Flyabout

D: Monika Petrillo

“Isn’t there something amazingly beautiful about facing your fears and taking the plunge? Because even if you walk away with a black eye, your life will be enriched forever,” monologues Petrillo, as the Australian outback’s natural landscape unfolds like a painted dream below her single engine, self-piloted airplane. Leaving an unsatisfying job in L.A. and having recently acquired her pilot’s license, she and her family venture Down Under. Her plan is to circumnavigate the continent in an airborne version of the Aboriginal walkabout. Petrillo’s most startling companion on the trip to self-discovery is the land itself: The composition of Australia’s truly wild wilderness as it is laid out in scene-stealing detail. As heartfelt as Petrillo’s story and mature commentary are, the breathtaking shots of naturally sculpted rock formations and vast forests seen from an aerial perspective capture the most attention, let alone Australia’s famously oddball wildlife that inhabit these wondrous settings.

1:45, Dobie

This article appears in March 17 • 2006.

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