Australia 2011

Australia 2011 Diary

 February 13-15, Flights to Brisbane
Flying on commercial airlines is not that much fun and it was a series of long flights. Portland to Los Angeles to Sydney to Brisbane. Much to Mary Beth’s chagrin we flew through Valentines day, taking off on the 13th and landing on the 15th. We found our way to a the Formula 1 Hotel near the airport and spent the afternoon and evening organizing things for packing up in the car. We found a place for dinner and called it a day. Jet lag was not nearly as bad as had anticipated.

 February 16: Western Star Australia and drive to Rainbow beach
It was a rainy day which was perfect for visiting the Western Star importer. I spent the morning reviewing their quality and design issues and then Mary Bethand I headed for Rainbow beach. I was hoping to get a flight in at the beautiful Crescent shaped beach this trip


The drive took about three hours and we checked in at Debbie’s place, a nice beach hotel.

A very interesting shower in our room at Debbies place.

February 17: Rainbow Beach no fly day
The winds were blowing strong from the South which is not what works. I needed Northeast winds. We spend a leisurely morning enjoying the beach and relaxing. We had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant downtown and prepared ourselves for the Fraser Island tour the next day.

 February 18-19 Fraser Island
The tour bus arrived at 9:15 and very shortly after we were on the barge headed for the island. The trip across only takes around 10-15 minutes. We drove down the “75 mile” beach and stopped along the way to see “Coffee rock” which are what looks like rock in the sand but are actually organic material and relatively soft. We stopped at Eli Creek where fresh water flows into the Pacific. Mary Beth dropped her camera along the way and it is now gone forever. Interesting wading up the creek and seeing the vegetation.

Eli Creek

 We stopped and visited the colored sands. These are formations of sand that the aboriginal people say have some spiritual significance.

 After that we stopped at Indian Point. Climbing up a few hundred feet on some rocks and sand you get a fantastic view of the beach. Mary Beth made the climb and even with her bad knee made it. No sooner had she got to the top, however, when and a rain squall threatened so we all had to head back quickly. It turned out the squall passed to the north of us.

 

75 mile beach as seen from Indian Point





Hiking up the rocks at Indian Point



Mary Beth conquers Indian Point

 We spent the night at Dilly village. It’s a hostel run by one of the universities. In the evening after dinner there was not too much to do so Mary Beth taught the group to play Charades. There were eleven of us on the trip. Portugal, Denmark, England, Canada, Sweden and the Netherlands were represented. The oldest after Mary Beth and I might have been in their thirties. We had fun. I think the “kids” did as well.

Lake Mackenzie shoreline

Hiking through the rain forest

On the second day we headed inland to visit Mackenzie Lake. It is a lake that is about as clear as your local chlorinated swimming pool but is pure rainwater with white sand beaches. All natural. Following that we had a hike through the rainforest. Fraser Island is the largest sand island to have a tropical rainforest. Huge trees and ferns everywhere. Another hiking challenge for Mary Beth making it up the 130 or so steps at the end of the trail. Driving back to the barge we passed a couple of Dingo dogs on the beach.

Dingo

 February 20 Beach and flying at Rainbow Beach

This had to be a perfect day. Two hours of beach time in the morning and then we waited for the winds to switch from SE to NE. From our hotel it looked like the winds were switching and we headed for launch just after 3. As we hiked up to the launch Mary Beth spotted wings in the air. I rushed to get my gear ready. I was all set to go but had to stop and have Mary Beth put some sunscreen on the back of my neck. It was a very easy launch from the Carlo Sand Blow. I spend the next two hours cruising up and down the rainbow about 200-300 feet above the top of the ridge. Smooth air and even with 10 other wings in the air it was not at all crowded.

Flying at Rainbow Beach

February 21 Drive to Manilla
It was a tough decision. Stay and fly Rainbow Beach (maybe) in the afternoon or drive to Manilla or possibly Canungra. After consulting with Brett it seemed Manilla offered the best possibilities. We drove from Rainbow Beach to Manilla with about 10 hours on the road. Some really nice cumulus clouds around 11 am turned into some big thunderstorms as we drove along the route. Rolled into Manilla around 8:30 and found nobody around at Ambleside B&B and no cell phones working. We found lodging at the motel and then drove over to Main street to find a fish and chips place still open. Take away fish and chips and a nice bottle of Jacobs Creek Shiraz Cabernet blend and we called it a night.

Mary Beth turned on her U.S phone and found it was working so we have a least one cell phone now. My spot locator will send messages to it so I’m less worried about landing out and losing contact.




