Under the guidance of our pilot Gary Sanderson, the little Chieftain plan carrying seven passengers bounced through its final stops in the little town of Bourke for lunch and then dropped off two passengers in another town. The sun was setting as we flew over the cliffs of the Blue Mountains in the Gardens of … Continue reading Birdsville, Australia to Door County Wisconsin, USA
Birdsville
Birdsville is one of the hottest and most isolated places in the world. We flew east from Alice Springs over 1,000 sand dunes that made distinct furrows going north-south through the Simpson Desert below us: The red sand seemed to go on and on forever below us. In reality, it was just a two-hour flight, and … Continue reading Birdsville
Uluru (Ayers Rock)
What is all the fuss about a big rock in the middle of the desert? I was about to find out. 30 years ago there was nothing there but a dirt road and some campsites. We boarded the plane in Alice Springs after breakfast and flew for over an hour to cover the 500 miles. … Continue reading Uluru (Ayers Rock)
Alice Springs
We flew out of Broome at 8:00 am leaving the Indian Ocean and the beautiful warm beaches behind us. Gary, our pilot, had purchased box lunches for us. We were going to be flying most of the day with a stop for fuel in Hall's Creek. Most of the time we were flying over desert … Continue reading Alice Springs
Darwin to Kununarra to Broom Days 7-10; Australia by Heron Tour.
Day seven landed us in the quiet city of Darwin. This was where the wedding in the beautiful movie "Top End Wedding" was supposed to take place. I caught the entire downtown from the plane. There wasn't any roaring traffic outside our hotel. We had the day on our own and went for a walk … Continue reading Darwin to Kununarra to Broom Days 7-10; Australia by Heron Tour.
Kakadu National Park Day 6 Australia by Heron Tour
We slept well in the peace and quiet far from city streets. We had breakfast at 8:00 and got in the van to the boat at 8:40. The road to the dock was closed to tourists because it was underwater but the tour guide had permission to use it. The van was very high and … Continue reading Kakadu National Park Day 6 Australia by Heron Tour
Cairns
After a 30 minute flight from Undara we landed on the small plane side of the cairns airport and taxied over by the flying doctors hanger. We finally had excellent phone and internet service. If you come to Cairns the thing to do is to take an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef but we'd … Continue reading Cairns
Australia by Heron Day 5, Cairns to Horn Island to Kakadu National Park
This was a very long flying day. We flew out of Cairns at 6:30 am. The sun was just rising in the sky. We flew north towards the Torres Strait Islands 157 islands only 18 are inhabited. The flight lasted for almost three hours. As we got closer I was astounded by the aquamarine color … Continue reading Australia by Heron Day 5, Cairns to Horn Island to Kakadu National Park
Undara Experience and Undara Volcanic National Park
They unlocked the gate of the Historic Quantas hanger in Longreach at the Quantas museum where the airline had its start. Our pilot was waiting. We boarded and flew for almost two hours. Since there wasn't any phone service at the airport the pilot flew low over the resort to announce our arrival. The airstrip … Continue reading Undara Experience and Undara Volcanic National Park
Longreach Australia by Heron Tour Day 2
We landed as the sun was setting in Longreach. Longreach gets its name from being at the Longreach of the rivers. The motel had recently been purchased by another motel so we registered in one and dragged our bags through the gravel to our rooms in the next motel down the road. Then walked back … Continue reading Longreach Australia by Heron Tour Day 2
Visions from Two Continents. 