Witnessing Natural History

Picture chronological order is from the bottom up

Fogged in at Shepparton (our two aircraft are at the far end)

Flight line (our aircraft is in the foreground) at the disused airstrip

(unserviceable aircraft is on right being tied down)

Approaching Wilcannia NSW just North of the Darling River (on the

way back to Broken Hill from the Paroo River)

Flying Over the Paroo River

Paroo River Wetlands

Paroo River System

"Back o' Bourke" (on the way to the Paroo River)

White Cliffs Opal Mining Town (on the way to the Paroo River)

Glenn and I at Swan Hill, Victoria

Hello Everyone,

Firstly, I would like to say that our Jess continues to inspire and evoke memories of an incredible few months. This inspiration led me to embark on a little adventure of my own.

When my flying club out at Tooradin, Victoria invited a bunch of us to fly up to Broken Hill NSW, I was thrilled to bits and accepted. So Friday before last, Glenn (a pilot mate of mine) and I were the first to get off the ground at Tooradin and tracked due North over the Cardinia and Sylvan dams past Lilydale and then on to Kilmore on a generally North Westerly track to Swan Hill and Broken Hill. We decided that I would fly up and Glenn would fly back.

It was at Kilmore that we met our first challenge in the form of a lowering cloud base and a rising ground - net effect is cloud on ground so there was no way we could have gone through that ! I decided to do a 180 and head back to Lilydale where I thought we would land and wait for the weather to clear.

It so happened that when I looked over my shoulder, there was a brilliant ray of sunshine right in the centre of the weather system. I doubled back to Kilmore and headed straight for the hole and managed to get around the weather and as we continued to Swan Hill where we decided to stop for a leg stretch and catch up with other flyers, the weather became progressively better.

The rest of the flight up to Broken Hill was reasonably eventful, dodging isolated rain showers and low cloud but nothing too daunting.

The highlight of the trip was the next day when we flew North East of Broken Hill to have a look at the Paroo River and its series of drain lakes. It was on our return that we were advised that this vast catchment has had water in it only twice in the last 200 years ! This is only the third time in 200 years that it has literally flooded ! See attached pictures.

The trip up saw one of our club aeroplanes make an emergency landing at a disused strip about 60 miles south of Broken Hill. This was due to an engine failure. The two pilots on board did an incredible job, not only staying in one piece but also keeping the aeroplane intact. All the emergency training kicked in and literally saved them from possible serious harm.

On our way back, the lot of us decided to visit the disused strip and help tie down the unserviceable aircraft and marvel at the true "Back o' Bourke". This resulted in us not having enough daylight to make it all the way back to Tooradin the same evening so two aeroplanes (Glenn and I included) decided to divert to Shepparton for the night.

We woke up the next morning to thick fog and 2degC temp. Long story short, we only left Shepp at 2:30pm and finally landed back at Tooradin just before 4 pm. What an adventure !

I am attaching a few pics. I hope you like them.

Again I say this - this pales in comparison to what Jess had to go through but I just loved it. The various challenges, flying over vast desolate areas, marveling at the incredible landscape in the floodplain and just the sheer joy of being in the air was a one of a kind experience.

Have a great weekend everyone

Jonathan

Coping With Post Jessaholic Euphoria

Hello Everyone,

The number of emails in my inbox over the last few weeks reminds me of my days (or shall we say decades !) in the corporate world. Except for the fact that in those days, more emails meant more stress and pressure. Here more emails translate to more positive energy. So, I say we continue to stay positive and in doing so, continue to focus on Jess' great achievement. The best thing we can do is totally ignore the naysayers and detractors and not even bother mentioning them.

I had the distinct pleasure of catching up with Clint last Saturday and spending an hour and a half chatting with him about our experiences and journeys. Here's a picture of the two of us having coffee and muffins.

I hope the Vics can get together sometime soon for another catch up session.

