My workbench is still a mess and I haven’t cleaned the garage

 

Next week will be my first anniversary of retirement.

I find myself reflecting on what I thought retirement would be like and what it actually is like.  There have really been no big surprises with maybe one exception.  You start out thinking you are going to have all kinds of time and you soon find out that other things jump in to fill the void that was once work and a lot of the mundane tasks that you figured you would get done with all your “free time” are still not getting done.  I can’t keep my workbench clear and the garage is just as much of a disaster area now as it was a year ago.

So what have I accomplished in the last year that wouldn't have happened if I was still working?

• Mary Beth and I spent 4 months in Australia and counting other trips we were traveling 175 days.  
• I logged 147 hours of flying with the paraglider.  I finally accomplished my goal of getting a flight longer than 100 kilometers.  110 kilometers in 4 hours and twelve minutes. (Link to pictures)  I did it in the Owens Valley of California which was not where I expected it originally.  I thought it would be flying off of Mt. Borah in Australia. 
• I spent seven days over two long weekends giving something back to the sport. Wielding a pick, shovel and a rake along with other volunteers from Cascade Paragliding club we continued work to improve the paraglider launch at Mt. Howard in eastern Oregon. What was once a sketchy launch for one glider is now wide enough for three wings with a “rock free” run out area just in case you need to abort a launch.
• I have done more gardening. He lawn looks much better than before I retired even with being away so much. There is a never ending battle with moss but things are getting better on that front. Most recently I planted 90 daffodil bulbs. 

 

Mt Howard work crew. I'm the cowboy in the center.

  What’s still on the list?

• Getting rid of “stuff”!  Things that can go to goodwill or just be thrown out.  There are lots of things need to go to the shredder.  Although it was interesting looking at cancelled checks from when I was in college.  Hard to believe today that a person would write a check for $2.79.  But then that was before debit cards and a lot of inflation.  When going through my computer parts boxes I found eleven power supply cords.  I’m proud of myself for only keeping three cords and donating the rest.
• Getting my weight down to 175 lbs. I’ve been going to the gym pretty religiously when I am at home but my eating and drinking habits have kept me between 180-185 for the last year. That is the downside of being at home. I need t otravel more!
• Blogging more.  I should write more.  I promised the editor of the U.S. Hang Glidinga nd Paragliding magazine that I would write an article on traveling and flying in Australia back in June.  I still haven’t started.

I could go on, and on, but I guess the main point I want to make is that you think you are going to have all kinds of time in retirement and is ends up not being so.  The day gets filled up with things—often not what you expect.  I’m not missing work at all—just missing some of the friends and coworkers that I don’t get to interact with on a daily basis any longer.

Life goes on.  We’ll see what year two of retirement brings.

Dan

2012 Chelan Paragliding XC Open Diary: July 6-14

Chelan Butte, the lake, the city, and the river

This is a rather long description of my week in Chelan at the XC Open Comp.  I flew there along with Cascade Paragliding Club member Mike Steed. 

CPC members T , Sarah , and Erik donated their time as volunteers and managed to get a little time in the air in addition to all the work.  Comps like this rely heavily on volunteers and they did a great job.

This was my first time in Chelan.  It’s a beautiful site to fly and the people are very friendly.  Bing Cherries were in season while I was there.  YUM…

Flying in comps is always fun except for some of the waiting that goes with them.  Plus you get a T-shirt.  I think it’s safer flying  as well.  Lots of launch and weather monitoring you don’t get free-flying.  Some of the things I learned about the site and flying in comps in general are salted through this blog entry and summarized at the end. 

Hope you enjoy reading it.

Arrival: July 6, 2012

My Jury duty with the Washington County circuit court lasted all of 1.5 hours.  I showed up at 8:00 and by 9:30 the cases scheduled for trial were settled or for some other reason no jurors were needed.  I’ve fulfilled my duty for the next two years.  Too bad this kept me from attending Lakeview but flying Chelan in a comp with the best pilots in the U.S should be a lot of fun and a learning experience.
I headed home, hooked up the trailer and was on my way by 11:00 am.  It’s a five hour plus drive from Portland with no stops. 