February 22 Manilla flying
Called Ambleside and decided it would be cheaper to stay were we are at the motel. In the morning the winds looked a bit on the brisk side so not a good omen for the day. We headed out to get our permits at Godfrey’s. The wind still seemed strong but it was suggested we get up to launch around noon and see if things backed down. We headed back to Manilla and I bought a 3G phone and got a sandwich to eat later. Now Mary Beth and I will be able to communicate once I get the phone activated. The winds in town seemed lighter by now and we headed up to launch.

When we arrived at the east launch there were thirty or so hang gliders set up and waiting for the right conditions. This week there is a comp at Mt Borah. The winds were quite manageable and I started to get set up while wondering why nobody had launched yet. By the time I was ready it seems like everyone else had the same idea. Twenty minutes of waiting followed. Very poor launch etiquette on the part of the hang pilots and the paraglider pilots. No line formed. Just a jumble of hang gliders and a small area where the paraglider pilots could do essentially the same thing.

I launched and flew out being careful to make sure I had terrain clearance before making that first turn. I found a thermal with a couple of other bags and darts and started climbing. I got up to around 5400 feet and was drifting over the back when I lost it and headed back. Big sink coming back across the mountain and arrived just a 100 feet over the trees on the upwind side of the mountain. I won’t try that maneuver again. I headed back to the same thermal trigger I had climbed out on earlier. It was still there and soon I was up to 6000 feet just below the clouds. Now I was ready to go XC. I headed down wind following a road and looking for clouds to find lift. First it seemed easy but all too soon I found myself under clouds with no lift and slowly loosing altitude.

I landed after traveling only 21k downwind. Far short of my 100k goal. On the bright side it was below MB’s threshold of 1 Margarita for every 25k traveled. Setting up to land I found the winds were strong and I ended up landing one field back from where I had intended. That was a field with a lot of thistles and another gate to go through. That’s the second time that has happened to me. In Golden last year I ended up cutting down a tree because I set up over the trees and landed short right at the edge of a meadow instead of in the middle and caught my glider in the tree tops after landing.

Now for the anxiety. The new cell phone had not been activated. I hit the button on my SPOT locator and started packing up. Would MB get the text message and would she find me on all those back roads between here and Manilla? I packed up and hiked to a livestock loading shed on one of the homesteads and waited. I figured I had until 4:30 or so before MB would arrive. A couple of ranchers stopped by. One of them told me he would give me a ride back to the main road if nobody came to pick me up. Sure enough around 4:10 there was a call on the radio and shortly after I saw a cloud of dust on the horizon. It was Mary Beth. Everything worked the way it was supposed to.

Even if it was only 21k, I felt pretty good about the flight. It was my first thermaling flight since last September and I got away from launch and landed safely. Angus and Herford traffic jams and pretty country on the drive back to Manilla.

“Take away” fish and chips along with a Greek salad in Manilla consumed back at the motel and the day was done.

February 23 Manilla: Three flights is not a good day

I launched early hoping to beat the rush. Instead of turning to the area where I found my climb out thermal on the first day I turned south and headed for a knoll that I thought would be a trigger. I didn’t find anything and ended up landing in a meadow far from the bailout part way down the hill.

On the hike out while I was looking far out on the horizon for my path down I came face to face with a large wood spider. Inches from getting caught in his web I jumped back and ended up falling backwards on my butt. Much better than the alternative I guess. I was much more careful the rest of the hike down.

By the time I got back to a pickup point it was 3:00 pm and my hopes for a long XC were diminishing. Still back up to launch for another try. This time I headed North of launch but still didn’t find anything and ended up landing in the bail out LZ.

I made one more flight down to the bail out LZ and called it a day. Tomorrow would be better.

Mary Beth and I had dinner at the Royal Hotel and I finished the day by subscribing to XC skies to give me a better idea of the potential.

February 24 Manilla: Two fights, Dumb and Dumber

Checking out XC Skies it looked like not a great day but definitely flyable. Top of lift around 5-6K and light winds. We checked out of the motel and loaded the car. I planned to get a good flight and head for Corryong. Its ten hours of driving so we figured we would drive half or two thirds of the way and spend the night somewhere along the way.

Driving up to launch around 11:00 AM I was surprised to see only a couple of hangliders set up on the East Launch. The pilots there told me all the hangs in the comp would be launching after 1 when the West side would have enough sun to be good. Undeterred I decided that I would try launching and climb out. I launched at 11:30 found one thermal that got me up a few hundred feet over the North launch before losing it and eventually ending up in the bailout LZ. It was a little rock and roll at the top of my climb. I believe it was a mild inversion that I did not have enough energy to punch through OK no problem—I’ll get it on the second try. We headed up to the North Launch where there were some other paragliders setting up, launching and going up.

