Intech3 Founder and Managing Director, Todd Afford recently enjoyed some time away from the office, embarking in his passion of aviation while seeing some amazing sites across Australia.

With the Melbourne weather becoming colder, the month of May coincides with the start of the dry season up north which makes it the perfect season for flying. The route took in the wine region of Clare in South Australia, the famous Birdsville pub, the Stockman Hall of Fame and Qantas Founders Museum in Longreach, Hamilton Island, the Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Wagga, and finally back to Melbourne over a 13-day stretch and 2,850nm of flying. Todd has been a keen aviator for over 25-years and been passionate about aviation his whole life, so this is his perfect idea of some time away from the office.

Todd said, “I have always been an advocate for our dedicated staff at Intech3 to take their annual leave and recharge their batteries throughout the year. Travel is such a great way to do this and broaden your horizons and thinking, and it’s often in the periods of downtime away from the hustle and bustle of life that you reset your goals and come up with the most creative ideas for the business.”

Whilst it is difficult to pinpoint a single highlight of the trip, walking through the Boeing 707 at Longreach was surreal. It is fitted out as a corporate jet and in its heyday, Michael Jackson chartered this jet whilst on tour. The likes of John Travolta have also flown in the jet as he purchased his own Boeing 707 from Qantas in 2002 and has recently donated it to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society’s museum in Shellharbour, New South Wales. “To land our 1956 Cessna 180 and taxi up to the display location where the Boeing 707, Boeing 747 and Super Constellation planes are on display was surreal. To learn about the Qantas founders was inspirational and epitomises the great Australian spirit. They were true pioneers and overcame many obstacles to fulfil their amazing vision of developing a new form of transport and connecting Australia to the world. From a business perspective we can all learn from these amazing founders, Hudson Fysh, Paul McGinness and Fergus McMaster.”

The ultimate destination of the trip was Hamilton Island which was the first time Todd has visited the Whitsundays. “We took a cruise out to Hardy Reef to snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef for the first time which was amazing. We also took a flight over the reef and saw the famous Heart Reef and Whitehaven Beach from the air.”

After several days relaxing the journey back south started, with a visit to family friends in Sunshine Coast and then onto Sydney. Not done with the adventure, there was a whale watching cruise to fill in a day, before flying the Victor 1 scenic route along Sydney harbour and finally departing for Tyabb via Wagga. Already next year’s trip is planned with the Coral Coast of WA, Ningaloo Reef, Broome and the Kimberly region on the agenda.

Back on deck now, Todd is excited to finish the financial year strongly and will start FY25 with fresh energy and enthusiasm after this well-timed break.

Footnote: Todd is a flight instructor, and if this article has fuelled an interest in aviation, he would love to hear from you.