Most people who attend the comp and are camping stay at Beebe Bridge campground just outside Chelan.  It is a beautiful place on the river with nice green grass and asphalt leveled pad for your trailer or RV. They don’t take reservations.  It’s first come first served.  Unfortunately when I arrived the campground was full as was the other one on the lake in Chelan.  I called Denise Stroop (wife of meet director) and she found a place for me out by the airport.

I had to drive down a dirt road in between some Bing cherry trees and down to a valley by a Christmas tree farm.  It was fairly deserted but there were signs of some other campers there.  They had their tents back in the trees.

Camping at the Christmas tree farm

I set the camper up for a short stay and drove into town to get some dinner.  A senior’s burger special at the Apple Cup Café.  Not bad. 

Practice Day

I had a nice quiet and cool night down in the valley until just before dawn when the cannons started going off in the orchard to keep the birds away.  I went into town for breakfast and then made a swing though Beebe Park Campground.  Mike Steed was there and he recommended I bring the trailer back because he knew some of the hang pilots who had been around for the XC were leaving.  I didn’t know Mike was going to be there.  Otherwise we probably could have shared a campsite and maybe even a ride.  Maybe next time…

I quickly returned to the airport camping site, picked up the trailer and headed back to the campground. After two orbits I found a freshly vacated spot.  I quickly registered and did the minimum to get things set up then I immediately headed over to Chelan Falls Park on the other side of the river with my gear hoping to get a ride up the hill.  The soccer field at the park is the main LZ and meeting point for going up the hill.

I got a ride up with some hang pilots and met Joe Stermitz up on launch.  Mike Steed and the other pilots had already launched. Joe gave me a quick site orientation and armed with his information and insight I got my gear ready and launched around 2:00 pm.

High over launch

This was too easy…  I had an easy launch in a nice breeze and found a thermal right in front of launch that I climbed up to 9500 feet in generally smooth 700 fpm lift.  I boated around for a little and then headed across the river and flew over Farnham Canyon before heading back to land at the soccer field.  It was a nice “first flight” at a new site for me.  I was happy to have at least one flight logged at the site before the start of the comp.
There was a mandatory pilots meeting in the evening with the usual selection of a task committee , safety committee, protest committee and download of coordinates.  This meeting was much more laid back than the Rat Race Comp.  Part of that was Doug Stroop’s (meet director) style and the rest was that the pilots attending were not novice pilots.  The best pilots in the U.S were here to compete and have fun.  I was here to have fun and get rides up to launch and retrieves.  My goal was just to stay out of last place.

I had dinner and headed back to the campground.  It was hot and it took a while for things to cool down from the peak heat of the day which was up over 100 degrees.  Finally by 10:00 pm it was cool enough to sleep.

Day 1 Task 1

It was a north day.  My flight from the previous day had given me a sense of confidence.  This place should be easy to get up and I shouldn’t have any problems getting across the river.  Task was to head north.  It ended up not mattering for me.   I launched and slowly sank with only a few bubbles of lift and ended up landing on a dirt road on a plateau called Coyote Flats just above the orchards along the river. 

Soccer field LZ and Coyote Flats

The road looked fairly level and it seemed like the best option.  I turned on the SPOT, and texted HQ my coordinates and then started packing up.  By the time I was ready to put my harness in the backpack the SPOT had still not locked on so I put it on the ground while I continued to pack up.  Retrieve called and I gave them my intentions to hike north along the road.  The driver was having some trouble with her GPS and I eventually gave her the coordinates of where I was hiking to about 2.5 kilometers north.  I started down the road and about 500 meters later realized I had left my SPOT where I landed.  I dropped the backpack and headed back for it.  My 2.5k hike just became 3.5k.  Temperature was around 103 degrees F.  It was a very hot hike and I’m glad I had plenty of water with me. 

I hiked through two gates on the way to the main “dirt” road where retrieve was waiting for me.  The last one was locked so there was no way retrieve could have got to me where I landed. The retrieve driver had stopped using here Garmin and switched to using Google Maps on her IPad.  It actually worked much better once she figured it out.  IPhones with Google maps can probably do the same thing.