When I got up to launch and was getting into my harness I noticed my radio was missing. I had left it down at the bail out LZ. Now I had to put the gear back in the back of the SUV and retrieve it. 2/3 of the way down I passed another pilot who had been at the LZ. He had my radio and was on his way to hand it back to me. I turned the rig around and headed back to launch.

Back up on launch for the second flight the wind was light up, dead, and sometime over the back. I should have headed for the West Launch when I saw this but I was tired and didn’t want to take the extra time. Spreading the wing out I noticed I had a problem with the lines. That took some time to straighten out and finally I was ready to launch. Waiting for a cycle took more time. Finally something light cam in and I made a running reverse down the hill. Sink city. Nothing I could really turn in. Just the bumpy stuff the last two hundred feed above the ground. I did not have enough altitude to make the bail out LZ and had to land North of the trees a field over. I rosetted and hiked over to the fence. Mary Beth drove over in the car and handed me my stuff sack. I tossed the glider over and then climbed over at the corner of the fence and drove over to the LZ where I sat in the shade, cooled off and ate my sandwich. My 100K flight in Manilla would have to wait a year.

We hit the road for Corryong. 885 km. We drove about 500k or so and spent the night in Forbes NSW.

February 25 Arrival in Corryong: One flight at the site ahead of the comp.

We got up early and after breakfast at the McDonalds in Forbes we headed for Corryong. Four hours later we arrived at the Corryong Hotel and Bottom Pub. Pretty basic lodging but a bargain for $50 Australian a night. We met Angus and Fiona from England as we were putting our gear in the room. By 1:00PM we were on our way to the launch to get a flight in before the comp started.

Mt. Elliot launch

I launched and flew to the left of launch looking for the house thermal. Didn’t find it. Iflew down the spine and then along the base of the ridge line scratching for lift. Didn’t find anything. Twenty-five minutes later I was on the ground downrange a ways but with the SPOT locator Mary Beth no trouble finding me. I thought about another flight but it looked like there might be some overdevelopment behind launch so I decided to call it a day.

Dinner at the Pub and then bed. Food is good and there is a lot of it. One serving is enough for two people.

February 26, 2011 First day of the Comp

Pilots meeting was pretty normal. We headed up to launch for a group picture. They used an ordered start based on standing. I was last in line. That was fine for me. It gave me a good opportunity to see where the house thermals were and the best initial climb points.

Finally I launched about 10 minutes before the start of the race. 45 minutes later I was still scratching out front trying to find the thermal. Patience paid off and I finally got up to cloud base and headed for the first turn point. The air was smooth and I was pushing along at full speedbar at times. No climbs along the way and I arrived at the turn point low and just out of the cylinder. Worrying about gliding out and clearing some trees I didn’t notice exactly how close I was to the turn point was until I loaded the track log. Anyway when all was said and done I had achieved my goal. There were two pilots who scored lower than me and I was not in last place.

February 27, 2011 Rain Day at the Comp: Laundry and sight-seeing

It rained during the night. Low clouds and overcast and the forecast was not encouraging. At the pilots meeting the decided to delay the decision until noon. We were instructed to monitor channel 19 and wait for the decision. Mary Beth and I headed for the Laundromat to get some laundry done. Mary Beth had breakfast and coffee at the Pepper Leaf Restaurant while we waited for the laundry.

At noon they called the day and we headed out. First to see the “Man from Snowy River” Museum which turned out to be closed and then to see the Snowy River Hydro Power Plant Number 2. Though a series of underground channels damps and valves they mange to generate a lot of power. The system was started in 1949 and was finished in the 60’s. They do a lot of interesting things. One of them is generating power during the peak periods and then at night pumping the water back up into a reservoir to generate power on the next day. I took lots of pictures at the power stations and dams. Overcast but very pretty nonetheless.

Saw a kangaroo on the way back to Corryong. Spent the evening at a barbecue party for the pilots. Back in the room and in bed by 10:00.

February 28: Day 3 of the Comp. Launched early and sunk out.

Fog this morning. Checked the weather. The weather indicated it might be OK for flying but marginal. We headed up to launch for a pilots briefing at 12:30. During the day off they graded the road up to launch and it was in very good condition.

