There are some things you do in your life that you know you will remember for the rest of you life and today was one of those days when we took a scenic flight in a Cessna 172 over the Katherine region. We had purposefully made the booking for the flight as late as we could because the photographer that I am wanted to get some late afternoon shots. We were booked for 5.00pm but as luck (or not) would have it, we arrived early and the pilot was waiting for us so we were in the air by 4.30pm. No sunset shots unfortunately but that in no way detracted from the magnificent scenery we saw in our one hour flight. Our pilot, Leslie, took a photo of us in front of our little plane before we embarked on our journey.
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| Katherine Airport |
Arriving at Tindal Domestic Airport was a little strange. There is just one small building that houses a passenger waiting area and toilets. That's it. As there are no commercial flights in or out of Katherine I should not have been surprised. The airstrip however is another thing altogether as it is a share arrangement with the Tindal RAAF Base.
The runway is huge and as we flew over the Air Force base Leslie pointed out the triangular shape runways. This is so that three runways can be used at the same time. It was quite extraordinary. The dome shaped hangers that you can see in the photo houses fighter jets. At the moment there are only three based at Tindal but that will all change with the joint collaboration with the USA commencing in 2026/27 when the Americans will be moving a lot of their fleet to Tindal.
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| RAAF Tindal. Domes are to house Fighter Jets |
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| RAAF Tindal Base |
It was quite warm in the little Cessna with a temperature of 30 degrees but the flight was not bumpy at all which is what we might have expected at that time of the day. We flew at around 5000 feet that was the perfect height to get a birds eye view. As we left Katherine we flew over a large mango orchard but this is a baby compared to the ones north of Katherine. (We will see them tomorrow on our way to Litchfield.)
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| Mango Farms |
It took no time at all before we were flying over the Katherine Gorge. Katherine Gorge is just a small part of the National Park that covers more than 20,000 square kilometres. Certainly the largest in Australia. The gorge itself is not just one gorge but thirteen gorges and you really get a better idea of the structure of the gorge from the air.
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| Katherine Gorges |
After the gorge we made our way to Edith Falls. This is a beautiful spot that we visited by bus many years ago but once again the air perspective is so much better where you get to see all three waterfalls and ponds. Edith Falls are around a 45 minute drive from Katherine.
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| Edith Falls |
We then flew over the Mt Todd Gold Mine that has only recently re-opened. Vista Gold has owned the mine since 2006 after it was closed in 2000, and it is the largest undeveloped gold mine in Australia with 7.8 million ounces of gold.
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| Mt. Todd Gold Mine |
Our pilot then turned our little plane back towards Katherine for our return. Katherine from the air is also a bit of an eye-opener. The town has a population of 10,000 with a quarter of that number working at the RAAF Base. We flew over a massive solar farm that powers 75% of Katherine and there are hopes to expand this farm as it has proved to work extremely well in this part of the country with sunshine 90% of the time. We were amazed at how well Katherine is laid out but then again the town of Katherine has been moved three times after floods so the town planners have had plenty of experience at getting it right.
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| Katherine's Solar Farm |
We absolutely loved our flight today and have vowed to do as many more as possible on this trip. It is awesome to see things with a birds eye view and gives a much greater perspective of the area you are sightseeing.
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| A perfect landing by our pilot, Leslie |
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