Anyone interested in a helicopter flight to Wolfe Creek Crater WA?

[Nightshift]

Just a curiosity question at this stage. I'm wondering how many people would consider taking a helicopter flight to Wolfe Creek Crater just to see and photograph this spectacle? Perhaps even consider camping there overnight to do some serious photography and be picked up the following day?

Flights would need to leave from either Turkey Creek (Warnum) 131nMiles about 1:20 minutes flight in a Robinson 44 or from the Bungles (Purnululu) 100nMiles about 50 mins in same.

Of course you would need to be in the Kimberley region to start with.

The company I work for has helicopter bases for tourism flights at both locations and I would like to consider setting this tour up but am curious to know how popular you think it might be. Price would be the major factor of course, it is regarded as a long flight and I would think it would be in the order of $800 as a starter. For those not sure of the locale then put this in to either google maps or Google Earth. -19° 11' 127° 48'
Of course we could also do fixed wing flights there which would be faster and cheaper but you couldnt land without an airstrip so limited to viewing from aircraft only.

Interested in any feedback.

Cheers, Dennis.

[astroron]

Hi Dennis, I hope to be up there some time after March next year, and would be only going to Wolfe Creek by vehicle.
Your idea would be fantastic,but just a little out of my pocket range:(
I hope to catch up again sometime :)
Cheers:thumbsup:

[gary]

Hi Dennis,

It certainly would be interesting to fly over that area by air.

However, what you might be up against is that it so easily accessible by vehicle.
As you know, nearly all the visitors to the Kimberley are equipped with 4WD's
and though Wolfe Creek is a detour off the popular Broome, Gibb River Road,
Halls Creek, Fitzroy Crossing loop, it is only a 300km round trip from Halls
Creek so we found it easy to do as a day trip.

What's more, once you are there, the car park comes right up to it and when you
climb up to the rim, it is pretty easy to take the whole thing in from ground level.

By contrast, only the most fit with lots of time on their hands would be able to
completely take in all of the Bungle Bungles by foot, so the helicopter overflights
are compelling there because they provide the opportunity for the average person
to see what they otherwise never would have seen.

You would have a better idea than I as to the number of tour operators that
go into the Bungle Bungles these days but I would guess that this demographic,
without their own personal vehicles, might be a more likely target. One senses
that many of the people who own their own vehicles, such as the ubiquitous
grey nomads, are traveling for longer but are more mindful of their budget and
actually take some pride in the fact that the investment they have made in their
4WD will readily get them to somewhere like Wolfe Creek.

It has been a long time since we visited the crater and when we did we were the
only ones there. We were of course compelled to visit because of the interest
in astronomy. The only other people we encountered that day on the road out
from Halls Creek were a couple of fruit quarantine guys who sat out at the
intersection of that track that heads down to the Gibson desert and some
locals whose vehicle had broken down and who we gave a lift back to Halls Creek.
Since the horror movie, the place undoubtedly attracts more visitors but I certainly
recommend you try and determine how many it is getting per day at the moment.

Good luck with the venture!

[Nightshift]

Good feedback Gary but the numbers suggest you're not quite right. Yes I am sure many of the Grey Nomads are on tight budgets, I personally travelled around Aus in 1997 and was on a shoestring, couldnt imagine doing a flight like this then. However, we cant keep up with demand as it is now, air tourism is booming in the area, we have 7 bases in the kimberely alone, each of them booked to capacity, someone is cashed up, the sheer number of flights from Turkey creek to the Bungles tells us that indeed many many people either dont have a four wheel drive or are reluctant to use it to get to the bungles and other remote areas, I really really wanted to go to Wolfe creek back in 1997 but my car was on LPG and I couldnt get the gas to do the trip. Have a look here www.slingair.com.au (http://www.slingair.com.au) for a list of some of our current flights. I am not asking this question to beat up business, I couldnt care less, I do the ICT for the company I am not invovled in the tourism side. My interest is in taking like minded people to the Crater, no one is doing tours to it and I think it would be a unique experience.
cheers, dennis.

