Big Rigs and Cattle

Those sun-etched folk who call the great Australian outback their home are by nature a wonderfully unpretentious lot and perhaps this is also the defining uniqueness of outback towns. They are not big and showy, just proudly purposeful in their existence and the Queensland town of Roma is one such example.

Poised on the edge of the outback, the small rural town of Roma can justifiably claim a rich pioneering history. Perhaps it's more notable contribution to the history archives was being the site of Australia's first oil and gas discovery, an industry that today still continues to underpin the local economy. But it was not oil and gas that steered the Bazflyers into Roma, this town also has the largest cattle sale centre in the Southern Hemisphere. 

Cattle sales are held twice a week and on any sale day over 8,000 head of cattle will be auctioned. Almost as impressive as the sales yards is the associated transport infrastructure. Cattle from near and far are carted to and from the centre mainly in giant multi-trailer trucks known as ‘road trains’. The atmosphere of a Roma cattle sale with its dust, noise and controlled mayhem has, in recent times, become a significant local visitor attraction. During our morning at the sale-yards store cattle consistently fetched record high prices without any visible reaction from the vendor….thereby reinforcing the unpretentious character of true outback folk. 

A typical cattle road train

Cattle lot awaiting their turn with an auctioneer

Working the yards

Another type of big rig. This is the original rig responsible for Roma's oil and gas discovery

The streets of Roma are lined with Bottle Trees

Gayndah

Detour inland away from the coast anywhere around Australia and it's not just the landscape that changes…it is also home to a whole different culture and lifestyle. Affectionally referred to as ‘the outback’, this vast expanse of rural enterprise is deservedly the real Australia. 

The journey was barely a one hour flight for the Bazflyers on a NW heading out of Caboolture. Our destination was the small rural town of Gayndah, a friendly place famous for its oranges. As good fortune would have it, our weekend stay coincided with the town’s annual food and produce festival. Festival activities included a delightful local produce market and a guided opportunity to explore the surrounding North Burnett region. Travelling by bus with a mostly local contingent on board was both enjoyable and informative. 

As the Comanche made its way skywards out of Gayndah’s well presented airport we viewed the countryside below with admiration for the region’s hard working and innovative folk.

The flight from Caboolture to Gayndah 

Blueberries on an enormous scale…200 hectares of them all under cover.

Mandarin oranges galore

Gayndah is the is the home of the Queensland Derby first run in 1868.

Snow Bird Time

In a very modest way the Bazflyers could justifiably claim flying their Taupo based Piper Comanche across the Tasman Sea to Australia has become a well rehearsed routine. Somewhat in the manner of habitual Snowbirds, those retirees who wish to avoid the snow and cold temperatures of winter, waking up to a few frosty mornings is all it takes to once again trigger our annual migration. This year we have chosen Central and North Queensland for our winter playground.

Prior to every Tasman Sea crossing ZK-BAZ is given a through 100 hourly inspection. All of its vitals are checked and tested. For example, even although the installed set of fine wire spark plugs had reliably performed for 700 hours, the Lycoming IO540 engine was shouted a new set of twelve Tempest fine wire plugs. Uncompromised reliability and performance is never negotiable. When the Comanche is flight ready it is loaded with an already prepared travelling pack-up. This includes bottles of oil and essential spare parts, tools, life raft, survival kit and even spare pens. Everything stowed in their rightful locations and checked against a master list. 

Bazflyer selfie while in the cruise somewhere over the Tasman Sea

A routine of weather-watching precedes each Tasman crossing with suitable conditions a prerequisite. Route planning for this week's flight went through several iterations due to there being no AVGAS presently available on Norfolk Island. Then there was a last minute notification that Australian quarantine services were not currently available at Lord Howe Island. A final routing solution was settled for Wednesday 28 June which also promised a suitable weather window. 

It was decided then....the Bazflyers would overnight at Kerikeri and in the morning after receiving our all important Customs clearance, we would fly for 5 hours 15 minutes direct to Lord Howe Island. Here we would do immigration formalities into Australia and up lift 50 litres of fuel before flying a further 2 hours 15 minutes to the Gold Coast airport for quarantine services. 

Flight route across the Tasman Sea

Onroute winds were true to forecast enabling us to average 150 Kts ground speed for the 1150 NM flight. The friendly controller on Brisbane Approach had us slow-up to 130 knots for our descent from 8000 feet into the Gold Coast. We were expertly vectored onto the RNAV for runway 33, all the while nicely sequenced as number-two for landing behind a Virgin B737. 

The view outside

The quarantine man was there to meet us when the propellor finally stopped as we came to rest on the Platinum Aviation ramp. A generous release of cabin insecticide later we were set free on Ozzie soil. Another uneventful Bazflyer flight across the Tasman Sea. Tomorrow we head outback.....where the weather forecast looks great!

