<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tom Forrest lives in the very small town of Wyndham in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/western-australia" rel="" target="_blank" title="Western Australia"><span>Western Australia</span></a><span>'s Kimberly region.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It has a population of about 940 people, one family-owned supermarket, a post office, a bottle-o and a local pool. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a dead-end town. You simply can't drive through it. It's the last town on the road, so it's a very tight-knit community," he said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/queensland-tropical-cyclone-update-easter-weather-forecast/425d59e0-3873-43f5-93c6-1177f710a526" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>'High' chance of cyclone developing off Queensland coast this weekend</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Forrest has to drive an hour to his nearest major supermarket and 10 hours to the closest major city, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/darwin" rel="" target="_blank" title="Darwin"><span>Darwin</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Living in the outback of Australia is beautiful, the community is amazing, the landscape is astonishing, but one of the real challenges we do have is how remote we live," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Regional flights out of [the nearest town] Kununurra have been really expensive.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/western-australia-tom-forrest-lives-in-wyndham/351c812e-bb34-48b6-8530-178f350bdace" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><blockquote><span>"The town, over the years, many times have asked for government support to get these regional airfares reduced, because it just makes it really, really challenging for most locals to fly out of Kununurra."</span></blockquote></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Forrest became inspired by outback pilots who use a small aircraft for their personal use, including his childhood friend's dad who would land his helicopter next to his home after a day of mustering.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To make his life easier, he decided to do the same. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He travelled 1000km to Darwin every fortnight for 11 months to train for his pilot's license before he was given the green light.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/dezi-freeman-sister-speaks-out-after-fugitive-killed-by-police/feeddbc0-6d8f-42ff-b368-1aaed025ad90" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Dezi Freeman's sister 'ashamed and angry' of police killer's actions</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Now, it takes Forrest only 15 minutes to fly to the next major supermarket in Kununurra.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said it has made everything more accessible for him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Having my own plane, having my plane license as well, just means that I can wake up in the morning, and if I have to, I can hop in my plane and fly to Darwin in an hour and a half, opposed to a 10-hour drive," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It also means that getting to the remote locations across the Kimberley, like Broome or the Bungle Bungles or even remote communities, has opened up and made everything a whole lot more accessible.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What would usually take an entire day to get across the Kimberley only takes two hours."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Forrest has shared his pilot journey on social media, where he also famously posts videos with his grandad for storytelling and sharing their outback living.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/residents-raise-concerns-over-flood-maps/cmnh83pkw002l0hur1zg7xb0m" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Residents raise concerns over flood maps</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That's when someone from the remote Indigenous town of Amanbidji reached out for help.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The small community, near the Northern Territory border, had been cut off due to cyclone-prompted flooding and was forced to go without any fresh produce for weeks.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Forrest did 100kg of shopping for them, loaded up the plane and flew to their town, where he was greeted by community members who received their first fresh food in weeks. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Where I can, I like to help out," he said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've had a lot of people reach out through social media all over Western Australia, people who live in rural, Indigenous communities who were there for work, asking if I could potentially help fly their mum from Broome to the remote communities."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-imposes-100-per-cent-pharmaceutical-tariffs/c1e4352a-4974-4d53-a333-daadbe68aa1f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Trump hits major Aussie export to US with 100 per cent tariff</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But with </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/fuel" rel="" target="_blank" title="increasing fuel prices"><span>increasing fuel prices</span></a><span>, which have sent diesel soaring past $3 a litre, each hour of flying costs him about $200.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For now, he has been forced to limit his plane use to necessary travel only.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's gone up significantly. So at the moment, I'm paying around $3.64 per litre, and the plane burns 54 litres an hour," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><strong><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></strong></em><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><em><strong><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Apple</span></strong></em></a><span> </span><em><strong><span>and</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>Google Play</span></strong></em></a></li><li><em><strong><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>ticking this box here</span></strong></em></a></li><li><em><strong><span>Sign up to</span></strong></em><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="" title=""><em><strong><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></strong></em></a></li></ul></div></div>