Moreton Island – Straddie – Gold Coast – Mount Warning – Scenic Rim

In May 2021 I took Tim along with his old schoolfriend Seb and Seb’s father Valther on a scenic flight down the coast and along the NSW/Qld border. The border ranges are also known as the Scenic Rim because they form the rim of a extinct volcano caldera, with Mount Warning being the volcanic plug at the centre. There are other volcanic remnants as well like Mt Lindesay but Mt Warning is the most impressive, also because, being located close to the eastern most point on the Australian mainland (Cape Byron), its peak is the first part of the continent to be touched by sunlight every morning. Tim had been hiking quite a bit around the scenic rim so it was good for him to see the area from the air. It’s also one of most spectacular areas I’ve flown over and I always remember my first flight along the border with an instructor from Redcliffe and being amazed at the rolling green hills and the villages dotted in between the volcanic remnants.

We started by pulling MSF out of the hangar at Redcliffe as usual and decided Seb should get in the front.

We took off and followed the coast around to Bribie Island.

Crossing the bay to Moreton Island we passed over Tangalooma Resort.

Flying down the west coast of Stradbroke Island we soon approached the Gold Coast. I obtained a clearance to enter the control zone but wasn’t able to fly down the coast to Tweed Heads as I’d planned. Instead we were directed inland from Burleigh Heads to stay clear of traffic arriving at the Gold Coast Airport.

We could see the airport and Coolangatta/Tweed Heads in the distance as we flew down the western VFR corridor.

That brought us directly to Mt Warning.

After doing an orbit over a friend’s house at Round Mountain near Kingscliff we tracked inland, following the border as far as Mt Lindesay.

It really is spectacular countryside.

From Mt Lindesay we tracked up past Beaudesert and over the top of Kenmore and The Gap before returning to Redcliffe.

Valther took a video of the trip and spliced the best parts together, adding some music as well. Thanks Valther.