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Aviation History
1935
1935 - 0827.PDF
APRIL II, 1935. FLIGHT. 397 LORD SEMPILL DESCRIBES THE CAPE YORKE TO PAPUA SECTION OF HIS FLIGHT THE next stage of my flight to Cape Yorke—the northernmost point of the Australian Continent— being just too far for the range of my machine, i decided after leaving Townsville to land and take on a full load of fuel at Cairns. It is noteworthy that just before arriv ing there one passes over fnnisfail, which is probably one ol the wettest places in the world, as, on an average, rain falls on 300 days in the year, the total rainfall being very heavy. This is especially remarkable, seeing that con ditions in the country generally, even a few miles to the north and south, are quite different, droughts for long periods being not infrequent. the aerodrome at Cairns is unlicensed, Mr. MacDonald, to whom I have previously referred, being largely responsible for such facilities as it provides. It is actually a dried mud pan and, provided there is no rain and no spring tide, it makes a good landing place. After rain, however, it is dangerous, but efforts are being made to improve it. A 600-mile Hop AFTER filling my tanks to capacity in preparation for • the 600-mile flight to Cape Yorke, I set oh once more, the petrol company's representative having kindly supplied me with some sandwiches and a lhermos flask of tea. I also took on board a supply of oranges, as in the extreme north there is no fruit of any kind at that season. Alter Cooktown, which is about 100 miles north of Cairns, there is no intermediate landing ground, and the population, which is confined to a few natives, is very sparse. The flight from Cairns to Cape Yorke was, for the first few hundred miles, not nearly as interesting as it should have been, as the visibility, due to the tremendous dust storm that was drifting over from Central and West Australia, was very poor. To avoid these conditions would have meant flying at well over 8,000 ft., an impractical course in view of the strong headwinds at that altitude. The coast line in those regions is in places very moun tainous. An interesting feature is the gradual change in the colour of the sand which, from a normal golden hue, changes to pure silver as one proceeds northwards. There seemed to be very little animal life, and such birds as I saw, which were of an entirely indigenous type, appeared to keep to the little island lagoons. Pearling Luggers VY7 HEN within 150 miles of Cape Yorke I came across a ** number of pearling luggers, manned mostly by native crews. The weather cleared a little when 1 arrived at Cape Yorke after 6J hours' flying, and I was able to find the landing strip which had been prepared by Mr. Vidgeon, who is a grandson of one of the great Australian pioneers, Mr Jardine, a member of the family concerned with the setting up of one of the greatest business houses in the Empire and certainly in the Far East—that of Jardine, Mathieson and Co. Before leaving Brisbane I had obtained all possible information about Cape Yorke and the site of the landing ground, but so little is this part known that I was pre pared for certain discrepancies in the information sup plied I found the ground was not very far from a station owned by Mr. Vidgeon, who is much to be congratulated °n al] the hard work he has put in in his spare time to pre- The Homeward Journey pare this landing strip, which has good approaches from each direction. The work involved must have been tremendous, as it not only entailed cutting down thick bush and grubbing out the roots, but, what is even more arduous, the remov ing of numerous anthills. These anthills resemble remains such as those at Stonehenge and average 12 ft. in height, with a diameter at the base of about five feet. The earth of which they are constructed is packed so hard by the insects plus the action of the wind, sand and rain that it needs a pickaxe to make any effect on them. So industrious are the ants that special precautions have to be taken, otherwise one finds that the hills are speedily rebuilt and the ground, which may be quite suitable one day, is quite unfit for use the next. Immediately I landed I was met by Mr. Vidgeon, and we pegged-down the machine in the most sheltered spot. Among his other interests, Mr. Vidgeon is the representa tive of the Vacuum Oil Company, and although he has a station on the mainland his headquarters are on Thursday Island, which used to be the centre of a flourishing ptai! and pearl shell industry. He had brought me over supplies of fuel and oil, and I spent the next day in preparing the machine for the crossing to New Guinea. This involved a good deal of work in getting rid of the dust which had adhered to all parts of the machine and found its way through the engine cowling and into the cabin. There was no opportunity of getting into communica tion with the outside world, as we were unable to go to the cable station, which would have taken half a day to reach on foot. Before landing, however, I had located and flown over it so as to let them know I had arrived. Over the Sea HAVING spent a very interesting day with Mr. Vidgeon and his friends, whose kindness I shall long remember, 1 took on a full load of petrol for the 400-mile sea crossing to Port Moresby in Papua. Faced with a strong E.S.E. wind, I found the take-off quite easy. As the wind tended to increase I allowed a bit more than was, perhaps, neces sary for the north-westerly drift, and aimed to strike the coast to the south-east of my objective rather than drift too far to the north of Papua. After flying about a hundred miles, one comes to the Great Barrier Reef, which runs for some thousands of miles. Before reaching this reef one passes numerous coral islands and sunken reefs, which are just awash or covered by only a few feet of water. It is easy to see how islands that may at one time have existed sink below the surface when the coral dies and goes through a period of regeneration ; this may explain why certain of the islands marked on the maps of Eastern Australia are not to-day in evidence, or are only exposed at the lowest tides. In some cases I could see the outline of a coral formation which repre sented the shape of what was probably once an island with vegetation growing on it. After crossing the Great Barrier Reef one passes another reef about fifty miles farther on, which takes the form of a Wellington boot, and is appro priately known as Boot Reef. Continuing, I soon sighted the high mountains of Papua, which rise to 15,000 ft. or so, and eventually made the coast a little to the south of Port Moresby. Turning north, I soon saw the landing ground, a two-way strip, with a " Fox Moth " standing on it. I landed, and found this to be one of the Guinea Airways' machines.
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