At 12:30 things were pushed back to 1:30. There were high clouds that kept things mostly overcast but it looked like there might be a break. The launch window opened at 2:00 but nobody was launching.

They do ordered launches here and I was near the end so I decided to jump in the box just after the race started at 3:15 so I could at least get some points. I was afraid if I waited for my turn in I might miss the close of launch at 4:00. So I was one of the first few to launch. As I expected I did not find much and landed just 4 KM away from launch on the way to the first turn point. But I had guessed wrong on the weather. The sky stayed clear long enough for a number of pilots to get more altitude and at least make the first turn point. I was down in the LZ watching a few other pilots who launched early land nearby but some of the later launches got up and were moving towards the first turn point. I think I made the right decision to launch early but had misjudged the weather which actually improved after I launched.

Mary Beth made the retrieve and I decided to go up and get another flight. I had an easy launch around 4:45 and a smooth flight down to the bail out LZ. After arriving back at the hotel I got a quick shower and then uploaded my flight.



Mt Elliot from the LZ

 
We decided to try another pub for dinner. Eight of us headed down the road. Big mistake. A group of touring bikers hit the pub just a litle before we arrived. It took over an hour to get the order to our table. Food was good.

Arriving back at the hotel I logged in to see the results for the first two days of flying. I was 39th out of 43 people overall and third out of 5 in my class. Nobody made goal. Tomorrow is another day.

March 1, 2011: Blown out and travel to Yarrangobilly Caves.

It was forecast strong and indeed was. The day was called at noon and we headed out to do some sightseeing with Kosta and Irina from Russia.

We drove the Alpine way through country that is not at all what anyone would expect to be Australia except for all the gum trees. There was a fire a about 5 years ago that burned the many of the trees and what is left is a sight similar to Mt. Saint Helens looked like a few years after the eruption. The gum trees were bare of leaves for as far as the eye can see with new smaller trees growing up at the base. It was very windy as the forecast indicated.

We saw a number of the dams and reservoirs for the Snowy Mountain Hydro project. Beautiful scenery. When we arrived at the caves just after the last day’s tour had departed so we did the self-guided tour through one of the caves and then hiked down to the thermal pools. The water in the pools was only 27 degrees but after the hiking Mary Beth enjoyed having a swim in the pool.

We headed back for the group dinner at the Chinese Restaurant. We go there a little late and were the next to last served. Not bad food but service in affairs like this is always slow.

March 2, 2011: Day 3 and the Task stopped for an air evac.

I got up early gassed the car and picked up groceries and a latte for Mary Beth. The morning briefing indicated blue skies with top of lift around 6K and winds around 10 knots at altitude.

Winds were stronger than forecast so they changed the task and there was a lot of time spent reprogramming proximity radii. I was third from the last to launch. It took me a while to find the right thermal to get the initial climb but finally I was off. Unfortunately There was a pilot, Brian Webb who had taken a collapse and spun into the trees just off launch and they decided to air evacuate him out as a precaution. They stopped the task as a result and the day ended up being cancelled.

Too bad for me as it would have been the first day I had made a turn point. Hopefully I’ll do better tomorrow. I did get a chance to take some pictures while flying since I no longer had to concentrate on where I was going whether I had the right waypoint in the GPS.

 

I flew about 18k up the Valley and landed in a nice green field. I found out the fields can be a little deceiving. The green areas in the field were whet and mucky. My wing is fine but my boots took a mud bath hiking out. Mary Beth was right on time with the retrieve. The SPOT locator is working great in that regard.

"I know there is a gate along here somewhere"

March 3, 2011: GPS problems and sinking out
The forecast at the pilot meeting was reasonably good. Not great but flyable. We headed up the hill around 11:30 for a 12:30 task.


While I was getting my gear ready I switched on the GPS and it locked on the startup screen. PANIC! No GPS no flight recorded and no points. I asked if anyone knew how to do a reset. No luck. One of the pilots, Kosta, had a spare GPS with the waypoints on it back in his room. Mary Beth made a run back to the hotel to retrieve it. Meanwhile the seconds ticked by and the other pilots were launching. The winds on launch were getting stronger. Finally Mary Beth appeared on launch with the unit. Luckily Kosta had not launched yet so he was able to change the language from Russian to English for me. Now I just needed to get calm collect my thoughts and launch.


Ok that disaster was averted and I was standing on launch. I pulled the glider up and got pulled off the ground but recovered nicely after the glider frontaled. Pulling the glider up the second time was easy and I was off. Only ten minutes after the task had started.

