Byron Bay and BrisVegas

Flight hours: 3.7
Study hours: 0
Aviation Reading: Aiming High

A good friend of mine lives in Brisbane whilst another is taking a short holiday on the eastern most point of Australia, Byron Bay. What a perfect excuse to take a short break and fly myself up the coast to visit them and score some free accommodation.

The Sydney area had quite a lot of low cloud hanging about, however it was forecast as fine and sunny along the coast up to Brisbane. The clouds wouldn't present a problem as they were high enough for me to fly the Sydney lane of entry and soon after, I would be descending to 500ft to pass the Williamtown military area, which would then open up into better weather.

My trip today would take me to Tyagarah, a grass landing strip right on the water near Byron Bay. I planned to fly coastal most of the way, with only a detour around a restricted area used as airforce firing grounds if it was active.

During the flight, I recorded the radio conversations as an opportunity to present my podcast listeners with a wide range of radio calls including GAAP, CTAF, CTAF(R), Class C, Class D, Sarwatch and Restricted airspace. I will put the radio calls together and publish it in the next podcast.

The sky was BKN55 (read: Broken cloud at 5500 feet) and I didn't have enough light to take good photos, so hopefully the trip back will present better conditions for photo opportunities.


The weather was much better in Byron Bay and after meeting up with my friends, we hung out at the beach and went for a swim, followed by some relaxing drinks at the beach hotel.

The next day, I left the boys, prepped the plane and flew up to Archerfield, the GAAP airport in Brisbane. I have never been to Archerfield before, so it was important to read all of the relevant material and instructions in the airport directory (ERSA).

I will be staying in Brisbane for 3 days before flying back home, but my next flight may be a scenic around Brisbane and the coast.