In Gods Country.

That's what they call it up there Tropical North Queensland, and no wonder why. I have now spent 4 years flying around our local area which I call Cape York which encompasses a land mass the Size of Great Britain but with only about a one hundredth of the population. It is remote, Spectacular and is one of the last great frontiers.

I am going to take you on an adventure all over Cape York, and try to show you why Sports Aircraft are such a good vehicles to get around in and are one of the ultimate adventure machines.

The first adventure I am going to tell you about is only a short one but it is quite spectacular.

I run flying schools in both Mareeba and Townsville, so to be able to travel to both I either fly the trike or the Jabiru to and from the two locations. In the trike it takes dead on 3 hrs to fly from Oak Valley on the outskirts of Townsville to Mareeba on the Cairns Highlands, and with the Jabiru it takes less than 2 hrs. The trike may be slower but it is a hell of a more adventurous flight. The first time I made the trip in the trike the weather was fantastic and I blasted of at 0630 on a beautiful morning in July. For those people who don't live up here, this is our dry season and our weather then is usually a pleasant 27 degrees.

I tracked North West for ½ and hour to avoid the Townsville control zone, and then when clear I headed for the coast to track north for Ingham.

I then decide before Ingham to then just keep following the coast to Hitchinbrook Island which is the Worlds largest Island National park. It is quite spectacular as it has Mountains that rise out of the Coral Sea to over 3000 feet. They look like your typical photos that you see in the brochures with misty covered tops with tropical rainforest covering them.

I then tracked up the Hitchinbrook passage over huge prawn farms and onto Cardwell.

My first stop is Tully, the wettest spot in Australia (which is hotly contested by Babinda) but today it is beautiful and I decide to land there after 2 hrs of flying and the dog needs a leak as well as the pilot. (bob the dog goes everywhere with me).

I have got my good mate Gerry in the back seat so I empty his contents into the fuel tank and then it is off to Mareeba.

My original Intention is to fly to Innisfail and then cross the ranges, following the Palmerston, but the weather is fantastic so I decide to take a shorter route up the Tully Gorge and fly between Milla Milla and Ravenshoe. There is a bit of tiger country along the way but it is quite safe if you get a bit of height as ground level here gets to 4500 feet so I climb up to 6000 just to make sure. The view is absolutely spectacular with the Tully River, huge waterfalls, the highest mountains in Queensland and magnificent rainforest. As I get over the range I then see windy hill wind farm with its 20 wind generators that are just spinning over in the 10 knot breeze and I making good time.

I then spot Milla Milla and start to track over the Upper Cairns Highlands to Mareeba. It is only 9am and I have got Atherton on my left so it is only 20 minutes to go. The Highlands height above sea level averages out to 2500 feet but as I get to Mareeba it drops down to 1500. I reach my airstrip and touch down dead on 9.30 am. Exactly three hours with a fuel stop. I have driven to and from Townsville many times but this was the most relaxing trip I have taken as well as the most spectacular.

My return trip was in the Jabiru. I followed the same path as the trike but took a small detour to fly down the Tully Gorge so I could get some good photos. I also stopped in Ingham this time to get Avgas.

This is because I used to stop at Townsville International but they are so slow there and the holding time and hassle you go through to just get fuel is ridiculous. The Jab is transponder equipped and I have got my PPL, but I can tell you, it is not worth the hassle. Ingham fuel is cheaper any way.

This trip usually takes over 4 hrs in a car using double the amount of fuel as well as having to put up with all the slow motorists that North Queensland has to offer so why not fly.

Rod Tyson
CFI Freeflying









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