Since gaining my PPL and thus earning my freedom, I had always wanted to make a trip south to visit my family. For anyone unfamiliar with the location of Orbost, it's a fairly small town just in from the coast way down at the bottom of Australia. In fact, if you were to travel due south from Bathurst until you reach the great southern coast of Victoria, some 280 Nm or so, you might fly right over it.

Over a few months I researched the idea of flying to this remote aerodrome. It seemed entirely possible, and maybe not beyond a newbie pilot like myself. A few emails to the club confirmed that I would be permitted to take the aircraft away for a few days, so I began to make plans.

Checking out the various ways one could fly there, hopping from airfield to airfield, there are really only two ways I could go. A direct route south was not really suitable as this is a designated remote area. I could however skirt around either side, and I chose to fly along the coast as this really appealed to me. I knew there would be great things to see, and the coast would be a snap to follow!

The club aircraft really has an extraordinary range, and it would only require one refuelling along the way to get there. As luck would have it, Merimbula aerodrome is well placed in the middle of the journey and has a 24 hour swipe card bowser. To avoid the congested Sydney and Nowra airspaces, I would head south from Bathurst, direct to Moruya, our first coastal call.

An early start as the sun rose in Bathurst, made way for a cloudless sky as we tracked south arriving in Moruya in under an hour and a half. Not a long flight for a new pilot. A smooth landing, a quick break to eat some fruit, stretch our legs, ring for further weather, dip the tanks and inspect the aircraft again. An open cockpit ultralight drifter landing and taxiing past us after a morning flight along the beaches was a nice sight.

Back up into a blue sky and a slight onshore breeze. I could have thrown the map out the window at this point, the coast stretching south ahead of us for miles and miles, navigation was going to be simple enough from here on in. Merimbula was not too far away, a half hour or so. Cloud began to increase though, and the ceiling began to lower. Tuning in to the CTAF ahead, beyond sight, aircraft were still landing there with no problems and behind us was still quite clear.

Arriving at Merimbula, I decided to check in with one of the locals to glean some info about the next leg leg down to the bottom of the coast. This is where it becomes quite remote and hilly. The area forecast was predicting deteriorating weather and moderate turbulence way up to 12 000 feet, so I wanted some extra info about whether to continue flying in this area.

We decided to refuel and go for a local flight to the south to see what this weather looked like, and get some practice in making judgement calls regarding weather. The ceiling was quite low and there were some light showers about, easily avoided. The cloud base was about 2500 feet above the sea, a 1000 feet or so thick. I knew it could be clouded in at our destination, and I would not be able to descend, even if I could get above it, and definitely clouded at the aerodrome we would need to return to!

Above cloud, navigation would be problematic, there being nav aids on the way, but nothing at our destination. Mallacoota, a possible halfway stopping point, a scant 40Nm away, offered no fuel and no accommodation, and I was unfamiliar with the field. Should I fly at 2000 feet between cloud and the great southern ocean, with showers about, decreasing my visibility, and possibly leaving me with nowhere in front and nowhere behind to go?

I am a cautious person by nature, so when the turbulence started rocking us relentlessly, I knew I had already made the decision anyway, and was just testing myself and my physical instincts. We returned to Merimbula.

We tied the aircraft down well, caught a taxi to the township and had a great night out, with some fine food by the wharf, and a nights rest.

Up early, the wind had dropped and although there was still a lowish ceiling and showers about, we decide to try again. Navigation via the coast is a great joy, and all I needed to do was tick off the locations and make some ground speed checks. Within 25 minutes we overflew Mallacoota, a remote field indeed and right on the corner of this great southern land. I imagined the ocean stretching for thousands of miles to the south east of us, unbroken by any land masses, just lots of deep cold ocean, and I was glad to turn the corner and head west towards Melbourne.

Another 40minutes and we had reached our destination, Orbost! A very long, smooth, flat runway and friends waving from the tarmac greeted us. It has a nice friendly terminal building, with a kitchen, a phone, plenty of couches and best of all some hot tea or coffee to sit down with and catch up with friends or family.

The next day i was able to take my mum and one of her friends up for a local flight and a trip over to Bairnsdale, 30 minutes further towards Melbourne. We all had a great day and some lunch in the afternoon, and I felt like I had achieved something special.

The next morning, fuel not being available at Orbost, we tracked direct for Merimbula, across some high country to conserve fuel and time, then stayed the night again because It was so much fun the first time around!

The aircraft was booked for the next day, so an early start saw us leave Merimbula into a fairly grey sky, which cleared as we shot past Canberra/Goulburn, but then redeveloped as we approached Oberon. I had never seen so many different weather changes before and it looked like we might not actually get into Bathurst. A large chunk of cloudy rain sat right in our way, and I would have to divert left or right of it to see if the other side of it was clear.

I decided to skirt around the weather to the right, and ended up a fair way out before I could track back towards the aerodrome, which was clear for landing. I should have really gone left of the weather in the first instance however, as it was much clearer on that side and there was of course no mountain range which could have hemmed me in.

The runway was wet, a first for me, so I took extra care when landing. I taxied back the aircraft and we put her away and unpacked. I had done it.

All in all we travelled around 900 Nautical miles or over 1600km; had the aircraft for 4 full days; and I racked up just under 10 hours in command. We had followed the east coast of Australia all the way down and around the corner to within 120Nm of Melbourne.

The aircraft was a pleasure to fly, very comfy and never did I feel unsafe or unsure. If you are contemplating a trip of this kind, I wish you good luck as well, this will certainly not be my only trip, thats for sure. Hmm, maybe north next...

Toby Robb. Member of the Bathurst Aero Club.

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