Flinders Island

Flinders Island is the largest of 52 Islands that comprise the Furneaux Island group. Situated in Bass strait between Wilsons Promontory in Victoria and the north coast of Tasmania, these islands are the remnants of a land bridge that once connected the Australian continent with what we know today as Tasmania.

Lady Barron

Only two of the Furneaux Islands are permanently inhabited and at last count the population numbered just a few hundred people. After appropriate counselling by a couple of locals at the tavern last evening we were well prepared for a quiet Sunday morning, Flinders Island style. 

Sunday morning at the general store

A short walk found all the action going down at the Lady Baron general store with people dropping by to pick up supplies while others simply lounged outside, chatting or drinking not a bad coffee served up by the solitary store operator. Introductions were superfluous as the Bazflyers had already been identified in advance as the folk from the airplane parked overnight on the airstrip...!

View from the old man's shrine

We sought directions up to the adjacent hill top from a kindly older gentleman with an ageing dog. He was clearly familiar with the way and said he goes up every day and sits there with his dog. 

Forever loved and remembered

We came across his shrine and the epitaph written to his wife. "Kerryn Hatfield 8/5/1958 - 27/10/2011 aged 53 years married on this spot 1/1/2002 forever loved and remembered".

Southern Islands

It is just two weeks since we took off from the BAZ Base. Some 21 hours flight time and 13,000 km later we have settled in for the weekend on Flinders Island. 

Last weekend we attended the Comanche Society annual Autumn fly-in which was held at Clare. Attendance at this event was central to the timing for our current travels. Twenty aircraft flew into the Clare Valley Airstrip and 17 were Piper Comanches representing both single and twin engine varieties. BAZ looked a treat parked among the fleet of Australian attendees and along with the Bazflyer Crew had unequivocally flown the furtherest to be there. It is always a pleasure to socialise with our Comanche mates and the charms of the Clare region provided a wonderful back-drop to the occasion. 

The fly-in weekend came to an end all too soon and with the departure of the last Comanche off Clare airstrip on Monday morning the Bazflyers had to decide where to next...

Just a short thirty minute flight to the south of Clare, Adelaide seemed like a pretty good first option. We landed at the main Adelaide Airport which is located very near the city centre and it wasn't long before the Bazflyers were out on foot exploring the central area. The city is a pleasing complimentary mix of old and new. The markets with hundreds of stalls stacked with every imaginable kind of produce are something else again. 

Adelaide mixes old and new

Like all aviators the Bazflyers are highly tuned to weather forecasts and with a favourable situation on offer we decided to visit Australia's three main southern islands excluding Tasmania. The first of these being Kangaroo Island lying in the Great Southern Ocean and only 150 km from Adelaide. Johnston's Airstrip turned out to be a fantastic uniformed choice. Dean Johnson is a spritely octogenarian still flying his own Cherokee 6 aircraft. A farmer, contractor and aviation enthusiast he has carved out no less than 4 runways on his farm. His wife, Judy, operates a B&B that even comes with the use of a car. Wow, we had just the best stay and toured some of the Island.

Kangaroo Island coastline

King Island is situated over five hundred kilometres east of Kangaroo Island and off the north western tip of Tasmania. The island's population is reputed to be around 1,700. However, an impression gained after a day's drive was that human inhabitants were easily out numbered by the resident Wallaby population. Other impressions include wonderful friendly people, rugged coastline, a restaurant with no food and of course a fascinating historical linkage to our PNG friend Rob Parer.

BAZ track to King Island

Restaurant with no food

Restaurant with no food is the old boat house on Currie harbour

Flinders Island is the last of the three islands we will visit on this southern Australian trip. Come Monday we will point BAZ north again to be in Brisbane by next weekend.