After spending 3 nights at Port Lincoln, we all felt ready to get going. If you look on the map, the distance from Port Lincoln to Aldinga is only about 150 miles across the bay. But as I’m going coastal, we had to track north to Whyalla, then across the bay to Port Pirie, & then south all the way down the coast to Aldinga – around 300 miles.

The lousy weather that we’ve experienced left behind scattered cloud, & isolated showers. Originally, we were going to track around the back of Adelaide, close to the mountains & then fly into Aldinga, but after speaking to air traffic control (ATC), they said cloud was banking up against the mountains which wasn’t good news.

Michael spoke to ATC this morning & asked if we could fly coastal through the controlled air space, past Adelaide along the coast, with me in company. They advised that it wouldn’t be a problem. This was great news as it made our route shorter & safer as we could avoid the cloud building up around the mountains.

The weather was going to improve later in the day so we decided to start our day later than usual. We got in the air around 12 pm, tracked north, & climbed to 2,500 feet. It was a nice flight. The scenery reminded me of Victoria with lots of green & farmland. Whyalla stuck out & looked fairly dirty from the big steel mill on the coast.

Flying over Whyalla

When we crossed from Whyalla to Port Pirie & tracked south, the weather on this side was a little worse, with isolated showers, but it was manageable. I’d been to Adelaide a few times in the past. But its always nice to see a city from the air as you get a very different perspective.

Flying around the coast of Adelaide.

I followed Paul & Josh in the Piper Archer, sticking close. Michael, Bob & Linda flew ahead in the Piper Lance & were directed to do a scenic route over Adelaide city to avoid the busy incoming traffic into Adelaide Airport.

It was great to see Aldinga Airfield in the distance & then finally feeling the bitumen under my wheels. We’d made it! Another goal down & another day closer to home. Just one more day of flying left & the weather is looking good.

It was great to have so many people there to welcome me & the team into Aldinga. A very special thanks to Evan John, President of the Aldinga Aero Club, for organising so many things for our stay & also to Neil & Linda Geddes for donating accommodation. I’d also like to thank David Hales, Peter & Ans Bakker, David Ellis, & Phil John for assisting us while in Aldinga.

Tomorrow we head home!

Over & out,

Dave.