After a lot more water I finally started to cool down.  All I can say is that I am I’m glad I have been going to the gym every morning. 

It stayed hot very late into the evening.  It only cooled off when the light show and thunderstorms rolled in.  There was a massive lighting strike on the Butte that set off a brush fire in the flats near where I was hiking earlier in the day.  I stood under the canopy outside the trailer across the river at Beebe Bridge Park watched the show.  Rain and the red glow of burning grass and sage was quite a site. 

Fire on the ridge viewed from across the river at Beebe Bridge campground

The rain cooled things down and by midnight I managed to get to sleep.

Day 2 Task cancelled

The fire on the ridge set off by the thunderstorms the night before appeared out when I got up at around 6:00 am.  Some hot spots flared up and around 7:00am.   The hill was on fire again and a chopper was soon busy dumping water as fire crews worked the perimeter.  Not much to burn up there but dry grass and sage so it burns quickly but is also fairly easy to put out quickly.  There was a TFR (temporary flight restriction) put up and the Forest Service closed the road.  The day was called at 9:30 and we were free to do whatever we wanted in the 105 degree F. heat.

Some of the  pilots relaxing at campground

I spent the afternoon under the canopy in the campground drinking lemonade and trying to stay as cool as possible.  Mike Steed called me later in the day and we headed into town for a dinner at the Thai restaurant.  I went for medium on the spices.  I can’t imagine what hot would be like.  Medium was all I could take.  After dinner I watched a movie on the PC and called it a night.  Very hot till around 11.

Day 3 task 2

Task for the day was to fly to Sims Corner and back. Top of lift was forecast to be around 11,000 feet. 

I was determined to wait and be one of the last to launch.  I wanted to see where people were getting up. That part of my plan worked perfectly.  Base winds were from the southwest at launch and steady enough that all the pilots got off very quickly.  No long waits in line like Day 1.

 I found a nice thermal right in front of launch and was soon thermaling with the gaggle.  At about 6500 feet I lost the lift and the gaggle started across 500 to 1000 feet above me.  I bounced around between 5400 and 5800 feet  for the next 30 minutes looking for the elevator  to get to 7000 as I slowly drifted north.  I wasn’t having any luck so I decided to try heading back upwind to launch and restart.  That was a bad decision.  Heading upwind I hit sink out away from the ridge and arrived well below launch and had to turn towards the bailout and start looking for lift.  I didn’t want to land on Coyote Flats again. 

There was just enough lift to make the “red roof” bailout.  I landed in the nice soft green grass lawn and the owners were nice enough to bring me an ice water and drive me to the soccer field LZ. 

Red roof house

I drove into town and picked up a few things and then returned to the soccer field which was goal for the day to watch the leaders come in.  Icepeak 6 after Icepeak 6. 

I had dinner with Mike and Brett Z. a pilot from Alaska and then called it a day.

Day 4 Task 3

A high pressure day with south winds.  Task was over 100 K north. 

I watched closely as the leaders launched to see where they were climbing out and waited as long as I could before launching.  I launched from the “green monster” and made S turns  back and forth slowly descending 800 feet below launch on  the south facing ridge.  Finally I caught a thermal and tracked it up to 7000 feet.  I was all by myself at this point since I was the second to last pilot to launch. 

I made it across the river to with enough altitude to catch another thermal along the rim and headed northeast along the ridge.  There were a couple of gliders scratching below me as I circled up.  Leaving that thermal I floated with the wind for a while but decided I had better go back and get that thermal since I wasn’t finding anything.  That was a mistake.  Heading back upwind where the Flymaster dot said I should go got me nothing but sink and I was soon down at the edge of the rim scratching with another glider.  I didn’t find anything.   I scratched further down into McNeil Canyon and ended up landing. 

On final

I found a nice willow tree to relax under while I waited for retrieve.  50 minutes after landing I was on the van and headed back to the soccer field and my car. 
The GoPro was working and taking pictures every two seconds.  I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening at HQ going through the 1700-plus pictures I had taken. 

