Erik Skye Travel Blog

11 Jan 2012

For the map, click here: Google Maps – Wizard of Oz

Car’s trip odometer: 5,400 clicks (km)

The Port Lincoln area reminds me of Southern California, but without the people. Its a dry gum tree-filled dessert along a beautiful blue ocean. There’s a vibrant fishing industry here (apparently Australia’s biggest) with harvests of prawns, abalone, sardines, and tuna. The tuna are towed to port in giant nets, sometimes from hundreds of kilometers away. Sharks follow, scavenging on bits and pieces that fall out of the nets naturally, or sometimes the sharks get aggressive, tearing at the nets and occasionally even jump into them by breaching over the buoyant surface rings. This is already Great White Shark breeding territory and those tuna hauls (and subsequent slaughter process nearby) bring them even closer to town. You can cage dive with these sharks if you want. The underwater scenes from the Jaws movies were filmed here.

Phil is a fellow pilot, now living in Port Lincoln, who I had previously been in email contact with because I was inquiring about General Aviation in Australia. Phil introduced me to his girlfriend Donna who was working in town and then took me for a flight in his nice Super Cub, registration number VH-KLI. We flew across Boston Bay and circled an area near town where we could see Donna on the ground waving up at us. We then headed for Jussieu to look for sharks in the surf. Phil says they feed on the salmon there and that you can see their dark bodies when looking down from the air. ‘That’s enough to keep me out of the water,’ I remarked. ‘Yeah, but the surfers still frequent this area,’ Phil replied. The surf was too rough to see through today, but the setting itself was worth the trip out.

There were a number of private grass airstrips among the broken gum tree forests and pastures, and Phil landed at one where we met James. This was a very interesting visit. There were two hangers filled with airplanes (i.e. two J-3 cubs, a Pitts, a Wichawk, a Super Cub, and a Vans RV6), a few of which James and his father rebuilt. The whole family flies too (including aerobatics; including mom). There were a number of quirky, fun themes about, such a boxing kangaroo flag (what Aussies use to still celebrate taking The America’s Cup from us in 1981), a flying saucer big enough to be child’s playhouse, a car converted to propulsion by modified engine/mount and propeller (fueled by vegetable oil), an old American Army jeep left from US forces during WWII, and a lot more. Everything was beautifully kept, and I left thinking that General Aviation is alive and well in this part of the world.

Boston Island is the most prominent island near Port Lincoln, and its owned by one person. I find that amazing, but I also keep hearing about how individuals (or families) own vast tracts of land in this country. So, I’m actually not that surprised. Phil said ‘but they don’t own the beaches’ and did a landing and takeoff from one.  Click here for the videos:  Phil's Beach Landing and Beach Takeoff 

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