Through the Eyes of a Wombat

Yes, it has been a while since I've posted.... what can I say other than that i've been sheltering under trees and in swimming pools trying to escape temperatures around 45 degrees...

I'm still in Sale at the moment, but back to Canberra soon. I had a flying visit to Canberra the weekend before last, literally, hiring the Airtourer from down here and discovering the energy and eficiency benefits of travelling point-to-point by air. The drive to Canberra takes somewhere between five and six hours, and usually leaves me feeling quite tired by the end of it all. However I was able to have a leisurely lunch here in Sale, drive to the airport, fly to Canberra in a little under two hours, go out for a coffee, and still not feel any more tired than after driving from Uni back to my little nest!

Caught up with a few people whilst in town, but oh did I discover the complacency I had developed from being used to driving a car around Canberra. I had the entire weekend without a car, so found myself learning more about the bus system than I'd ever known before, including the fact that if you are still in Civic after the last bus has left, it will take about 85 minutes to walk back to where I live. Not bad, but not so good when you're in a hurry, either! Oh well, its all good exercise in the end!

What was going to be a quiet afternoon with Elli before she left to spend a few weeks at home turned into an adventurous afternoon, with another friend finding herself locked out of her house a team of four of us discovered new and exciting ways to get inside, mainly using two folding ladders, a courtyard, and a sympathetic neighbour. Some plans for a fun event in the somewhat near future were discussed, but no more detail - you never know who will be reading these pages! Its supposed to be a secret!
Anyway, I was up bright and early Monday morning to call in at uni and see a couple of people rather urgently before back to the airport with every intention of flying back to Sale.
The weather wasnt good, and was set to deteriorate all day, so I had to be off the ground soon to get ahead of the weather.
Sadly, by the time I was lined up at the end of the runway for takeoff, my window of opportunity had passed - conditions off the end of the runway were so bad I couldnt see Queanbeyan. (yes... thats not necessarily a bad thing, i know!)
Three hours and countless cups of coffee drunk while watching the weather radar screen later, I decided it was a lost cause, packed up and went back to my apartment, not defeated, but alive and willing to try again in the morning.
Canberra had more rain that particular afternoon than it had had in the entire year 2005.

I was able to leave the following morning, and returned the aeroplane with minimum fuss... only to try the whole experience again last weekend!

This time, however, the destination was Naracoorte, a little farming community in South Australia. My old flying instructor's family was having a gathering for someones birthday, and I was asked to fly him and his wife across... this was a good idea because I would get a heap more hours at below cost, but a bad idea because I would have to spend two nights in a strange place with people I didnt know too well, and their extended family....
After looking at the thunderstorms marching across the country on Friday, I put my foot down and said firmly that I wasnt going to fly today, he eventually decided (after much convincing me otherwise) that he wasnt prepared to risk it either. We left the following morning, which meant I had only 24 hours of boredom instead of 40.

The trip was good, though half of Victoria being on fire meant there was smoke everywhere, and we found ourselves in a position to watch a small bushfire spark itself into existence, and radioed the fire brigade from the aeroplane.
Cruising at 10,000 feet across the state was lovely - temperatures down to about 20 degrees made for a very pleasant flight, but descending to land and getting out of the cockpit in 43 degrees on Saturday and 44 on Sunday was certainly a shock to the system. It got to 45 three days running.... Its times like these I wish I was back in Japan, where they still have snow falling!