Greetings dear reader,
We hope all has gone well with you since our last adventure. In the spirit of "have Jabi, will fly" we've just returned from the New England region of NSW. Departing Wollongong on Friday we flew via the beautiful Sydney Victor 1 beach route from Jibbon Point just south of Cronulla to Long Reef in the north, over the central coast, oh those power stations and beaches and then over Maitland, Paterson, Martins Creek, Stroud Road, Wards Creek, Gloucester, to approach Armidale from the east at the same time as the Qlink flight (now where has that happened before) in the early afternoon for a well earned beer by the pilot.
Life in a Jabi is a never a straight line
While the route appeared as a pencil straight line on a map, as you know from our previous posts, life with a Jabi is never quite a straight line. The first non straight line challenge was to discover that the North Coast rail line we were using as a way point zig zags across the Hunter and Manning Rivers so that the trusty pilot had to fly Jabi this way and that to ensure we stayed on track. A little disconcerting on the way to Armidale but it all seemed much easier on the way back. Around Gloucester we had a near miss birdstrike....A birdstrike means a flock of birds get confused and instead of flying on their merry way past Jabi, drop onto Jabi and hit things like the propeller or wings and generally rock the Jabi in a non comforting way. We were admiring a sweet flock of birds and then one bird dropped from the air right in front of Jabi missing us by a few centimetres. We think Jabi was a bit overwhelming for the poor bird. Anyway we know the response to bird flocks from now on ...go up and then if they decide to drop Jabi will be above all the action.
Armidale and surrounds
After the beer and a short (i.e. aborted due to lack of interest) self walking tour of Armidale we drove around the area to Guyra and Uralla to see the home town of Thunderbolt the bushranger. Very nice scenery and driving, followed by dinner at the Royal Hotel.
Saturday started with an early morning look at the expansive and restful grounds of the University of New England followed by breakfast in town then a drive along Waterfall Way, which according to the guide book passes through some of New South Wales' most scenic countryside and has become known as NSW's best and Australia's third most beautiful tourist drive. We went as far as the Wollomombi Falls (pronounced 'walla mom bee') and took a refreshing bush walk to see the falls from both viewing platforms, such incredible serene viewing, aaaaaaaaah.
By the way did you know Armidale is the highest city in Australia? So we assume that means Jabi has landed us at the highest airport in Australia and has taken us to the lowest point in Australia - Lake Eyre. Does that mean we have already experienced all the highs and lows of light air travel in Australia. We think not!
If you want to know more about all things Armidale go here.
We departed Armidale for a return smooth flight to Wollongong surrounded by a blue sky, sun and peace.
Until the next Jabiventure
The Flying Nabateans
We hope all has gone well with you since our last adventure. In the spirit of "have Jabi, will fly" we've just returned from the New England region of NSW. Departing Wollongong on Friday we flew via the beautiful Sydney Victor 1 beach route from Jibbon Point just south of Cronulla to Long Reef in the north, over the central coast, oh those power stations and beaches and then over Maitland, Paterson, Martins Creek, Stroud Road, Wards Creek, Gloucester, to approach Armidale from the east at the same time as the Qlink flight (now where has that happened before) in the early afternoon for a well earned beer by the pilot.
 |
| QLink makes way for Jabi |
 |
| Approaching Armidale |
Life in a Jabi is a never a straight line
While the route appeared as a pencil straight line on a map, as you know from our previous posts, life with a Jabi is never quite a straight line. The first non straight line challenge was to discover that the North Coast rail line we were using as a way point zig zags across the Hunter and Manning Rivers so that the trusty pilot had to fly Jabi this way and that to ensure we stayed on track. A little disconcerting on the way to Armidale but it all seemed much easier on the way back. Around Gloucester we had a near miss birdstrike....A birdstrike means a flock of birds get confused and instead of flying on their merry way past Jabi, drop onto Jabi and hit things like the propeller or wings and generally rock the Jabi in a non comforting way. We were admiring a sweet flock of birds and then one bird dropped from the air right in front of Jabi missing us by a few centimetres. We think Jabi was a bit overwhelming for the poor bird. Anyway we know the response to bird flocks from now on ...go up and then if they decide to drop Jabi will be above all the action.
Armidale and surrounds
After the beer and a short (i.e. aborted due to lack of interest) self walking tour of Armidale we drove around the area to Guyra and Uralla to see the home town of Thunderbolt the bushranger. Very nice scenery and driving, followed by dinner at the Royal Hotel.
Saturday started with an early morning look at the expansive and restful grounds of the University of New England followed by breakfast in town then a drive along Waterfall Way, which according to the guide book passes through some of New South Wales' most scenic countryside and has become known as NSW's best and Australia's third most beautiful tourist drive. We went as far as the Wollomombi Falls (pronounced 'walla mom bee') and took a refreshing bush walk to see the falls from both viewing platforms, such incredible serene viewing, aaaaaaaaah.
 |
Wollomombi Falls  |
 |
| The Falls |
 |
 |
| Is that wise? |
By the way did you know Armidale is the highest city in Australia? So we assume that means Jabi has landed us at the highest airport in Australia and has taken us to the lowest point in Australia - Lake Eyre. Does that mean we have already experienced all the highs and lows of light air travel in Australia. We think not!
If you want to know more about all things Armidale go here.
We departed Armidale for a return smooth flight to Wollongong surrounded by a blue sky, sun and peace.
 |
| Homeward Bound |
Until the next Jabiventure
The Flying Nabateans
