Lake Eyre Adventure 2010

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Lake Eyre Adventure 2010 - Day 1

Wednesday, 28 July 2010 13:44

0700 hrs local
Minus three
Calm
Fogged-in to less than 100m vis
Not a promising start to the flight on day one for myself and four photographers trekking to Lake Eyre in a Cessna 206.

Arriving at the hangar after an exorbitant wait at Canberra Airport to gain access (security have to be called to let people in), the freezing conditions tested our resolve as we loaded the aircraft. Fortunately the aircraft is hangared so an engine start in those conditions allowed me to warm her up and taxi out to the apron – hidden somewhere in the fog.

The excitement of where we were headed that day managed to keep our spirits up, and as the fog started to break up, we did some window de-icing and cleaning, de-icing of the prop, wings and tail plane, and then fired up the engine for the second time as ATIS advised the ambient temperate had warmed up to minus two.

Choosing up to a couple knots of downwind in the variable conditions allowed a take off into clear sky and to get above the fog that is so prevalent in Canberra this time of year. Within a few minutes we were clear of the low lying fog which turned out to be quite pretty and only a couple hundred ft thick. Passing Wee Jasper the conditions continued to improve and I navigated out of the ACT via Wagga and Hay onto Mildura (VIC) for our first fuel stop. That leg presented us a demonstration of the amount of rain that had fallen in the past week through NSW, with flooded areas around Hay in particular displaying an amazing array or patterns on the landscape.

Mildura is not easy to miss, and the runways are great. Just on 3.6 hours after departing we touched down in Victoria with big grins as we realised how far we had come and how much more we were going to see. The temperature was still cold with a SW’ly breeze, so toilet breaks, hot chocolate and escaping into the terminal was the preferred course for the passengers.

I refuelled with 205 litres and we prepared for a departure to Arkaroola. There was a front approaching from the SW which threatened to prevent access into Arkaroola airstrip, so I was keen to get some miles underway. Thunderstorms and low cloud were part of the forecast, so Broken Hill was kept as an alternate and was away from the impending weather. Due to the forecast and murky horizon we opted to skip the scenic flight over the southern end of the Flinders Ranges and Wilpena Pound, and just track direct to Arkaroola. This track took us to within coo-ee of Broken Hill (< 45nm) so that was a good “out” to have up my sleeve should the weather close in early.

But keeping an eye out front and either side of track I could see the horizon well into the distance, so achieving Arkaroola was likely. Good thing too as we were now flying over remote scrub areas with limited landing options.

Our first taste of the outback and the salt lakes was pleasantly presented to us in the form of a flooded Lake Frome. Cameras were eagerly raised to the eye and 100's of photos were taken in minutes. Wow, what a sight. Even the increasing cloud high above didn’t prevent magical colours from delighting us. If this was great – imagine what Lake Eyre would be like!

Arkaroola (SA) is tucked in a valley so I didn’t want to arrive late. We continued on after some snaking turns for the photographers and arrived in the vicinity of Arkaroola by 1600 local. Calling up on the local frequency resulted in our ground transport heading out to greet us, and after one go-around (the strip is short 650m shale and the 206 was near Maximum Landing Weight) we arrived safely and comfortably in South Australia. Flight time 2.5 hours.

After refuelling with 95 litres we were given the generosity of parking in the visitors hangar which fits two aircraft, although the 206 only had a foot to spare off each wing tip. The driver was very helpful, loading our bags into the bus for us and making sure we were looked after. He took us to the Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, which is a great remote place to unwind and talk about the days experiences, and when someone said the carvery is “all-you-can-eat” we all booked in straight away for dinner!

The notable bits:

Mildura is great for fuel, leg stretch, toilet, etc. and fuel is discounted if you pay cash.
Arkaroola is an excellent fly-in destination, with Balcanoona (1000m bitumen) an easy alternate 6nm away. Next time we’ll stay longer at the Sanctuary.

Fuel per litre:

Mildura: $1.93 cash
Arkaroola: $2.50

Airfields:

Canberra: see ERSA
Mildura: see ERSA
Arkaroola: 650m shale, slopes down at each end and is slightly curved. Tucked in a valley so Westerly winds needs to considered carefully. Last-light too can be an issue due to high terrain. See http://www.arkaroola.com/aerodrome.php for info.

Day Two to follow ...

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