to fly around before landing at Gove
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