THE weather was terrible– low cloud and driving rain. Marc Perdu and Christian Tiriault, pilots of Spirit of Nouméa, discussed turning back to Adelaide, but they had an appointment to keep. Besides, anyone willing to circumnavigate Australia in a tiny plane isn’t lacking in a sense of adventure. This wasn’t the first expedition undertaken by the New Caledonian men. In 2011, they flew from Paris to Nouméa and in 2012 flew the same route in reverse. This year, it was Australia, with an expedition from Nouméa, counter-clockwise around Australia, and then back home again. “We had clear and sunny weather…