Australia is a laid-back country full of friendly and relaxed people. The hospitality of the locals is legendary, they will bend backwards to help you and just say no worries, mate. This is a cliché, but in fact we have been treated like this down here. It’s rare to find the friendliness of people you meet here in everyday life – of waitresses, hotel staff, shop tenders or whatever – anywhere in Europe. Still this is nothing compared to how nice and generous we have been treated by fellow Mooney pilots here in Oz.
Unfortunately Australian authorities are not as relaxed with their rules and regulations. @AnthonyQ had already warned us that ‘Australian aviation bureaucracy is some of the worst in the free world’. I’m not here for long enough to tell how much truth is in this but at least CASA can keep up with EASA and LBA when stupid rules have to be made up. And some airfield regulations rival the nuisances GA pilots complain about in the UK. We were prepared, though and to our great relief not everything was handled as strict as we had feared.
Arriving in Australia
While we enjoyed the beautiful weather during our crossing of the Timor Sea, there were showers all around when we reached Darwin. We were on an IFR flight plan for the last time for a while but ATC at Darwin, YPDN seemed to be used to small aircraft. They vectored us to a clear area and offered us a visual approach from there.
Approaching Darwin
Final to shortened 29
Although it’s not mandatory, we had contracted handling for our arrival at YPDN and it was a good idea to do so. Like in the USA C&I require you to taxi to a designated area and park in a marked rectangle. You have to stay inside the aircraft until they clear you out. Moreover, Australia is very strict about not bringing any pests into the country. No unpackaged foodstuff is allowed and the aircraft has to be disinsected. All this is documented in the AIP but with references to countless regulations and therefore having someone knowledgeable organizing all this is of tremendous help.
We worked with Rob of Jet Aviation and can highly recommend his service. He sent us all the required forms, including a ‘Disinsection Certificate’ with instructions how to do it. We had already bought appropriate spray back in Germany and learned that we had to use it prior to departure in Dili. We even caught the process on camera.
Disinsecting the aircraft in Dili
On the ground everything was much more relaxed than we had expected. We taxied to the designated area where our agent waited with two officers. We had to hand over the empty spray can through the pilot’s window and were allowed to leave the aircraft. We eagerly declared that we had some packaged coffee and tea but were just told that that’s OK. We showed our passports and as we had applied for visas electronically, no stamps were required. We were good to go after five minutes. We taxied to parking in a terrible shower, secured our aircraft and took an Uber to town.
Australia’s British heritage is more or less obvious in different aspects, but it is very obvious when it comes to pubs. Drinks and meals are sold over the counter like in the UK. We had arrived at the sixth continent with our Mooney and we celebrated that with a beer at the pub.
After landing beer
Counter meals (note the beetroot on the hamburger, this is Australia 😀)
The ASIC Card
One nuisance that makes flying in Australia really difficult for foreigners is the requirement of an ‘ASIC’ card. You have to have this card and display it at all security controlled aerodromes, which most are. To get it a background check has to be performed and we initiated this well in advance. CASA has outsourced this process to several private outfits you can choose from. We got in contact with these agencies months in advance but it turned out to be difficult for them to understand our case. Most other pilots apparently want to rent Australian registered planes and therefore need a validation of their license. That we needed an ASIC card but no validation was hard to explain. Anyway, after a lot of back and forth, we found an agency that was able to help us. They did the background check before we arrived in Australia. However, they would only print the card after an identity check was done on Australian ground. This could be done with one of their partners, which was an FBO at Darwin airport.
We did the identity check immediately after arrival. It normally takes three working days to print the card but then it will have to get to us. The issuing company is based near Sydney while we were in the Northern Territory and unfortunately we learned that even express shipment from Sydney to Darwin takes four working days. With countless phone calls and emails Mrs. terbang could speed up the printing process to one and a half days, but of course speeding up Australia Post was beyond her powers.
We took a rental car and explored the area. It was the beginning of the wet season and downpours in the afternoons were the norm. But this didn’t mean it would get any cooler – the heat was oppressive. While Darwin is a pleasant city, there is not too much to do around unless you’re prepared to drive really long distances. We went to see jumping crocodiles (well…), drove around Litchfield National Park (highly recommended), saw the aviation museum (a must for pilots), inspected underground tunnels from WW II (if you have time to burn) and went for several walks to see mangroves and beaches (sweaty affair). BTW, swimming is not allowed between October and March because of the deadly box jelly fish and dangerous year-round because of the salties.
Croc approaching
Croc jumping
Termite mounds at Litchfield NP
Waterfalls at Litchfield NP
Darwin Aviation Museum
WW II underground tunnels
Mangroves
Beach near Darwin
Darwin from the Charles Darwin NP
Finally, after exactly a week, the ASIC card arrived. It was a great relief, as we weren’t even able to get to our plane without this card. We left Darwin the next day to start our Australian flying adventure.
The ASIC card
Leaving Darwin
Thank you! This is just the right stuff to raise the mood on cold and rainy december days. Many greeting from EDRY.
As usual, fascinating and top notch report!