Catching a thermal just off launch

I briefly got over launch. As I headed out to where I thought the house thermal would be I hit a lot of sink and ended up scratching down low. I landed packing up quickly hoping for a quick retrieve and a re-launch. Mary Beth arrived But the winds seemed to be getting too strong so I just decided to call it a day.

I downloaded the track log from the borrowed GPS and uploaded it to the comp website. Question is will I now be in last place?

I have to learn to catch that first thermal off and turn in it to get up. Maybe not be quite a concerned about drifting back to chase the thermals. The line from “Gone with the Wind” comes to mind. “Tomorrow IS another day.”

Back at the hotel I was able to go on line and find the information on how to reset my GPS. The reset worked. Don’t know what happened. I’m guessing there was some pressure on the keyboard from something in my helmet bag and that is what scrambled things. Had I been able to reset my own GPS at launch I would have lost the waypoints but at least keep my track log. Now I understand very well why the serious comp pilots carry two units.

In the evening there was a get together for pizza and beer with paragliding movies.  This ended up as another lesson.  Arriving a little late we waited two hours for our pizza and the beer wasn’t that good.  Another lesson learned.  For these group events get there early or eat before you go.

.

March 4, 2011: Task 5 and I finally made a turn point

The weather continues to slowly get better. Lighter winds today with top of lift forecast around 5K.

I decided I would try and launch early and have Mary Beth in the bailout landing Zone if I needed to a second try. I did. I flew out and followed the spine to the left of launch but there was nothing there for me. I had a short hike to the bailout LZ and Mary Beth was there with the car. Brian Webb was there. (Yes he was back flying after only missing a day)

Brian was going back up for a second flight. He offered to take me up in his rig to save Mary Beth the drive. He took the more direct 4WD track up to launch. I don’t think I’ll be doing that drive in the rental I have.

I launched and found a thermal that took me up after about 15 minutes of scratching. I really felt good because I found one before Brian and he flew over and caught the same one. We flew together for a while on the way to the first turn point.

I found some lift over the valley on the way to the first turn point and then I just put on full speed bar and headed for it. I should have stayed in that lift a little longer but I was focused on just getting there and thought I would find some lift over it. I came in low to the turn point and had to maneuver between the hill side and some high tension power lines to nick the cylinder.

I landed after a few turns along the hill and no possibility to work my way out. I only made one turn point but I was happy with the result. Mary Beth had gone back to the motel and started some laundry and then headed out to find me. She was parked along the road near where I landed.





We arrived back the motel and enjoyed beer and snacks with Angus, Fiona, Cam, Heidi, Kosta, and Irina. Heidi hosted a barbecue for us that evening minus Mary Beth and Fiona who went off to a “ladies” dinner.

March 4, 2011: Task 5 and I finally made a turn point

The weather continues to slowly get better. Lighter winds today with top of lift forecast around 5K.

I decided I would try and launch early and have Mary Beth in the Bailout if I needed to a second try. I did. I flew out and followed the spine to the left of launch but there was nothing there for me. I had a short hike to the bailout LZ and Mary Beth was there with the car. Brian Webb was there. (Yes he was back flying after only missing a day)

Brian was going back up for a second flight. He offered to take me up in his rig to save Mary Beth the drive. He took the more direct 4WD track up to launch. I don’t think I’ll be doing that drive in the rental I have.

I launched and found a thermal that took me up after about 15 minutes of scratching. I really felt good because I found one before Brian and he flew over and caught the same one. We flew together for a while on the way to the first turn point.

I found some lift over the valley on the way to the first turn point and then I just put on full speed bar and headed for it. I should have stayed in that lift a little longer but I was focused on just getting there and thought I would find some lift over it. I came in low to the turn point and had to maneuver between the hill side and some high tension power lines to nick the cylinder.

I landed after a few turns along the hill and no possibility to work my way out. I only made one turn point but I was happy with the result. Mary Beth had gone back to the motel and started some laundry and then headed out to find me. She was parked along the road near where I landed.

We arrived back the motel and enjoyed beer and snacks with Angus, Fiona, Cam, Heidi, Kosta, and Irina. Heidi hosted a barbecue for us that evening minus Mary Beth and Fiona who went off to a “ladies” dinner.

March 5, 2011: Last day of the Comp and my best day

Good weather and light east winds forecast with top of lift around 6K. They gave us a task across the valley to the Pine Mountain turn point. There is a long valley crossing and then three ridges to be crossed to reach the turn point.

