Day 44 – Derby

Today is the day for our Horizontal Falls flight! We were both up promptly and I showered, dressed and had breakfast. Lynn just showered and dressed, being a bit too excited to eat breakfast. We were down to the kitchen to wait for our 8:15 pickup by 7:45 and we weren’t the first! Needless to say, today as we were all older passengers, everyone was there by 8:05. The bus rocked up and we were all on – the driver looked both surprised and relieved. By 8:40 we were at the airport and, after both aircraft were refuelled, we had a briefing and then boarded our aircraft. Apparently we were loaded by weight, and I ended up next to the pilot, Nick. Soon after we were off and had a clear flight up to Talbot Bay (where the Horizontal Falls are). We were off the plane and got morning tea and then boarded the boat for our first of two runs through the falls. We did a few runs through the wider of the two falls and had to wait about 15-20 minutes before we could go through the narrower one. We did a few runs through that and then along the arm of the bay, and then back to the pontoon we were on to have another morning tea and a shark feeding demo. Then we were out on the boat for a ride up Cyclone Creek (a misnomer, as it is a safe anchorage during cyclones). We met the resident large crocodile (“Bruce”) and then returned for lunch. I decided to take the helicopter flight and Lynn came along too. We got great shots over the falls as well as the pontoons used and the countryside around. Back at the pontoon we went on a few more runs through the falls (I used a telephoto lens this time) and then it was back into the aircraft for our run back to Derby. Back at the camp we went down for a last milkshake and berries and returned to the camp feeling rather tired and exhilarated. We had different neighbours again and again they were – noisy! We went to bed early and were very soon to sleep despite the noise.