While I was doing that I had a chance to see how the retrieve operation worked from their perspective. The retrieve crew was in full gear.  Zak was busy monitoring the spot locations and text messages were being forwarded to the nearest driver as the retrieve drivers made their rounds.  They had a big whiteboard with all the pilots listed and columns for different status.  Slowly, but surely, the checked all the names off.

Retrieve Central at HQ

Only 55 minutes of flying but my first trip across the river.  The main lesson I “re-learned” today is that it is not a good idea to chase thermals upwind.  If I had headed downwind further into the flats I would have had a chance to get out of the start cylinder and make more than minimum distance points.  Still I was happy with the day.  I finally made it across the river and on to the flats.

Day 5 Task 4

Forecast on XC skies was a duplicate of the previous day.  I decided I would launch a little earlier to try and take advantage of the gaggle’s collective brain but wasn’t fast enough getting ready and launched late again.

I found a thermal right off launch and climbed up to 11,700 very quickly with three other gliders.  The gaggle was still ahead of me but I was at a point where I could see them pulling away from me anyway.  I crossed the river losing some altitude but found another thermal over Farnham Canyon and got back up to 11,000 plus.  Then another thermal over the power lines but high clouds had moved in and the lift was a lot slower.  A lot of 200-400 fpm stuff. 

I looked at my course line and where the gliders were ahead of me.   I was not sure why they were so far right of course.  I decided not to follow them and I headed more directly toward Mansfield, the first turn point on what my Flymaster told me was the route optimized course.  Later talking to one of the pilots I understood why they took the course they did.  It’s always smart to fly upwind of the course line so that when you catch the thermal you don’t drift downwind of it and then have to struggle to get back.

Heading for Mansfield

I pressed on course finding light lift and finally tagged Mansfield, the first turn point.  The second turn point was directly into the headwind.  I headed back to a field that had given me my last lift but didn’t find anything and soon landed. 

I was happy.  It took over 2.5 hours but I made the first turn point on the course and I had my first real experience over the flats.  This flight also got me out of last place. 

Today I waited 45 minutes or so for the retrieve driver to get to me and then since I was the first person in the van ended up in the van for three hours until it was full so we could head back to the soccer field.  It was a good experience in seeing what the retrieve drivers go through.  Coordination with HQ sometimes is lacking and they had to sometimes re-task their pickups among themselves to improve efficiency.  Anyway there was beer in the van and I kept busy helping the driver who had to manage driving the van, talking on the radio, text messaging on his cell phone, and programming the GPS.

I was at the comp for the rides up to launch and the retrieves.   Mary Beth has really spoiled me.  She is generally chasing me and being right at my landing spot or picking me up within a half hour of landing and taking me directly back to civilization. 

 Day 6 Task 5

The weather looked pretty dismal in the morning but we went up the hill and things improved enough to get a task off.  Task was to fly to Sims Corner and then back to Mansfield.  About 70k overall with 50 of it into a headwind.

I intended to launch early and did get off on course a little earlier than previous tasks.  I was up circling with the gaggle before the race started but not high enough to think about crossing.  The gaggle started across while I searched for more altitude.  I would find it and then get blown back southwest of launch and lose it coming back to the river.  Finally at around 8700 I headed across aiming at the two pyramid houses with a big black rock face behind them on the south side of Farnham Canyon. 

When I arrived I had enough altitude to do a little searching along the rim and found a thermal that gave me enough altitude to press on to the power lines.  At this point I had caught up with a number of gliders.  Some thermaling ahead and above me and others scratching down low. 

The wind was southwest and I was staying upwind of the course line hoping to get at least past Mansfield.  I was finding either light lift or massive turbulent thermals coming up.  At about 10 k on course I found a big thermal and a couple of other gliders were soon with me.  I climbed up a couple thousand feet but was getting rocked around so much that I decided to leave it and hope to find something gentler on course.

The lesson here is that “hoping” is not a good strategy although flying safely within your limits is.  My EN B class glider is rock solid and when I start seeing collapses with it I get nervous.  The serious comp pilots agreed it was rough air.  One pilot had to throw his reserve out in the flats and broke an ankle when he landed on the road.