Melbourne Morning

There are many things one can do while visiting Melbourne but then the Bazflyers are not renowned for seeking out ‘usual run of the mill’  activities. Good friend Laurie belongs to a blokes a cappella group who go by the name of “Men in Suits”. This well dressed non-religious parody ensemble delights in lifting the spirits of musically deprived fellow citizens. In pursuit of this mission they can sometimes be spotted wandering the city streets in a well dressed pack while delivering pop-up performances at random places. 

A rare opportunity to be a Men in Suits groupie, at least for a couple of hours, was enthusiastically accepted by the Bazflyers even although it entailed a pre-dawn train commute into Flinders Street station for the gathering of Men in Suits under the Clock. Among the hustle and bustle of the city coming to life at the start of a new day, we followed Men in Suits as they performed at various downtown locations and even on an iconic Melbourne tram. Judging from the faces of people going by and those who stopped to enjoy, the singing blokes in suits certainly lifted the spirits of many fellow citizens….

Men in Suits

Melbourne waking up to a new day

Clocks at Flinders Street station

Reminder that Easter is not too far away

Iconic Melbourne tram

Early Morning tea awaits

Strahan

With an average annual rainfall of something like three metres, West Tasmania is indeed a wild and wet landscape. Remarkable then that when the Bazflyers visited this sparsely settled area we were welcomed with absolutely beautiful weather. Clear skies, cool mornings and warm days.

Strahan is Tasmania's main settlement 'out west'. Snuggled within the sheltered reaches of Macquarie Harbour it serves as home for a fleet of crayfishing boats and an assortment of businesses supporting the region's tourist industry.

The narrow entrance into Macquarie Harbour from the Great Southern Ocean is known as Hells Gate. At first glance the name would appear an appropriate label for a neck of treachous water but delve just a little into the area's absorbing history and the real meaning of Hells Gate becomes apparent.

Among the first settlers at Macquarie Harbour in 1822 were convicts, many guilty of only minor misdemeanours. Their incarceration at the harshist of all Australia's convict settlements was an inhuman existence almost beyond belief. These men and women suffered the most appalling treatment of humans in the history of Tasmania, with the singular exception of the Aborigines. The terror of this shameful place gave rise to the saying when transported to Macquarie Harbour; of going through Hell's Gate....

Passing the opposite direction through Hells Gate on a good day

 

Sarah Island was the site of Macquarie Harbour's infamous penal colony between 1822 to 1833

 

After two century's only a few ruins remain from Sarah Island's convict past

 

Crayfishing boats at Strahan

 

Bruny Island

Bruny Island sits to the south of Hobart. It flanks both the Tasman Sea on the east and the Great Southern Ocean at its southern end. The Island is actually two seperate land masses joined like an hour glass by a narrow sand bridge which is also home to a thriving Blue Eyed penguin colony. However, to see these delightful little characters you need to be waiting there at dawn or dusk. 

Sand bridge joining the two land masses 

 

A ferry service is kept busy transporting locals, visitors and vehicles to and from Bruny Island, and among yesterday's travellers were the Bazflyers. There are many Ecco attractions available for visitors to the island ranging from camping in the National Park to an award winning trip by boat along the towering cliffs that form the island's south east coastline. Our journey to Bruny Island included was to experience these cliffs....from the sea and we were not disappointed.

Water transportation 

 

Getting up close and personal with the impressive coastal cliffs

https://youtu.be/iF1Dc9Uf6wA

This feature is aptly known as "The Dragon's Breath"

https://youtu.be/S4iXcxXK8M0

A good day out on the Great Southern Ocean

https://youtu.be/VBOFkL1JplA

Where the Tasman Sea and Great Southern Ocean meet

 

Southport

Take the Huon Highway out of Hobart and some 100 kilometres later you will have driven to the southern most settlement in Australia, aptly named Southport. 

Along the way you pass through the small settlement of Huonville, administrative centre of the tranquil Huon Valley, a region appropriately famous for an array of food produce and an annual food festival. The food festival is one of the most popular regional events in Tasmania and as good fortune would have it, this year's two day festival was in full swing for the Bazflyers arrival. Entertainment, a huge variety of food stalls and thousands of happy people.

 

 

 

Detour off the meandering route that follows the Huon River on its way to the great southern ocean and you are quickly engulfed in a land of tall trees and swift rivers. This is Tasmanian forest country and where home to the Tahune Air Walk. An opportunity to walk among the forest tree tops at one of the most visited tourism attractions in Tasmania. 

 

 

 

The road ends at Southport