As usual I was the last pilot to get a decent climb but I waited and got every foot of altitude before leaving the start cylinder. I headed out across the valley and was feeling pretty good as I could see the gaggle below me. It took a while but by the time I got to the first ridge I was down scratching with four or 5 other pilots.

I scratched with the group for a while but found trying to scratch with other pilots was not getting me anywhere. I headed over to another point where I thought thermals would be generating. Meanwhile a couple of the other pilots landed and the rest climbed out. I was finally found a good thermal I could stay in and made it high enough on the ridge to cross the next valley.

I got enough lift crossing the next valley that finding a thermal on the next ridge was relatively easy. Again I climbed up but not quite high enough. Crossing the second valley I was low on the ridge about 2 K short of the first turn point and could find no lift. The valley had trees, power lines, and cows. I managed to put the glider down missing all of the above.

I turned on the spot locator and started packing up. Mary Beth had been chasing me as best she could while staying in cell phone range waiting to get my landing coordinates. By the time I had packed up and started hiking she was driving up.

That 20K flight won the day for the 1-2 class wings and brought me up to second place overall for the 1-2 class. At the awards ceremony I got a small trophy and a voucher for a three day XC course with one of the local instructors. I have to come back.

Mary Beth and new friends at awards dinner

March 6, 2011: Another flight from Mt Elliot.

After Checking out of the hotel we did a number of chores like washing and gassing the car, getting some groceries and picking up a sandwich to eat before launching. We visited the Man from Snowy River Museum and finally it was close enough to noon to head for launch.

We met 4 other pilots on launch and we waited for the thermals to get a little stronger. Finally we launched around 1:30. There was a hard ceiling in the lift about 500 feet above launch. Finally, 4 of us headed south along the ridge. I sunk out a few miles down the ridge line. One of the other pilots landed nearby and we drove him back to the landing paddock. Mary Beth was again right there to meet me as I packed up.

We drove to Bright and arrived after the Tourist office had closed. There were plenty of places to stay in town but we were looking for a bargain. There was a great hotel right across from the Tourist office but we couldn’t get them to answer the phone and although the door to the office was open and the office unattended. Very trusting. We stopped at one motel that looked nice but they wanted $135 a night even though the place looked completely empty. We ended up staying at the Alpine Hotel. $95 a night which is about as cheap as you can get unless you go to the Outdoor Inn.

March 7, 2011: Flying at Mystic in Bright

Mountains near Bright

Breakfast and coffee in the morning. Shopping with Mary Beth and finally it was time to drive to launch.

It was a two flight day so you can imagine I was not exactly thrilled. The first flight I easily climbed out about 1000 over and hit a ceiling. I flew down the spine and found nothing but sink and eventually landed. They were doing some controlled burns out in the valley and the smoke arrived just in time for the second flight. I got 35 feet above launch but essentially had a sled ride down to the landing zone.




Landing zone with smoke in the background

 

We had a nice dinner at a small restaurant, “the AmBar” across the street from the Alpine Hotel in Bright and called it a night.

March 8, 2011: Short flight and off to Melbourne

Tuesday had rain in the forecast so I got one smooth morning sled ride down to the LZ before we headed for Melbourne. The air was silky smooth and it was quite an enjoyable flight. We hit the road for Melbourne.

We checked into the “EasyStay” in St. Kilda very near where we had stayed in 2009. We had dinner at a Greek restaurant on Fitzroy St. and made plans for the next day. Mary Beth wanted to do some shopping. The Greek restaurant was the same one we had eaten at in 2009. It will be our last meal there. The Garlic prawns with creme sauce I had came back at me with an upset stomach and I was worshiping the porcelain potty around 3:00AM. Afterwards I felt much better.

March 9, 2011: Work and shopping day

I spent a half day with Mercedes Benz Australia reviewing programs we are working on for them and then caught up with Mary Beth who was shopping downtown.

I found her in an opal shop. When we were here in 2009 I had promised her an opal when the Dow climbed above the 10,000 mark. She had one picked out when I arrived. A very nice piece of jewelry to compensate her for all those hours spent on launches waiting, all the drives up the hill, and all those XC retrieves.

We visited the old Gaol again since we didn’t have time to see all the exhibits last trip. Then we had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant on Lygon Street. We drove back to St. Kilda.

Having a GPS to guide you while driving in the city really makes it easy to get around.

March 10, 2011: Blown out at Bells beach.

Drove to Bells Beach. Winds were a little too cross and way to strong. I spent time waiting for conditions to improve walking the beach and taking pictures of surfers and sea birds on the beach. Finally around 3:30 we drove back to Geelong and found the motel where we are spending the night.