Good luck everyone,

Jonathan

Forging New Friendships - Thanks to "One Tough Cookie"

Hello All,

I must apologise for disappearing off the radar for a while - running a business essentially means the buck stops with me (hear that Kev?!) and amongst other reasons, it was just too difficult to get away.

The moment that touched me the most was when Jess stepped on to land for the first time in 8 months and wept in the embrace of her family. I think it reminds us all of how important the people near and dear to us are and how we should treasure them.

Anyway, I have read each and every email and blog entry with avid interest and it is truly amazing how much goodwill and positive energy there is amongst all of you who travelled to Sydney and all of us who could not.

Janell, I am really happy that you made it to Sydney and that you had a good time with everyone there.

Hi Collette, you were a stunner in that interview - took it in your stride and looked like you had been doing TV interviews all your life ! Same for Janell and Sam.

I will be more than happy to continue this blog as a meeting place for all of you who wish to continue to share thoughts and experiences and enjoy each others company. Who knows, maybe someday, we could write a book based on this blog !

Have a great weekend everyone.

Cheers

Jonathan

Converging on Sydney for Jessica's Arrival

Hello Everyone,

Looks like its all coming together. Travel safe everyone and have a wonderful time in Sydney.

You couldn't want for better weather, especially up in Sydney, so make the most of it !

Cheers and Good Times

Jonathan

Heres to Amazing Progress by Jess (and Amazing Sunrises !)

Hello All Jessaholics, and I mean ALL Jessaholics,

Our Jess is more than halfway across the Bight and before you know it she will round Tassie.......I'll leave it at that for now as we need to start rationing out the excitement lest we go overboard (cliche ! cliche !). What !!?? Who am I kidding ??!! We were overboard from day one of this voyage !!

What strikes me about this community is how much positive energy everyone has and more importantly shares with everyone else. Just think about it......if it were not for Jessica, none of us would know each other or have the opportunity to share experiences of all kinds with each other. One of the really special things about this community is how well we respond with words of comfort and encouragement if needed !

On a personal note, please forgive me for not checking in more often than I should. My warehouse move got put back by a couple of weeks due to my ankle injury and since I got back on my feet, I have been pushing myself very hard to get everything set up the way I want it. The good news is that its almost done and consequently, you will see me more often here.

Lastly, I have included a picture of sunrise in Melbourne on 22 April 2010. I just happened to lift the blinds on my kitchen window at the perfect time.....ran to get my camera and squeezed off about 10 shots....this is the best one. I hope you enjoy it.

Good luck and warm wishes to all,

Jonathan

Hi Everyone,

I've just had a look at Jess' latest post and it looks like she's quite the fixer-upper and has done so well to get Ella's Pink Lady shipshape for the last and exciting leg of this incredible adventure.

It looks like all of us Jessaholic landlubbers have been busy as well - getting to know each other and celebrating Jessica's adventure by meeting for lunches and dinners. This is number two luncheon for the Vics and although, much to my regret, I was unable to make it, I was thrilled to see that the Vics have grown in numbers.

Back west, Sam organised dinner for Jessaholics in the Perth area and they look like they had a ton of fun !

Here are pictures of the two groups.

Vics Luncheon Picture 1 : L-R Chris and Sally by the Bay, Bruce, Ailsa, Faye, Tony L, Max, Peter, Collette and Clint.

Vics Luncheon Picture 2 : Jessica's crew

WA Dinner Picture 1 : L-R Tony, Sam, Jo and Paul.

WA Dinner Picture 2 : "Starboard Tack"

Good luck everyone.

Cheers

Jonathan

The Excitement Grows (Project Tony L - the Latest and Greatest !)

Hello Everyone,

Our amazing Jess is in Aussie waters ! The excitement grows ! Lots of speculation as to her arrival date which adds to the suspense of it all.

More exciting news : Here's the latest picture of Tony's project. Its so real that its unreal ! I can't wait to see mini EPL with mast and all !

Good luck all !

Jonathan