The Flying Caravan 5....England to Croatia
"Peter and Polly Vacher, from Didcot near Oxford and where VH-JXB has been parked for the past week were most hospitable. They took us punting on one of their local rivers, a tributary of the Thames River. Punting is not for the faint hearted and they wondered why I declined to take my camera equipment on board. It is a bit like a flat gondola and easy to become unbalanced. The oarsman stands on the back of the raft and pushes it through the water with a long steel pole. It was soon pretty obvious that you needed to keep your feet still or else we would have all ended up in the water. Great fun....but very easy to get wet! I think we need to leave Brian there for more practice! I'm sorry there are no photos, I was too busy hanging on!!"
"Polly and Peter became friends with Ross and Lyndal when they hired Ross' Dakota, learned to fly in Canberra in the 1990's and then flew it all around Australia. They promptly went home to England and bought one for themselves!"
"We stayed for a few days at Swindon in Stanton House....a 1930's Manor house that has been bought by the Japanese and converted into a hotel. The grounds were beautiful. It is actually owned by Honda who have a huge plant nearby."
"The old and new architecture has been magnificently combined. Trust the Japanese!"
"I wandered into the church to take a few photos
and found a wedding in progress...."
"Many old churches have been locked up and left, so it was good to find one still being used."
"The hotel had some very colourful gardens....many making use of the humble geranium. They are bold, tough and colourful!"
"The bridesmaids all arrived in this VW with the open roof!
....and along came the bride in another. It seemed such a relaxed and happy wedding and what a wonderful setting."
"We spent four days around the Cotswolds and stayed at a 12th century Manor House in Gloucestershire that had been well restored. Some parts were busy....we got caught up in a music fest that left us sitting in traffic for longer than our patience allowed....and then enjoyed the empty country roads and pub hospitality that England does so well. We hired a tiny little car....no big ones left in England and zipped around!"
"After a week relaxing in the Cotswolds, England we regrouped for the next legs of our journey."
"We have our own arm of 'Wheelies with Wings' in Australia and Suzie Duncan from Melbourne has designed equipment to allow people with severe disabilities to fly a small aircraft. Many people use Suzie's aircraft modification worldwide. Polly's trips brought attention to this group and has helped to raise funds. More money means more people can participate!" http://www.wheelieswithwings.com.au/index.htm
"Polly and Peter farewell us from Didcot, and after a fuel stop at Oxford, we head over the channel to France. We went over the top at London Heathrow and listened to the inbound traffic. Glad that we are above it in the relative calm! Then out over congested skies to Troyes, (pronounced Twa with a cropped 'a'), a short distance south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated in the champagne growing area of France where they hand pick all their grapes in just 12 days, and has at its heart an original medieval village!"
http://www.ot-royes.fr/welcome/index.htm
"Away to France...."
Troyes, France....
"Peter and Polly have insisted that we will all enjoy this area. They often fly over for the day. The countryside below is a wonderful patchwork of summer colours. They are not yet into vintage mode, the weather is superb and the views are amazing!"
"Our hotel here is in the heart of the old part of town. James the owner of the hotel is Irish and his wife is French. He is also a keen pilot and had us picked up by taxi and delivered to the front door. He is learning to fly and keen to hear our story. He hopes one day to use his licence to visit his family in Ireland. All of Europe is so accessible by light aircraft. This has been a real taste of France! He has given us a bottle of Champagne, which we promise to celebrate our arrival into Australia with! A most generous host!"
"The old town in Troyes, France. Troyes is south east of Paris. The countryside here in midsummer is a patchwork of green and gold. The old town is a tourist attraction with many lovely little eating places set outside in the lanes."
"Food superb! Eating in France was such a delight. They certainly know how to present food....I will start my diet in the next few days over the Middle East!"
"They are gradually rebuilding and fixing the old buildings, while still retaining the medieval character."