We found a pizza restaurant and did a little grocery shopping to end the day.

March 11, 2011: Great Ocean Rd. day 1

We started the day driving to Bell’s Beach. The sky was overcast and foggy. Winds were not flyable as expected so we started heading down the road. Lots of nice views but also lots of low clouds and fog.

As we got nearer Cape Otway the weather started to clear. We decided to visit the lightstation and we were treated to our first sighting of Koala bears. Driving down the read we saw a group of cars stopped and people looking up in the trees. So naturally we stopped as well. There were 5 or six of them in different trees either eating or sleeping.

The tour of the lightstation was interesting. We go to climb to the top and step out into some 30 mph winds from the North. (wrong direction for Paraglding) There was a docent in the light station repair shop who explained the route the ships took from England to Australia during the gold rush and how Cape Otway was the first land they saw after leaving England.

At one of the stops I programmed the launch coordinates for the paragliding sites along the way. We made a stop at Johanna’s which has a nice beach landing area and what was claimed as a 2wd road up to the launch. We made the drive but it had some very deep ruts and Mary Beth proclaimed there was now way she would ever drive the road down by herself. Fortunately its only around a half mile up the hill and a relatively easy hike.

We pressed on from Cape Otway for Port Campbell National Park and the 12 Apostles. We now had sunshine and cumulus clouds. Lots of stops along the way for photo opportunities. When we got there it was late afternoon and the classic view showed the formations in silhouette. I would definitely have to come back tomorrow earlier. Still fantastic place to see. There was a fair number of people there but it did not seem too crowded.

We now pressed on for Warrnambool. The road headed away from the coast and through farmland. Very pretty. Warrnambool is a fair sized city with lots of places to stay. We found out when we arrived at our motel that this was a three day weekend in Oz and we were lucky to find a room. That would prove to be a problem on the next day.

We found another good restaurant downtown and after another grilled Barramundi fish dinner we called it a day.

March 12, 2011: Great Ocean Rd. Day 2

We spend the first part of the morning looking at flying sites in and near Warrnambool. Lots of dune soaring potential. None today since the winds were blowing offshore. I took lots of pictures and vowed to return and fly these sites in the future.

On the road back to the 12 Apostles we found numerous formations to photograph. So many that I ended up with almost the same issue with the angle of the sun when photographing things to the west.

It was a warm day; 96 degrees. While I tried that one last shot of the 12 apostles Mary Beth was busy on the phone trying to find accommodation for the night. Finally we found a pub room in the town on Colac. It was around 50k inland. The scenery driving there was again superb. Lots of dairy farms and green fields.

A pub room is a room without your own bath. You have to go down the hall. We were happy to just have a room at this point. After showering we headed out to explore the town and find a restaurant for dinner.

We used the internet at Mc Donalds to find a place to stay for the next night. We ended up reserving the same motel in we had stayed at earlier in the trip.

March 13, 2011:  A flight at Johanna’s

We drove from Colac back on the great ocean road back to the coast and to Johanna. I hiked up to the launch and waited. Finally it seemed strong enough to be soarable so I launched. I flew back and forth along the ridge line for about an hour before landing at the beach.

While I was flying I noticed a group of Kangaroos lounging on one of the nobs part way up the ridge line. I got a good photo of them with one of them looking up at me.

After the flight we headed for Geelong looking for flying sites along the way. We found Spion Kop. Now I just needed to have someone sign me off to fly there. Because of the power lines behind launch and the way they extend close to the beach the local club requires a site orientation and specific skill levels prior to flying there. The launch has new Astroturf and a white line that is 10 meters away from the power line which indicates a minimum distance for setting up gear.



Power lines at Spion Kop

We checked in at the motel and had a pizza dinner to end the day.

March 14, 2011 Bells Beach and Spion Kop

We started the day at Bells Beach. Winds were great. It looked like a day you could fly along the coast from Bells Beach all the way west to Anglesea. After an hour an a half in the air I followed a group east and got caught in a shallow bowl and ended up landing. Meanwhile another group had launched and were at the far west point waiting to get enough altitude (240 meters) to cross to the red cliffs and then fly to Anglesea.

Flying Bells Beach looking back at launch

Back at launch it was too strong (judging from the whitecaps) for me to consider launching again. One of the pilots, Wayne, suggested we head to Spion Kop as it is usually a little lighter there.

"oh, A little too windy"

When we arrived it winds were strong and relatively cross. A hang pilot showed up and finished my site briefing so now I was “legal” to fly the site. Wayne set up and launched. He needed a push to get away from launch. I decided to wait a while before launching.

