Mostly Mareeba Air Show

This morning we woke slightly later as we had been up early, 0100, for almost 2 hours to watch the Australian Wallabies beat the South African Springboks  14 to 9. In the first half we thought the Wallabies had succumbed to a superior team, however, that turned around in the second half. The Rugby World Cup will be again an interesting event, next month.

Anyway, we were ready to leave the Caravan Park by 0830 and drove the short distance to Mareeba. Our first stop was to be Coffee Works. It certainly has beautiful coffee and other 'naughty' goods like either  chocolate or muffins. It will be the final time we go there unless there is an unexpected return to Mareeba.

After we left Coffee Works, we drove back onto the Atherton Road to go to the Mareeba Aerodrome in anticipation of the Mareeba Air Show. Part the way along there was an alternative road which I had used last year. It avoided the large number of vehicles turning directly from the Highway into the Aerodrome. We were into the parking area in no time at all. We parked the Mazda and then walked towards to main area.

In the main display area there where numerous older cars of ages varying from 1924, a 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 OE type sedan, up until around the 1970s, which were Mustangs and Cadillacs, etc.

Also in the main area, were numerous food and refreshment stalls mainly run by organisations like Rotary. There were the usual burgers, sausages, chips, ice creams as well as wood fired pizzas. Almost everyone was catered for.

Roulette display briefing

At precisely 1100, there was the inevitable sound of  turbine aircraft approaching. It was heralding the arrival of the RAAF Roulettes. They certainly know how to arrive on scene and ignite everyone's interest.They gave a great display of their manoeuvres both as a team and as either a pair or a single aircraft. Their display would have to be world class. All the pilots and ground crew are all very easy to speak to. It was evident by an incredible line of people wishing to not only speak to them but also have memorabilia signed by them.

During the day, we were entertained by displays of great flying by pilots from around Far North Queensland. They flew a variety of aircraft but predominately they were former RAAF trainers such as the Chipmunk, Harvard, Winjeel, Nanchang, P40 Kitty hawk and US Navy T28 Trojan. There was also a Yak 18. Also a trio from Tully, Tully Rockets, who are flying formation in recent times in some slick aircraft. 

On display were some other aircraft like a replica Spitfire that is being manufactured in Mareeba along with a Savannah and others. Another was what looked like a modified twin engine Drifter but is known as the AirCam amphibian.

A special event was to observe the start up of the old Douglas Dakota or in civilian terms, DC3. It is not flyable but the aim is to restore this wonderful old aircraft.  The two radial engines were started to allow everyone to hear, see and smell the atmosphere of this great old aircraft.

The displays were very well organised and there were verbal descriptions that told us about the routine that each aircraft was to go through. For a small aviation community, the organisers need to be congratulated on the whole presentation.

After we left the Mareeba Air Show, we returned to Tolga  to the Peanut Place. We sample the various flavours that were added to locally grown peanuts. We did purchase several packs to take with us.

Soon after we left the Peanut Place, we travelled over the road I cycled on yesterday which went to the little village of Kairi. Mainly I wanted to check out more roads to cycle on. we will probably drive on these roads again in the next few days.

So we ended back in the Caravan Park after a lovely day out on the Atherton Tablelands.