Arnhem Land ferry flight

Yesterday I got to do another ferry flight to Arnhem Land, this time in GA8 VH-MQO. This aircraft had previously been based in Timor Leste so it was nice to 'complete the set' and add its rego to my pilot logbook!

As usual, although the route was the same as previous flights, the views and weather were different. Last time I had to make some fairly significant deviations around towering cumulus; this time I nearly went blind looking for a cloud! (They don't call it the dry season for nothing, I guess.)

My trusty steed

150 kg of rather bulky cargo

View out the right window

View out the left window

Dendritic patterns in the salt flats

Flying lower gives a completely different view

Limmen Bight River

Until the last 45 minutes approaching Gove,
these were the most clouds I had seen all day!

Walsh's Pyramid (again)

Walsh's Pyramid was the first day walk I did on arriving in Cairns just over two years ago, and it has been on my bucket list to do again before I leave. Somehow I convinced three of the students to give it a go last Saturday.

Drone shot of Walsh's Pyramid (courtesy of Jacob)

An expansive view from the summit

The obligatory attempt at a group picture -
not great with the shadows!

Ethan, Joe and Jacob enjoy the view to the south

Scrambling back down

Training flights

In the final stages of the students' PPL (private pilot licence) training we have been teaching them navigation skills and techniques, which means we've been venturing a bit further afield. Here are some photos I took along the way...

Rainbow en route from Port Douglas to Cairns

Cropduster being loaded at Tully aerodrome

Departing Cairns airport

Flying towards Cairns from the south.
(Walsh's Pyramid is on the left)

Andy Little congratulates the students on passing their PPLs

Blood supermoon at Mareeba

Here's the view of tonight's blood supermoon from Mareeba. Although it was raining on and off during the day, the night sky was clear, so after tennis I drove a short distance out of town to get away from the street lights and try to capture some photos...

An astronomical event!

A weekend camping at Lake Tinaroo

Last weekend I thought I'd take another mini-break and go camping. Lake Tinaroo has a number of campgrounds available, all by the water. It's only half-an-hour's drive from Mareeba, which on the one hand is convenient because it meant I could head out there straight from church after-school kids' club on Friday and spend two nights; but on the other can feel a bit too much of an effort to go somewhere that close to home. I needn't have worried about the latter as the scenery was so different it felt like I was much further away.

I chose to stay at the Kauri Creek campground - not too far to drive on an unsealed road, no generators allowed (so I thought it should be quieter, although several groups of people were playing music until well after dark on the Saturday night). There were also a couple of decent length bush walks that started at the campground - I did one on Saturday and one on Sunday.

The rest of the time was spent reading books, playing solitaire, and doing some Tok Pisin course revision.

Unfortunately my camera batteries were flat, so I had to use my cheap phone to take photos.

Early morning view from my tent

The elusive Ulysses butterfly!

Huge palms on the Jungaljungal bush walk

Crossing Kauri Creek

Wet feet

My campsite

Windin Falls flight

Last week I was asked to take an Airvan for an engine run flight. 'Go anywhere you like,' I was told. 'The engine needs to run at cruise power for about half an hour.'

Rather than just fly in circles around the airport, I thought I would take some of the students along as a bit of a treat. I was also keen to get some photos of Windin Falls from the air - especially given that it was within 15 minutes' flying time of Mareeba!

Tinaroo dam

I got to fly from the left hand seat for a change

Our shadow

Windin Falls

Arriving back at Mareeba airport

A weekend in Daintree

Daintree National Park was the destination for my second weekend 'mini-break', exploring a bit further afield from Mareeba. Being school holidays, there was no Friday afternoon kids' club at church. So on my most recent fortnightly Friday off work, I hit the road for a 2.5 day weekend 'where the rainforest meets the reef'.

Friday

About 1.5 hrs drive north of Mareeba is the Daintree river, which can only be crossed by car ferry - there is no bridge. The river is also home to many crocodiles and there are a range of options of boat tour companies who will take you for a cruise to go looking for them. I opted to take a one hour cruise with Bruce Belcher's outfit, which actually turned out to be more like 1.5 hrs. Initially I was a bit disappointed to find that the boat was reasonably full as there was a tour group of about 10 people who were on a day trip from Cairns, but they disembarked on the other side of the river, leaving a family of four and me on the boat for the return journey. Going out we had seen a couple of baby crocodiles and the snout and eyes of their mother in the water, but on the return we saw some more that had come ashore to bask in the sun.

'Lizzy' the basking crocodile

Daintree river ferry

After crossing the river (sitting in my car, on a boat - a weird feeling) I drove to check in at Lync Haven and then continued on to Cape Tribulation. I had booked a night wildlife walk so intended to while away the time with a few shorter walks in the area before having wood-fired pizza at the Cape Trib campground for dinner. Unfortunately the only wildlife we saw on the night walk was of the arachnid or sleeping bird variety, so that was a little disappointing, but then if you want animals to be in a predictable location you should visit a zoo instead.

Horse riders on the beach

Saturday

I hit the road early on Saturday in order to embark on the Mt Sorrow trail before the day got too hot. Even though the temperatures were cooler as I climbed, and there was a refreshing breeze at times, I was still completely drenched in my own sweat well before reaching the summit. Although the views were amazing I was somewhat distracted by the many many leeches that were all trying (unsuccessfully, thanks to my choice of clothing and deft ability to remove them) to make a meal out of me. I grabbed a few photos and then retreated back down the track to a leech-free area to have my lunch.

Alternative Mt Sorrow lookout point
(the one the signs say not to go to)

Amusing defaced road signs
(click picture for higher resolution)

Sunday

After my big walk on Saturday, I took Sunday morning at a leisurely pace - checking out at 9:30 and driving up the road a bit to do another short walk through the mangroves, before driving back south. I stopped at Thornton Beach on the way. Re-crossing the river, I picked up some lunch in Mossman and got back to Mareeba in plenty of time to get ready for afternoon church.

Mangrove reflections

Thornton Beach

Critters (not previously seen on this blog!)

Mud crab in the mangroves

Sand crabs making spitballs

A real life cassowary and chick

Black slug seen on the Mt Sorrow walk

Pet carpet python at Lync Haven

Spectacled flying foxes (fruit bats)
Unfortunately I couldn't see that none of them were facing
the camera when I took the photo...