P.S. Hi Ron, yes I am very overdue for a visit. Soon I hope.

[gary]

Hi Dennis,

Great to hear that things are booming up there in the Kimberley.
The more people who get to see and experience it, the better chance it
might have being protected in the future.

If I were King for a day, I would turn it all into World Heritage Area.
It is certainly among the most spectacular and beautiful places on the planet
and should be protected for generations to come to enjoy and to be in awe of.

The first trip we did to the Bungle Bungles many years ago, there were no
helicopter operators out of Turkey Creek. The only one's we saw providing
flights were a couple of enterprising very young lads who were camped out at the
Bungle Bungles themselves where they had an old Bell helicopter, like a Bell 47, with
one of those classic all-bubble fronts.

They had their tent and their billy on the fire and there was zero waiting time.
They were great lads and the flight was a wonderful seat-of-the-pants experience. :lol:

As we pulled a couple of G turns through the narrow valleys, the pilot
pulling back and forth with the controls and the blades
going whack, whack as they fought at the air, the in-flight commentary
went something like this, "There are over 650 plant species in the park ....
(blades going whack, whack as we bank away from another canyon wall), ...
"I can name about two". :lol:

It certainly was all about the flying then. :lol:

Then a few years later, we returned to Turkey Creek and couldn't believe
the difference! There were lots of people, helicopters going in and out of there
and it had become very competitive.

Even then though, there were no operators at places such as Mitchell Falls.

So with the booming market, all you can do is give it a try and put up on
the boards at Turkey Creek a travel alternative which is to go to Wolfe Creek.
Perhaps you may even get some people who have visited the area before, "done"
the Bungle Bungles flight, enjoyed it and are now after something different.
So the target audience may not be limited to amateur astronomers, but
may encompass that class of tourist who are "cashed-up".

One other quick anecdote. When we went to Wolfe Creek many New Moons ago,
as we scrambled down into the crater, my traveling companion managed to
take a tumble, landed in a spinifex bush and came up looking like a porcupine.
Poor thing, the needles are very sharp and were sticking out of her legs
everywhere and she always relates the name Wolfe Creek to falling into that bush.

Good luck with it and please post a follow-up should Slingair take up your idea
and offer flights to Wolfe Creek!

[RobF]

Just make sure you top up with petrol/deisel before driving to Wolfe creek. Most expensive fuel prices I've ever seen out there! ;)

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: cant be as bad as NZ at the moment , I was there a week ago and it was between $2.20 and $2.50 a litre , :shrug:, horrendous price !!!
Brian.

[JB80]

This is something I would totally be interested in but not sure if it we would get that way for a number of years.
It would be a great way to see it that's for sure, definitely special.
When it comes to the price I don't see it as overkill, sure it's not cheap but it's just a little over that for a scenic flight for an hour in the Barossa in an R44.
I assume the price would be one way though wouldn't it?

I'd definitely keep this in mind anyway if we went up that way.
I think it's a capital idea.:thumbsup:

[iceman]

We stopped at Halls Creek on our way to the Bungles, and could see from the map we were 'kind of near' Wolfe Creek Crater.. I certainly wanted to take the detour down there but I couldn't convince our guide :)

[Nightshift]

Pricing would need to be determined but the $800 I guesstimated would be a return flight, we dont make a habit of leaving tourists in the bush if we can help it. ;) Of course seeing as the crater is closer to the Bungles than Turkey Creek we could even build a package to do the bungles and then the crater in the same flight. Anythings possible if it's affordable. We curently only fly R44's from both bases but we are geared for JetA1 out of Turkey Creek so using a Jetranger or EC135 wouldnt be out of the question, just makes it more expensive but they have bigger seating capacity so shared costs can come down.

I will mention it to our Marketing manager and see if she thinks it's worthwhile. As it is a National Park we would need permits to create a helipad and land there, it all costs money.

Cheers, Dennis.