An insight into the career of HeliSpirit’s Chief Pilot

John McAuliffe or better known as ‘Banjo’, shares some insight into his career as a helicopter pilot and life in the Kimberley.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, are you Kimberley born and bred? If not, what brought you to the Kimberley? If so, tell me a little bit about childhood in the Kimberley – what was your favourite pastime as a kid?

I was born in 1970, in a little town in Western Queensland called Muttaburra and grew up (still growing up..) on my parents’ sheep and cattle property, north of Aramac – 100 kms east of Muttaburra. The hospital in Muttaburra is a museum now.

My siblings and I completed primary school by correspondence through Charleville School of the Air. My secondary schooling was completed at boarding school – ‘Nudgee College’, Brisbane. When I graduated, I had two choices for further education. 1. – Mechanical Engineering at Capricornia Institute, Gladstone or 2. Cert 3 in Animal Husbandry at Longreach Pastoral College (LPC).

The call of the bush was too strong, and I chose LPC. By the time I finished at LPC, I had turned 19. I wanted to go and work on a sheep stud in NSW, but Dad convinced me to ‘head north’ to the Kimberley. He assured me I would have much more fun as a young bloke. He was correct.

On 13th March 1989, I arrived at Camballin to work in the stock camp, with two mates from LPC and 7 others, all a similar age. Really, when you think about it, my brother and I (he went into the Gulf Country of QLD) were being conditioned to this type of lifestyle as children, mustering as soon as we could ride a horse or motorbike.

What are some of your first memories of the Kimberley?

The stark contrast of the scenery coming from the drought effected rolling plains country of Western QLD, to the end of ‘the wet’ in the Kimberley. (There was a cyclone that had come through at Easter that year. We had to ride our horses bare-back because we were in constant water in the flood plains of Camballin).

On the way to the West Kimberley, we had to wait at the Victoria River Crossing and then ford the West Bains River, as we drove through the East Kimberley. We had never seen so much water.

How did you come to be a helicopter pilot?

I spent 2 years in the stock camp at Camballin and then, on my 21st birthday, was offered the Head Stockman’s job at Meda, another station near Derby. With a change of ownership during my second year at Meda, I thought I would return home and become involved with the family property. The property could not, however, support all of us, so I thought I would try my hand at flying helicopters for mustering. I had befriended Peter Leutenegger, who owned Fitzroy Helicopters, based at ‘ Liveringa’ Derby, during my time in the Kimberley.
I asked him “if I get my helicopter licence, would you give me a job?” He said “Yes”. You could say he gave me my start in aviation.

I see you have a background in aerial mustering, is this something you still get to do in the tourism quiet season?

I have tried to keep my hand in, and I have to admit, it is something I enjoy and I find it easy to fit back into, so when the opportunity arises I jump at it. My wife does not share the same views. The mustering season and our tourism season are at the same time, as they are dominated and controlled by the ‘wet seasons’. We have such a temperate climate up here, we are not governed by the generic ‘four seasons’ – summer, autumn, winter and spring.

Tell me a little bit about a normal day’s work aerial mustering?

Typical Day Mustering Circa 1995

Breakfast @ 4.00am. Roll my swag. Meal at fireside
Airborne at 5.00am. Take Head Stockman or Manager to show me the area to be mustered. (There was not the fences and paddocks that are in place today). Drop them off at the stock camp and continue mustering. It was the norm to fly ten hours a day and leave that job to meet the next stock camp that afternoon.

We lived out of our swags, only really getting back to base for maintenance. Let’s face it – the mustering season was only 8 months of the year and that was our only opportunity to earn money. We were paid by the hour.

Does this offer a “view” of the Kimberley that is unique to the job? Can you describe that feeling or experience for me?

This job was special to me because I got to see and experience The Kimberley area, like very few have. I was able to meet the characters that books have been written about and, as an amateur historian, was able to appreciate what the locals and pioneers had to endure to open the Kimberley up. This, coupled with my desire to be involved with the pastoral game, completed the perfect picture.

As I write this, I remember this time of my life as carefree and fun. I was 24 and bullet proof, doing a job I enjoyed and was competant at.

In your early days as a pilot did you ever expect to be flying city folk around the Kimberley?

No, I did not. I did not believe I had anything to tell or show people, but I did not take into account that The Kimberley ‘does that for you’. I learnt that later. In fact, sometimes when you are showing people something you spoil the moment by speaking.

What is your favourite thing to show or tell visitors new to the Kimberley?

No two areas have the same landscape and I like showing off our rugged rocky landscapes, that will display different colours at different times of the day. Also, areas of historical significance. Karunjie Jump-Up or Kunmunya, for example. Or old grave sites (‘Lonely Graves’)

What response do you get from visitors when they first see the Bungles or Mitchell Falls from above?

Quite often, they are awe struck and you must take into account that all visitors have travelled a long way to get here. Most times, they have seen other amazing places in Australia and yet the Bungle Bungle and Mitchell Falls never let us down in normal circumstances.

How would you describe seeing the Kimberley from the air for the first time to someone that had never experienced it?

An area of rugged ranges and fertile river plains, with a coastline that, while has a certain beauty, hides the lurking dangers. We do have our extremes here – floods, high tides, sparsely populated areas – and this is the intrigue that brings people here. It did, me.

How is seeing the Kimberley from above different from seeing it from ground level?

It always helps people with their bearings and realisation of how vast the area is, they are visiting.

When you’re not working how do you like to blow off steam in the Kimberley? Do you have a favourite swimming hole, hike or something else you like to do in your down time?

You would think that after making a living out of my swag, that would be the furthest past time from my mind. But with a wife and two daughters, who enjoy the outdoors and outback, camping is always the family favourite.
I do have the luxury of ‘scoping out’ good sites in the helicopter. There was a period, in the girls’ life, when it was quite the norm to go camping in the helicopter. (This always fitted in with base visits and they could come along with me)

How did you get the nickname Banjo? Is it a love of storytelling and poetry?

The name originated while I was at LPC and as some of my cohorts came with me to Camballin. That is what I was called and the name ‘stuck’. I do not have a musical bone in my body and have not resorted to prose yet.