City-to-city commutes by seaplane between Sydney Harbour and Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra have now moved a jump closer with the start of trials to assess safety and noise.
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Just after 10am on a perfect morning for flight, the Cessna passenger plane rose from the mirror-still water of the west basin of Canberra's lake to test the waters for full commercial flights.
It circled round the lake, over the arboretum and Parliament House, before landing smoothly ten minutes later.
"The trials will give us a really good feel of what to put in the license for the seaplanes and also help us finalise the Lake User Guide," Sally Barnes, the chief executive of the National Capital Authority, said.
The NCA is the planning authority for the central, parliamentary area of Canberra and it has to address concerns about safety - what happens, for example, if there are a bunch of kayakers on the landing stretch of water?
No final approval has been given but Sally Barnes exuded positivity: "So far so good."
She thought the early concerns had been diminished by people talking to each other.
"Everyone's a bit more settled that this is not about displacing people. There can be coexistence," she said.
The chief executive of Sydney Seaplanes, which wants to operate the service, said if the pilot spotted people on the water at the Canberra end, the plane would divert to the airport.
Like the NCA chief, Sydney Seaplanes' Aaron Shaw also exuded enthusiasm: "It's an hour flight. There's no airport hassle. It's beautiful. We are creating one of the world's great commuter services here."
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The plan is for three return flights a day. The first one would take off from the airport but the other two from the lake. There would be nine passengers per flight in the single-prop Cessna. Each passenger would be allowed 10 kilos of luggage. There might be in-flight nuts.
Mr Shaw thought the café at the National Museum of Australia could serve as a departure lounge.
He estimates the commercial service could be running later in the year - he thought in the spring - assuming the NCA grants the license.
Apart from Sydney Seaplanes, another company, South Coast Seaplanes, is also interested in using Lake Burley Griffin. South Coast Seaplanes is thinking more about the route to the south coast.
Sydney Seaplanes is being coy on prices beyond saying that fares would be competitive. In the past, they've been quoted as saying $300 a single ticket might be the mark.
Its flights would usually take off from the west basin of the lake, as did the flight on Wednesday (in order to test noise levels on Commonwealth Avenue bridge as the plane took off).
But there has been opposition. Canberra Yacht Club, in particular, has expressed unhappiness. It argued that having planes land where its yachts often sailed presented a "significant risk" to the club's "continued existence".
Mr Shaw said on Wednesday if pilots saw other people on the lake - say yachts or kayaks - the pilots wouldn't land. The planes have wheels as well as floats so they could divert to the airport.
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Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
