![\"\"](\"https:\/\/katamarino.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/2019-12-14-05.32.03.jpg\")
Early morning at Shute Harbour<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Early morning at Shute Harbour<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Airlie Beach<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n
Pre-flight was quick now that we’d all fallen into our assigned roles. Ollie checked the aircraft, I removed the tie-downs and checked the fuel, and Rowan loaded the luggage. Jen took down the sunshades and was in charge of snacks! We took off as quietly as possible, given that it still wasn’t 6am, and turned on course for our first destination of Charters Towers. <\/p>\n\n\n
Morning mist<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Arid northern Australia<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Mining in Queensland<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Heading inland<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Outback<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dry country<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe flight was just over an hour, across early morning scattered cloud and mist. The departure gave a great view of Airlie Beach, before taking us up and over the coastal hills. At this time of morning the air was beautifully smooth. When we arrived at Charters Towers the field was deserted, but the self serve fuel was available, and the bathrooms unlocked; that’s all we needed! We fueled up and headed out. <\/p>\n\n\n
Final approach to Charters Towers<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Not a problem in other countries<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Charters Towers<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Australia loves Cessnas<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departure<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nOur next flight leg was almost 400 nautical miles, to Mount Isa. We climbed up to 8,500ft to be above the thermals that would be developing through the morning. The terrain was turning into real Australian outback, with hardly any sign of human activity. A slight headwind slowed us down, but we were on the ground at Mount Isa not long after 10, and fueling up. This airport was significantly bigger, with security staff and all!<\/p>\n\n\n
Crossing the outback<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Queensland desert<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Clear skies, no smoke!<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>River bed<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The outback is vast<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Descending to Mt Isa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Refueling at Mt Isa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing Mt Isa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Departing Mt Isa<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe departed from Mount Isa for what we expected to be the final flight of the day, just over 30 minutes to Barkly Roadhouse. The airstrip wasn’t in the GPS so Ollie directed me in using his aviation app. It seemed like a very short flight, compared to what I had been expecting. As we came overhead, my skepticism deepened. Things didn’t look quite as I’d pictured them from the website; for one thing, the buildings were laid out differently, and there was no highway or fuel pumps, strange for a roadhouse. I questioned Ollie again. “Nah, no worries mate, it’s all good, this is Barkly” said Ollie (possibly in a less stereotypically Australian way, but that’s how it is in my memory). So, we landed. I did a horrible job of it as we were trying the full 40 degrees of flaps for the first time. After the screaming from the back had died down, we parked up next to an open hangar that had a Cessna 182 parked inside.<\/p>\n\n\n
The short hop to Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Barkly...?<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked up on red dirt<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>At Barkly number 1<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe secured the aircraft and headed off to investigate. The whole place seemed deserted, with lawn sprinklers going and more dead birds lying around than would seem normal. We found an unlocked building that seemed like a recreation room, that happily had a mobile phone picocell, so Ollie called Barkly Roadhouse reception to investigate. They were very confused that we couldn’t find them, but the reason for this soon became clear as I checked Google Maps. We were indeed at Barkly, but the wrong one; this was basically just somebody’s house. We decided to get out of there quick and make our way to the other Barkly, nearly 200 miles to the west, in a different state.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Off to explore<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The mysterious Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Our navigator, full of shame<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nBefore we managed to slip away, the only resident found us. Luckily he was friendly and quite amused by the situation. He told us he’d heard the airplane land but hadn’t really though anything of it – a bit odd if you’re the only person on a remote homestead! We packed everything up, took off, and headed west.<\/p>\n\n\n
Empty outback<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Empty outback<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>The real Barkly, this time<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Parked at Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nThe flight was just over an hour, and the terrain soon started looking much more like we’d expected. Desert, with a long highway stretching ahead of us. We flew a left downwind past a facility that looked a lot more like the one from the website, and touched down on the dirt runway, taxiing down a dirt track to the parking area near the main buildings. This time, the route to reception was very obvious.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
Barkly Roadhouse cabin<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Road train<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Dinner at Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter checking into our cabins, we relaxed in the restaurant for a bit, the only place with wifi albeit slow. We looked ahead at the plan for the next few days, including the long, long run out to Perth and beyond. The unanimous feeling was that this was going to be just too much flying, with no real opportunity to enjoy Perth after such a long slog, so we revised the plan. After Ayers Rock, we’d head southeast to Coober Pedy, instead of west to Perth. Much more manageable. <\/p>\n\n\n
Evening in Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Evening over KFI<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Another giant road train<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nWe had dinner at 5:30pm, as soon as the kitchen opened, and turned in early as usual after pausing to admire some of the giant road trains that had rolled in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
We departed just after 6:30am, in the relative cool of the early morning. Our first flight would be to Alice Springs for a breakfast stop, and was about a two and a half hour leg over yet more barren outback. As we approached Alice Springs, the terrain became a little more interesting with long ridges; it was very familiar too, as Hiyo and I had flown directly over here without landing on our way down from Broome a few months earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n
Taxiing at Barkly<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the outback<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Heading to Alice Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Morning in the desert<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Too early for the passengers<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>More interesting terrain<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAlice Springs is a pretty big airport with proper security, so we had to follow strict procedures. We couldn’t even leave the airside area without a security officer coming and letting us through the gate. It wasn’t too much of a hassle though, and soon we’d walked the 350m to the main terminal and were enjoying breakfast in the cafe. The cafe was actually on the secure side of the security checkpoint, but no boarding pass was needed to get through. <\/p>\n\n\n
Endlessly varied desert<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>A ridge by Alice Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Alice Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Approaching Alice Springs<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Crossing the ridge<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>Turning to final approach<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\nAs we ate, we realised that we’d not spotted the “24 hours prior notice required” note on the Ayers Rock airport info. As we planned to be arriving there in about 2 hours, this was an issue. Ollie called up and worked some verbal magic, and we were given the permission after a gentle chiding.<\/p>\n\n\n