Forrest... a great place to overnight.

[sixtiesrelic]

Most pilots who do the journey between Kalgoorlie and Ceduna refuel at Forrest.

 

If you ever get the opportunity to drop in there? DO!

 

 

Forrest can only be described as a? settlement?? It has a population of two. It sits on the train line and highway way out in the Nullabour. The only native trees there, have been planted by man.

 

There isn?t any grass as we know it, but the ground is covered in low herby mostly prickly shrubs that seem to glow with a velvety sheen when looked at in some directions. Watch your sox, those prickles are tenacious and many have given up and chucked their sox after being careless.

 

The whole place is on a limestone sheet which is full of fossils of shells. You?ll easily find them in many of the bits of rock strewn about those plains where ever you walk.

 

The aerodrome is an emergency one for 737 / A320 size aircraft doing ?extended range operations? and require a ?suitable airport? within an hour?s flight in case of engine failure.

 

The large igloo, historic, hangar was used by the old three engined De Havilland Hercules on their long flights between Perth and Adelaide in the 1930s.

 

Then, the aircraft taxied into the hangar where the engineer could do maintenance while the passengers and crew sat in comfort to have a restful meal after hours of getting bashed about by the thermal turbulence.

 

There were accommodation blocks beside the hangar for over-nighting personnel in the old days, but now there are five comfortable bungalows three hundred metres away in the ?Township?. One is the converted old school house, from when the place had a population.

 

We paid $127 each, for a great stop over which included air conditioned four bedroom houses, with fully functional kitchen and laundry, a four seat, four wheel drive Hilux to use to drive to the aircraft or for an explore of the area?s historic meteorological and railway stations.

 

 

Dinner was planned for either around the camp fire or in the warmth of the veranda. It was a thick hot meat filled pea soup, camp oven cooked lamb, spuds in alfoil from the fire and vegies followed by puddin. This went down most satisfyingly, as we?d been eating sporadically up to then and when the evening did it?s rapid desert cooling, we chose to return to the enclosed veranda after having ?a couple? at the open air fire.

 

We were fairly tired from the hectic pace we?d had up to this time and were asleep early so we could get up for the dawn light and more photos.

 

We could have had a hot breakfast but chose the toast, serial, juice variety to save time which wer were given as we went off to bed.

 

Part of the tariff was a cut lunch that was delivered just as we left.

 

Sue made sangers for six of us, big generously, filled ones, on fresh, home made, whole wheat bread.

 

Brenden and Dan served them on the KAL to PH route when David?s mother, uncle and cousin joined us so there were nine served and we couldn?t eat them all!

 

 

The hangar wasn?t quite large enough to fit the DC-3 but we could have pushed most of her in if we felt the need. (We easily moved her with seven people the night before to push her away from the refuelling area at Mt Gambier believe it or not).

 

Overnighters park in there for peace of mind normally.

 

The tiny terminal has all it?s walls full of business cards left from visitors and photos of some of the aircraft that have visited, although many photos have been put in photo albums to make room for the cards. You?ll find friends and aircraft you know in this museum. Plenty of tourist mementos are for sale too.

 

If you plan a visit, make sure you allow enough time in the arvo and again next morning to enjoy all there is to experience at Forrest? we didn?t and we were there from about 4:00PM till 9:30 AM.

 

 

[Uncle Chop Chop]

It is a great little place. For more info on the airport go to http://www.forrestairport.com.au/

 

 

[Guest wiz310]

I lived there for two and a bit years, when it was a working camp. the BBQ area was built right in front of my house, by myself and a couple of the others in the camp. the BBQ should still bear our names in the concrete on top. There was five families on the railway side and four on the Met side when we lived there. we left to be in a bit more civilized place when our first child was born. Last time I flew through there, there was a lot of infrastructure missing. all our houses were bulldozed into a big pit that was the rubbish dump, just behind the houses, when the camp shut down not too long after I left. very sad to see

 

Its a magical place and you have to spend time there to really appreciate it.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

Yes Wiz, your sense of smell and hearing improve and you get to have time to notice "little things"