Thanks, and sure looking forward to the next installments 
Aaarrrghhhh….. the dreaded ASIC card !! I had to deal with that nonsense some years ago – what a nightmare that was! I rented locally and, as you have found out, they only start printing the card once you’ve been ID’d within Oz. Now, at least you were in one place for a while, we, at the time, were not. It somehow caught up with us…
Anyway, looking fwd to more of your adventure!
That is some serious touring! :-) Will you be flying back with the wind?
Dan wrote:
As usual, fascinating and top notch report!
Thanks, and sure looking forward to the next installments
Thank you 😊 I’m working on it. We’re waiting out cyclone Jasper here in North Queensland. It is raining since Tuesday!
loco wrote:
That is some serious touring! :-) Will you be flying back with the wind?
Unfortunately against the wind. The Pacific is too large a pond for us to cross.
What a great trip, that’s inspiring. Thanks for th report!
What an adventure!
This reminded me of a G-reg which flew to Australia and its Annual ran out, and the UK CAA wanted several k to send 2 inspectors down there, 1st class tickets (this was a long time ago). The pilot stuck his middle finger up and moved it to N-reg and off he went 
But seriously you would have lots of trouble doing these trips in an EASA-reg. Lots of “faxed authorisations”…
From the Top End to the Red Center
The northernmost part of the Northern Territory, around Darwin, they call the Top End. It’s a relatively humid, tropical area but it gets drier quickly once you move away from the coast towards the center of the continent. We thought it was a good idea to visit the arid center first and leave the more southerly parts for the height of the southern summer but this didn’t mean that temperatures in the center were pleasant beginning of December – it was hot.
We were eager to enjoy another kind of flying from now on: no permits, no Excel sheets with accurate dates, no funny shirts and no IFR flight plans anymore.
Our route to the Red Center
Our first stop on the way south was Daly Waters Airfield which has an interesting aviation history. Today its ICAO code is YDLW but it’s not an AD that’s listed in the Australian AIP any more. The runway is deteriorating but it’s still good enough for a Mooney and there is still a historical hangar.
The Stuart Tree is the main attraction to be seen on the ground. A tree that was most likely already dead when the famous explorer and first traverser of the continent rested here in 1861. Much better is the Daly Waters Pub, a watering hole ol’ Stuart could only have dreamed about and probably not even that.
Leaving the Top End
Lush green landscape close to Darwin
Crew looks more normal again
Short final at YDLW
RM in front of the historic hangar in Daly Waters
Tourists come from afar to see this site: the Stuart Tree
Daly Waters Pub from the outside
The pub is tastefully decorated inside
While it was still quite green around Daly Waters, it got really dry on our next leg to Ayers Rock Airport, YAYE. Sites on the way are Kings Canyon and (usually dry) Lake Amadeus. There is a little Aboriginal community nearby, but of course YAYE serves visitors to the iconic rock in the outback, almost exclusively. The AD is uncontrolled but it has instrument procedures. There are several operators doing scenic flights with helicopters as well as with Caravans.
YAYE is parking PPR and process to get the permission is a bit cumbersome. Not only were there lengthy forms to fill out, they also required the number of the ASIC card and its expiration date to be sent beforehand, otherwise they would not accept us. Once on the ground somebody would check the card before the gate access code would be disclosed. However, everybody was relaxed and extremely friendly once again.
Accommodation in the area is monopolized. There are a couple of places to stay in different categories, but they all belong to the same company. The value you get for your money is what you would expect in such a situation. There are no taxis, Uber or other means of transportation, except for buses that connect to the commercial flights.
Getting drier and more red on the way
Kings Canyon
Lake Amadeus
Short final 13 at YAYE
Booking accommodation
Being a good tourist
There is a special procedure published in the ERSA (Enroute Supplement Australia) which has to be followed to see Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) from the air. It prevents you from getting too close or too low as the rock formations are of spiritual significance to the Aboriginal people. Moreover, the procedure is designed to prevent collisions between aircraft doing the scenic flights and to allow passengers seated on either side of the aircraft to see the rocks. The procedure comprises a couple of teardrops and turns and two level changes. We did it twice, once when we arrived in the afternoon and once when we departed in the morning. We hoped to get good light from different positions, but in the end it didn’t make that much difference.
The Rock form the West
The Rock from the North
The Olgas from the North
The Olgas form the West
From Ayers Rock we turned East towards Birdsville, YBDV in the Great Australian Basin. It was interesting to see the landscape change slowly once again during this flight. First it was arid but not completely treeless, then came the really desolate Simpson Desert and finally a bit of vegetation came back in the Basin.
The Stuart Highway connecting Darwin and Adelaide
Trees survive in dry river beds
The Simpson Desert is completely empty
Birdsville
Birdsville in Queensland is a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. There is a famous horse race taking place there, but it’s in September. There is not much to see during the rest of the year. However, there is another famous outback pub there, right next to the airfield.
The Birdsville Hotel (Pub), can you spot a little Mooney in the background?
Another business that din’t survive COVID 😉
Aircraft may be visited to wish them a good night
at the small risk of repeating myself, WHOAA!
And thanks
