4th August 2008

Today was to be a fairly long day; however, I managed to get a short ride in. Prue was doing emails and getting ready for the day.

As we are stopped in Kununurra until at least Friday, we decided that this week would be lost because of no Bravo. On Sunday, I booked a flight on Slingair to travel along the Kimberley Coast and across the Mitchell Plateau. Then flight was in a Gippsland G8 Airvan.

We were collected outside the Caravan Park by the Slingair courtesy coach and delivered to the Slingair Terminal at Kununurra Airport. We were briefed by our pilot, Doug, on not only the safety in and around the Airvan but also what do in the event of a forced landing. There was another couple on board as well as a relief pilot who was to be dropped off at another location.

The departure from Kununurra was over the town with a left turn so we could intercept the Ord River and track it over Ivanhoe Crossing. This was the original crossing over the Ord to get to Wyndham before the development of irrigation. There was a magnificent view of the Ord Irrigation as we were only flying at 1500 feet.

After tracking the Ord River almost to the end of the Irrigation Area, we then tracked slightly to the North West. On this track we overflew two of the large Packer owned stations, Carlton Hill and Ivanhoe. On these stations, 850 hectares of irrigated leucaena, a high protein tree, is grown to fatten cattle for the export trade.

After passing over these stations we then flew slightly west of Wyndham and over the Cambridge Gulf. Adolphus Island is in the Gulf and it was here that a German aviator landed his seaplane as it ran out of fuel in the 1930s. He and his friend had travelled too far west of Darwin and were lost. They made a canoe out of one of the floats and went even further west. After some weeks they were found, on the point of total starvation, by an aboriginal search party. The seaplane was eventually flown out and returned to Germany.

Following the Cambridge Gulf then flew onto the Berkley River Gorge, near the coast. There was not so much water in the River to make the gorge look spectacular. We then flew a bit further and over King George Falls where there was a small amount of water flowing over the falls. All these locations would look fantastic in the Wet Season. Just the same, they are awesome sites to view.

We tracked further along the coast, being the most northerly part of Western Australia, flying over the remote wilderness camp of Faraway Bay. Then we flew over the small village of Kalumburu which is mostly populated by aborigines. It was founded by the Benedictine religious order but in another location. There are numerous, what appears to be, fishing shacks and camps dotted along the coast. It is very remote and difficult to get to in the best of times.

A short time later, we flew near Truscott Air Base. This base was established during World War II and is still utilised by the RAAF and Coastwatch today. So it is covered by restricted airspace.

From this location we tracked to the Mitchell Plateau aerodrome, owned and maintained by the mining giant Rio Tinto, where we landed and had a break out of the Airvan. We had been flying for some considerable time. My legs were aching with cramps as were several of the other passengers. It was an opportunity to chat with the pilots and the other passengers, as that was not easy in the aircraft as we not only had headphones on to listen to the pilot’s commentary but also the noise was quite loud without headphones.

Departure from Mitchell Plateau was uneventful and we climbed out to about 2500 feet and tracked to overhead Mitchell Falls. We did several orbits of the Falls circling both right and left so both sides of the aircraft could see the falls clearly. The three steps of the falls were running a reasonable flow of water. They are absolutely fabulous.

Leaving the Mitchell Falls, we then tracked to the well known Drysdale River Station. We landed and then were transported a short distance to the lovely shady surrounds of the station. We ordered our lunch and drinks that were part of the flight package. It is a very busy place with many vehicles and people moving through the whole time we were there. Lunch was, for both Prue and me, the KK burger which is quite large. I had had breakfast and done a ride and it was about 1345 so I was famished.

While we were having lunch 2 Kimberley Karavans called in along with a Kimberley Kamper. All were travelling together and were from near Perth. We had also seen another KK as we departed Kununurra this morning. There are many Karavans up here now not to mention the Kampers, too. A large population of the Kimberley off road family!

After lunch and a nice break in the shade, we left for the final leg of the flight. This took us over the Gibb River Road and eventually over the famous El Questro. We did a few orbits of this large station and its tourist operation.

Finally, we flew over Emma Gorge which is part of the magnificent Cockburn Ranges which dominate much of this area. The view, especially with the sun starting to get low in the sky, is stunning. The flight today makes one realise just how remote and sparsely populated this massive region is. The flight is one to do if you ever visit the Kimberleys especially if you fly Slingair.