Finally the winds backed off a little and I clipped in and launched. It was not a good feeling getting turned around and not going forward. I stepped on the speed bar and moved out away from the launch. It was a good high wind launch and a poor decision to launch. If I had my wind watch I probably would not have launched. But there were no whitecaps on the ocean.

Spion Kop Launch

35 minutes of flying and I was ready to land. I was barely moving heading east and zooming along at a great clip heading west.



Split Point Lighthouse

 Driving back we saw at least one glider landing in Anglesea. At least one pilot made the flight.

March 15, 2011: Bells Beach, The snake, and cherry wine

I was hoping for a flight down to Anglesea today but the winds were not kind. Too west for that. After one flight pretty much pinned to a couple of small southwest facing portions of the ridge I landed. The winds were supposed to switch around to the southeast in the afternoon so we did some exploring.

 

Dan flying Bells Beach

I checked out the beach along the flight path down to Anglesea. The beaches west of Point Addis and the Red rocks further down towards Anglesea. At low tide there are plenty of places to land.

We found the turnoff to go to the Red Rocks launch and headed down the dirt road to find it. On the way there was a three foot snake in the middle of the road. As we approached he slithered off to the side. I got some great pictures with the closeup lens. After some help with some Facebook friends we identified it later as a Tiger snake. Yes, very poisonous. After parking we found a local pilot who showed us where the launch was.

It was launchable but probably not soarable and a mean hike back up from the beach so we headed back to Bells for one more flight.

View from Red Rocks Launch

Bells was strong and still southwest. I made a great high wind launch except for the cravat on my left wingtip. Mary Beth was so busy taking pictures she didn’t notice it either. I don’t know how I missed it when I pulled the glider up but I did. Anyway it was easily cleared. Lots of back in for the in front of launch before heading down to the beach to land.



Clearing a crevat

We headed back to the hotel for dinner. On the way we stopped at one of the big discount liquor stores. They seem to have a bunch of them in Oz. Mary Beth found a Danish Cherry wine that she can not get in Oregon. We now have 4 Bottles to disperse in our luggage for the trip home. Those wine bottle will have travelled nearly all the way around the world before being consumed.

March 16, 2011: Bells Beach again

In the morning we checked out of the hotel, loaded the car, and headed for Bells. I was still hoping for that 9K flight from Bells launch down to Anglesea. It was too southwest with squalls coming in. I had one flight and then after waiting a couple hours we decided to head for Melbourne and our last night in Oz. We did have some entertainment as a pilot came by and flew for a few minutes accompanied by a sheep dog that raced back and forth in front of the launch always keeping the glider in sight.



Sheep dog watching and waiting



We got to the motel around 3:30. They were nice enough to loan us a bathroom scale to help us balance the weight in the suitcases. Finally after about three hours we had everything in the right bag and the weights well balanced.

We headed out to find dinner. We used Mr. “Garmin”s restaurant guide. Mary Beth’s first pick turned out to be out of business. The second choice worked better. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant. Very good.

Back at the motel we went to bed early. Our flight was not till 11:10 AM but with the rental car return, highway construction, and rush hour traffic we decided to leave early.

March 17, 2011: Long flight home

We got up early and left the motel around 7:15. The drive turned out to be much easier than expected. Car rental return was smooth enough. I paid a lot to have a 4WD vehicle that I really didn’t need except for maybe two trips up the hill. Only one of those was necessary. I also got socked for extra miles. I had way underestimated the miles I would put on the vehicle beyond the straight distance from Brisbane to Melbourne. Next time I will know better.

It was a long flight home. We were lucky and had nobody sitting between our window and aisle seats on the plane. I watched 4 movies and slept (or tried to sleep) some of the time. Mary Beth watched them constantly. I can recommend an Australian comedy film titled “Kenny”. It is done as a documentary of a man who sets up portable toilets for a living. I have it in our Netflix que so Mary Beth can watch it.  Netflix classifies it as a " feel good" movie. Of course “Black Swan” and “The King’s Speech” were good.

We had a 6 hour layover in Los Angles before the flight to Portland. It gave me a chance to catch up on work E-mails while Mary Beth slept.

Finally we arrived back at our house just after 5 PM on the same day we left. But with the time zone changes it was about 28 hours from the time we left the hotel to getting home. There were tons of bills and account statements waiting for us at home. We spent a lot on this trip but it was worth it. Next time we go it will be for five or six months and live a little more frugally.

It’s great to go south to escape the winter!