We
departed Polo Flat and headed for Lake Jindabyne in the
shadows of the snow-capped mountains to the West. This
is a relatively sheltered lake which is long and is aligned
with the prevailing southerly wind so its a good choice
on the frequent high wind days in the Snowy Mountains.
After
negotiating Lake Jindabyne it was on and up to Island
Bend Pondage and then Guthega Dam.
As
we climbed up towards Mt Kosciuszko we passed over the
eerily beautiful glacial Blue Lake which at 6,200ft is
the highest lake in Australia and just a bit small to
land on as the climb out at that altitude would be very
difficult with sheer cliffs on all sides!
We
flew past Mt Kosciuszko, Australia’s highest point
and then on to the most spectacular part of the flight
as we headed over the high country enroute to Khancoban.
Dropping
from Mt. Kosciuszko (7,700ft) to Khancoban (800’)
in only 25 nm called for a rate of descent of 300 fpm
for 25 mins! It was beautiful, the western sun filled
the cockpit, keeping us warm as we headed down, down,
down.
That
sinking feeling never felt so good! Fuel burn was about
3 litres per hour for this leg!
Heading
over the mountains and past Murray 1 Power Station the
inviting valley below with Khancoban pondage beckoned
us.
The township of Khancoban is located in a picturesque
valley and at only 800’ it felt about 20 degrees
warmer than half and hour ago on the roof of Australia.
It was strange to see people water skiing at Khancoban
when 25 miles away there is snow on the mountains. Alighting
at 800’ on Khancoban pondage slows everything down
– the indicated airspeed (IAS) is the same for all
landings but it is a noticeably slower approach and landing
(TAS) than the previous higher altitudes.
Almost
had time to order an in-flight cuppa on final!
Our
route then took us back up and over the mountains and
onto Tumut Pond Reservoir sitting just below the township
of Cabramurra.
The
climb out from Khancoban at 800’ back up to 7,000’
required careful negotiation of the mountain updraft to
maximise the rate of climb and maintain the engine temp
in the green range.
From
Cabramurra we flew to Tantangara via 3 mile Dam. This
is named for being 3 miles from Kiandra - a 19th century
gold mining area, a 20th Century ski field and a 21st
Century ghost town.
Next
splash in was at Tantangara pondage which is the highest
dam in the Snowy Scheme at around 4,000’ and is
one of my favourite places to visit in a seaplane. It
is very remote and one of the quietest places around (after
you shut down the engine of course!).
The alighting at Tantangara just after the Khancoban experience
was like someone had hit the fast forward button –
the approach seemed to be twice as fast as the Khancoban
experience even though the IAS was the same. Reminds me
that flying at sea level does have some advantages!
Last
lake on the trip is my regular play ground of Lake Eucumbene
which is only 15 nm from Polo Flat and has some extraordinary
characteristics (both good and bad) for seaplane operations.
On the plus side is the incredible size of the lake –
it is over 20nm from the Dam Wall to Buckenderra over
the water. In this length it is possible to do so many
splash and goes that you need to do a ‘100 hourly
maintenance’ before you get to the end! However,
the wind is very unpredictable in both speed and direction
– I have seen it blowing 20kts from the west and
5 miles away it was blowing 15kts from the South. It is
not unusual to have glassy conditions in the middle of
the lake and small waves near the edges – seems
to defy the laws of nature.If
it is too windy at Eucumbene a diversion to Lake Jindabyne,
just 10 nm away, usually pays off with more sheltered
water.
And
finally after a leg stretch at Old Adaminaby the fun has
to end and we return to Polo Flat after yet another memorable
flight. Fish and chips at the South Coast will have to
wait till next week.
It
sure makes you appreciate how lucky we are when experiences
like flying in this part of the world are a reality. I
thoroughly recommend any seaplane or landplane to come
up and enjoy the unique, unspoilt and uncluttered flying
experience of The Snowy Mountains.
