Warrumbungles via Coonabarabran – June 2019

“The Mountains are Calling and I must Go” – John Muir.

It had been 3 years since my last Warrambungle mountain adventure flights and after much conversation with Steve Campbell I decided to once again make the trip north and fit in some adventure flying between work shifts. Flying commercial passengers on Tuesday morning before hitting the road and driving 4 hours north to Coonabarabran at the foothills of the Warrumbungle National Park and the famous Siding Springs Observatory we were greeted at the motel by the biggest group yet for the trip.

5 Balloons made the trip this year: Nathan Allen – Kavanagh 90, Steve Campbell – Lindstrand 105, Dean Larkin – Cameron 105, Paul Brittliff – Kavanagh 90 & Steve Gianniotis Kavanagh 77

With greetings out the way we ventured into town for dinner at the local pub and to organise a plan for the following morning based on the available weather forecasts and launch sites keeping us away from the un-retrievable Pilliga state forest. After much discussion we decided we would head straight to the south of the park and try fly into the park and out to the north, with a departure time set we made tracks for the motel to get some sleep before the first big flight.

Day 1

Day 1 was kicked off with a 1 hour drive through the park to the small town of Tooraweenah and after setting off a pibal elected for a roadside launch adjacent the small airfield. Some changing drainage winds made for some laughable inflation’s but before long we launched into the sunrise. Steve Campbell and myself set into a fast climb to 5000ft to find the right to head towards the park. Having to climb to nearly 7000ft we found a great direction and a lovely speed of 25 knots. The mountains were soon illuminated by the sunrise which was nice with the -3C temperature that was present. Steve dropped down to try find some better direction in the valley below. Dean launching a bit later had now caught Steve and decided to follow him on the low valley run. We decided to stay high and ride the speed north and after and 1.5 hours cleared the mountains and dropped down to run towards the highway intersection to meet the retrieve crew. This made for some lovely social time as we chatted with farmers along the road and got some advice on good properties to set down. We finally found an open area near a feedlot and landed with a gently 5 knot tip over. Steve & Dean had by this time changed plans and jumped back into the high winds to head towards us landing about 20 minutes behind us with some more adventurous 18 knot landings.

Later that afternoon we ventured to the Siding Springs Observatory for a wonderful social gathering and watch the sunset over the national park. This was a fantastic end to a big first day.

Day 2

Day 2 was forecast to be the lightest winds of the week and after a short drive into the park we checked the winds and elected to take off from the bottom of the Siding Springs mountain and track to the south to land at friendly farmer who Steve Campbell had met a few years ago. We were met with a very frosty surface inversion and after sunrise some very comfortable temps which allowed all 5 balloons to fly from the middle of the national park to the south. I elected to climb to 8500ft which gave some amazing views of the entire park with the small balloons scattered below. Having only found 11 knots of wind at height we descended back down and joined up with the other balloons before zig zagging our way to the south. After 2 hours we had all successfully landed at Doug’s farm and enjoyed a very enjoyable paddock party with the local farmers.

Later that afternoon we drove up to the Siding Springs Observatory again for a late lunch and an interesting tour of the telescope facilities. Big thanks to Sarah for organizing this and Doug for the awesome photo opportunities on the outside catwalk and maintenance gantries.

Day 3

Day 3 arrived and so did the winds. With a nice push of wind at the motel we departed for Tooraweenah to the south once again to meet up with some of the farmers who were joining us on the flight. After arriving at the airfield we were treated to a lovely cold inversion with some good speed at height. We quickly set up and got airborne with just myself, Steve Campbell and Steve G flying. With some good rotors present in the park observed by some lovely lenticular clouds we decided to run the outer edge and land out our favorite party corner. Not long after take off we had found the speed and had 20 knots plus in most layers. I dropped down with Steve Campbell following into the first valley finding some nicer 5 knot winds and viewing some awesome wedge tailed eagles soaring below us. As we approached the finally ridge line we encountered some serious mountain waves with speeds over 35 knots, at this time the crew had called advising the surface inversion was gone and we had at least 15 knots on the surface. Once clear of the rotors we descended quickly to the surface and started scoping out landing options. All 3 balloons managed to find some big clear fields away from trees and crops with some very sporty 20 knot landings. Following a quick pack up we headed to party corner for our last champagne celebration on what was another epic adventure flight.

Before long we departed back for the motel and with a quick pack up of our gear and some goodbyes we hit the road for home. A great trip away with all 3 flights successful and to enjoy the adventure with some great friends made the experience that much more rewarding. I look forward to the next Warrumbungles mountain adventure in the future!