I cruised at 7500ft From Lilydale to Port Whelspol (avoiding controlled airspace). The sky was relatively cloudy and the wind coming off the dividing range was very unsettled. At one stage I thought I would probably try another time and return home. However at Port Whelspol I was able to climb to 9500ft and everything became perfectly still. The rapid change of view and the quickly increasing immensity of blue water would suggest that I was doing a considerable speed. The sky was fairly hazy and visibility was reduced. There was a strong northwesterly wind helping to go south at 130kts.
At the end of Wilson�s Prom I met Seal Islands, the first group and my first reporting point. I went on a 10 min reporting schedule and this correlated pretty well with the patches of land met during the trip to Flinders. Hogan Island was covered by clouds and hardly visible. Kent Group was pretty small and Craggy Rock was like a drop in the ocean.
Flinders Island was visible from quite far. Spotting the aerodrome was fairly easy and landing into the wind only required the length of the piano key. Taking off against a wind of more than 30kts was quite impressive.
The break was welcome for a little stretch and refueling. On the way to Hobart I only needed 51L and it made me happy to think of returning without any stop.
Tasmanian coast is quite close to Flinders Island and after you pass over the aerodrome on Cape Baron Island there is only a small patch of water until you meet the shores of their bigger southern sister. On a clear day from this altitude you could see the east, west and south coast.
From Ben Lomond to Cambridge the trip was very bumpy. It was getting towards sunset and becaming cold. The ATC in Hobart asked me twice to confirm that I will be turning downwind for runway 27right. I think he thought I was too tight in the circuit. However he was quite impressed with my �short field� landing, laughed in a friendly manner and wished me good night.
The return was with nothing less spectacular. Southern Tasmania was a little cloudy and rainy but the Tower cleared me for 8500ft and handed me over to Launceston ATC. Soon I had to climb to 10500 to maintain cloud separation. Everything was perfectly still and the place where I lived in the last five years looked so familiar and dear.
Over the sea, when I left controlled airspace I descended to 8500ft and returned to Melbourne/Lilydale staying slightly to the west of the chain of Islands. The wind was a little less favorable and it slowed me down a bit. Though I made it back with a very big grin on my face.
It took me then one and a half hours to drive back home and to my disappointment, I took longer than my fianc�, who flew the commercial flight.
