Upside-down

Wow. What a way to start the day.

When we were doing our research about what to do in Robe (Spoiler alert: not much), we noticed that there was a guy with a 1947 Tiger Moth biplane who will take you on either scenic or aerobatic flights.

So we duly booked online (well, sent him an email) and headed off to Robe Airport this morning for our appointment. Airport is, perhaps, an overly generous name for what turned out to be a strip of slightly-cropped grass and a couple of hangars.

Still, Ross was there with his Tiger Moth, as promised.

We'd all decided we'd do the aerobatic trip, but a last-minute change of heart for Mme Tepeka and the girl child saw them opt for the scenic tour on their respective goes. But the boy child and I both went for the full monty.

The flight basically involves you being strapped into the front of the two-seater plane (rather loosely strapped, I thought) and then taken out for a quick jaunt over the coastline of Robe. Then back to the airport for a few loops and plunges and stuff, before a wobbly return to terra firma.

The loops were amazing. Slower and smoother than being on a roller coaster, and thanks to the somewhat loose straps, there was a real feeling of falling from your seat. I'll never forget it - an unbelievable experience.

The pic is of the boy child getting ready to head off, plus his plane taxi-ing to the 'runway'. And there's a shot from my flight over the coast. Stunning.

After the excitement of the morning, we clambered into our car and drove another three-and-a-half hours to the charmingly-named town of Port Fairy.

Tomorrow, we press on to Apollo Bay, getting closer to the bush fires. The road we need to take on Tuesday is still closed, so that could be interesting...