"We now know that because our entry and exit into India is fairly rigid, our timing needs to be designed to accomodate this. Damien is currently in Dubrovnik, Croatia and so we will pick him up and then head to Rome for Catalina, where she is still holidaying with her mother in Europe."
"We need 8 working days to plan our entry into India and then we have an envelope of 48 hours to execute it. So plan B is now in operation:
- Troyes to Marseille for fuel, then on to Dubrovik (5 hours)
- Dubrovnik to Rome (2 hours)
- Rome to Crete for fuel (5 hours), then on to Hurghada in Egypt on the Red Sea (5 hours)
- Hurghada to Bahrain (5.8 hours)
- Bahrain to Muscat (3 hours)
Next legs:
- Muscat to Ahmedabad
- Ahmedabad to Patna for fuel then to Chittagong in Bangladesh
- Chittagong to Pattaya, weather permitting
- Pattaya to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali
- Broome, Ayers Rock, Birdsville, Dubbo and Sydney (20th August)
Our track takes us out via Marseille for fuel, then over Nice, Monaco and Italy to Dubrovnik. Damien our son, is in Croatia, and the plan is to fly back from here to Rome to pick up Catalina his girlfriend, then on to Egypt via Crete."
"Definitely not the Simpson Desert!"
"The little pink aircraft is us taxiiing out at Troyes Airport!"
Outbound from Troyes:
"This morning out to the airport at Troyes and we got airborne fairly early.Three hours to Marseille and then over Italy to Croatia. We are bringing Universal now to help with the flight planning, as we will need their expertise on the ground. Refuelling and Customs will be much more difficult from now on."
"The track out of Marseille was flight planned at 9,000', but we were cleared along another lesser known route that kept the boys busy for a while updating our pre-loaded flight plan.
Other than that, uneventful. The weather was good, a few bumps over the mountains in Italy, but clear into Dubrovnik."
"Leaving the coast of France...."
"Over Italy and from the air, yet more patchwork quilts. Summer is a very pretty time as the farmers prepare for harvest. The vineyards look so green and lush."
The rich sienna colour of Italy....
"Out to sea now as we pass the coast of Italy. We had planned to spend some time in Sardinia and Sicily, but knew that ultimately this decision would depend on acceptance of our arrival time into India. Still waiting for this!"
"We encounter some fairly heavy turbulence over the hills that run down the spine of Italy, then clear across the sea to Croatia."
"It is interesting to listen to the various accents as we cross the borders. I have to say that everyone so far has been polite and helpful, and the French with their soft, lyrical and melodic accent , more than helpful. All waypoints use the phonetic alphabet to clearly indicate each town or waypoint, otherwise I think they would be lost with our accent too. Our interpretation of the sound of the names would be way off!"
"Corsica Island was on our route...."
"Dubrovnik Airport comes up under the nose....A well planned entry and exit to this airport."
"Little coastal villages hug the hills. There are many small islands in Croatia...."
"Dubrovnik Airport...."
"No wind...."
"Dubrovnik, Croatia - a town perched on the edge of the sea has rebuilt itself as a great tourist destination."
"Arrived into Dubrovnik to find a thriving tourist destination. The old medieval part of the town has been rebuilt since the attack by Bosnian rebels in the 1990's, much like The Rocks in Sydney. The weather is warm but beautifully balmy and cooler at night. Dubrovnik is sandwiched right against the sea with rocky hills behind. The township is quite undulating with great views of the Mediterranean. This is definitely a 'bucket list' destination!" http://www.photocroatia.com/traveltourism/croatia/adriatic/dubrovnik/
Our hotel was sandwiched against the sea....
"The Old Area damaged in the uprising in the 1990's, has been rebuilt and now has many restaurants and shops. It is very much like The Rocks in Sydney."
"A town very much in harmony with its environment."
"We have been flying heavily, so not too much time to write....."
Click Here to see the flight plan:
Scenic Joy Flight Adelaide
Imagine the joy and sheer romance of a gentle flight at 1,000 feet along the scenic Adelaide south coast with a delicious sunset as your personal backdrop.