DAY 15 - APRIL 16, 2000

A PILOT’S POINT OF VIEW

“THE AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE CONTINUES”

We are now in Sydney, Australia, the halfway point of our adventure.

We have flown 12,500+/- NM and 30+/- hours. We have enjoyed perfect weather throughout the entire trip. The aircraft has performed as designed.

My biggest concern in planning the trip was whether we would be able to get the altitudes necessary in order to make the ranges needed, and the low fuel burn to cover some of the long over-water flights. Praise the Lord: Universal Air has been successful in getting our required altitude assignments – 41,000 feet and 43,000 feet. The aircraft has outperformed its published specifications.

The aircraft is being serviced at Cessna Aircraft Australia in Bankstown, a suburb of Sydney, prior to leaving on Monday for Christchurch, New Zealand.

Steve Dennis is a pleasure to have as my co-captain. We complement each other with our knowledge.

The flight to Christchurch is scheduled to take 3:00 +/- hours, and 1150 NM.

We plan to stay longer at Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland in order to spend more time visiting and resting from time zone changes.

We are praising the Lord for our travel mercies.

“God is still in the prayer answering business.”

-CAPT. JIM KNUPP
N 488CP

DAY 16 - APRIL 17, 2004

SUNNY AND SOPHISTICATED SYDNEY

WOW! That’s about the best word to describe the city of Sydney – the shining star of the Southern Hemisphere and gateway to Australia. Its physical beauty is so breathtaking you don’t realize there are 4.1 million people living here.

Everything in Sydney revolves around its huge deep-water harbor with 27 bays and inlets, which give many residents the opportunity to live on the waters edge or have a harbor view. It’s not surprising that house prices here equal to or exceed those of the Bay Area in California.

The town has a beat and energy like New York City. (Could that have anything to do with the huge vein of coal lying 1,000 feet beneath Sydney Harbor?) The city is a swinging place, with British order and a blend of British, modern and Aussie architecture. There are so many things to do and see here you could spend a week easily.

Our group is on free time today - we do whatever we want to. For Jerome and I that meant a Harbor cruise by day and going to the symphony at the Sydney Opera House tonight for an evening performance of Mozart, Martin and Mendelssohn.

The Harbor cruise took us past the Opera House, and areas from the city’s historical past. We sailed by the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Governor’s house with its concealed garden, Fort Dennison (punishment island), and Pinchard Island where a criminal was hung and his skeleton was left to hang in the wind for 4 years as a warning to others. There was Garden Island, site of a British and Aboriginal fight. We passed Goat Island where 18 year old Charles Anderson of England was sent for 7 years for being in a brawl in a British pub and breaking windows. There were other prisons as well, which are now obscured by multi-million dollar homes fronting the harbor.

The symphony tonight was wonderful, with almost all the 2690 seats of the Concert Hall filled. It’s obvious the people here enjoy culture and the arts.

We learned later that all of our trip mates also took the Harbor cruise. Adventuresome Lynn and Steve went on to climb up the Harbour Bridge (imagine climbing to the top of the Bay Bridge and back down).

Tomorrow we’re off to the world class Sydney Aquarium, the 984 foot Center-point Tower, and who can only guess what else.

Good Evening from World Class Downtown Sydney,

-MELANIE BLAHA