a Little Australian Outback Adventure
Well, haven't posted much lately so thought a little report on our recent trip might be of interest. We planned our annual central OZ trip but got delayed at Tiboorburra, NSW (look it up on Google earth) due to an engine issue (see report under 'engines'). We didnt plan on our extended stop at Tiboorburra but after refuelling and on take off, we had the engine issue that resulted in a forced 5 day stay.
Now for those of you who know Tiboorburra, a few hours would normally be more than enough, if you know what I mean. But like many 'forced' extended stays, they often turn out to be an unexpected delight. And Tiboorburra was no exception. For starters, the airstrip is maintained beautifully by the locals - mostly for the flying Doctor service that is so essential in these parts. One runnway is sealed and the other graded and rolled beautifully. And it is totally roo, emu, goat, donkey, camel proof fenced, thus negating one of the major challenges of landing at outback airstrips in Australia!
The locals were great. The policeman ran us around and lent us his quad bike, the pub picked up us accommodated us, the local store and transport mob arranged the parts we needed to be hand picked from the mail in Broken Hill and sent up with a local heading home. Each night we met up with travellers in the pub and ended up having great evenings telling stories over a few beers. We even ran into some old friends who were travelling though! We walked out of town each day and just enjoyed the wonderful remoteness, even if it is so dry that the roos are dying. Enough of the words, I'll let a selection of photos tell the rest of the story but the moral of the story is to open ourselves up to unexpected challenges flying throws up - it could turn into a wonderful, unexpected adventure!
cheers
ross
Reply With Quote