Above the skies of Wollongong on Wednesday afternoon, two small planes were circling the city.
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They were not awaiting an arrival slot into Shellharbour or Sydney Airport, but were in fact at their destination, after a week-long journey from the Netherlands.
The two twin propeller aircraft, a Beech C90A King Air and a Beech B200 Super King Air had hopped from Leylstad, their home base near Amsterdam, to help broadcast the UCI Road World Championships.
In a trip reminiscent of the return leg of the Flying Kangaroo which linked Australia and the UK by air in the 1940s, the two planes took separate routes through Europe and the Middle East, stopping at cities including Brindisi in Italy, Zadar, Croatia, Cairo, Egypt and Muscat, Oman, before making two stops in India, followed by Bangkok, Thailand and then the two crews met in Singapore.
From Singapore, the journey continued, with refuelling in Bali, Broome, Alice Springs and finally arriving at Bankstown Airport.
The planes provided aerial coverage of the Men's Elite Time Trials on Sunday, and returned to Wollongong's skies on Wednesday for the team mixed relay time trial.
The company providing the planes, Zeusch Aviation, lists the Tour de France as one of the other major sporting events that are covered by plane, with live broadcasts fed from the air back to media centres.
The planes will then be in the skies for future races, before they make the week-long trip back home.
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