Anyway I didn’t find anything strong enough to turn in and was down on the deck about 2K later.  So much for “hoping”.

I sat on a dirt road between a plowed field and a wheat field for about an hour and a half waiting for a retrieve.  Once picked up the retrieve driver picked up a couple of other pilots before we headed back to town.  I was back at the soccer field about two and a half hours after I landing.  Not bad.  Some pilots waited a lot longer.

This goes on for miles and miles

Retrieving pilots here is a lot more difficult than at Woodrat.  There is a lot more distance involved so you have to expect to wait a while.  They have a very good system for pilots sending in their coordinates but not one for coordinating the retrieve drivers to pick up pilots out on course.  You can grumble about it; but it does work and everyone gets retrieved eventually.
I have no pictures from my GoPro for the day.  Apparently the connection to the charger failed during the night.    I was no red light on indicating it was still charging but the battery was dead when I tried turning it on at launch.  Too bad.  I would have had some great pictures thermaling with the gaggle at the start of the race.

Weather for tomorrow doesn’t look that great with 50% chance of thunderstorms.  Maybe they will start the party early.

Day 7 Task 6?

The weather was dismal enough that we waited in the parking lot till 10:30 to make a decision on whether to go up the hill or cancel the day.

Things looked better so we all headed up to launch.  Less cloud cover but still looking like things might go bad.  A short task was called and we were all warned to keep monitoring the radio since there was a strong possibility things would overdevelop and the task might have to be stopped.

I had intended to launch earlier in the group but I was slow getting my gear ready and once again was one of the last to launch.  Everyone or nearly everyone was up there thermaling high above launch.

 There was nice thermal right out in front of launch and I started climbing out while looking at the dark cloud above me that seemed to be sucking me up.  There were still gliders above me with plenty of cloud clearance but at 6500 feet and with most of the group heading for the start cylinder which was some distance out in the flats across the river I decided to head across at 6500.  At the time I questioned my decision but went ahead anyway. I just can’t seem to learn that I need to get every foot of altitude I can out of a thermal before leaving it.

I seemed to have neutral buoyancy from the cloud above me or be in slight lift for the first part of my trip across the river.  I took a course line across the North end of Farnham Canyon at the top of the ridge where there were some small bowls that I thought might be triggering thermals.

I arrived fairly low and had just one chance to find something.  There was no lift there.  Now I was wishing I had left with that extra 500 to 1000 feet of altitude.  I would have had a lot more options.   I had to either go low to the flats above the canyon or continue along the ridge and over into McNeil Canyon.  I chose to surf the canyon rim along McNeil Canyon hoping to find something that would get me up high enough to go out on the flats.  I made some distance with this move but now altitude gain.  Eventually I was down below the rim and just maintaining in ridge lift hoping that sunshine would warm things up an I could fly out. 

The hawk just flys away laughing

I was joined by a hawk.  I think he was about to chase me away but then I started going lower on the hill and I think he must have just laughed to himself and flown on as I sunk out.  Flying out to the landing area I had picked I hit a nice thermal but it was a little small and I was close to some power lines so I couldn’t risk more than one turn in it before giving up and landing.  Now I’m wondering if that area which was a bit sheltered from the wind had been a better place to go when I was a few hundred feet higher.  Something to try next time…

I hit the button on my spot and texted in my information using my cell phone.  Retrieve arrived before I managed go get packed up.  As I was packing up the call came through that the task was stopped due to overdevelopment on the course.  It was a good call.  Everyone got down safely but the task was long enough to score and award points.

I took my GPS to HQ to get scored and then grabbed a quick shower and prepped the camping trailer for an early departure Sunday before heading to the barbecue dinner and awards ceremony back at HQ.

Results are at this link.  http://www.chelanxcopen.com/   Josh Cohn took first.   He’s so consistent in his flying.   Mike Steed came in 11^th.  A nice showing since he was flying his new Icepeak 6 for the first time at this comp.  .  I managed to stay out of last place-- but just barely. 

Serial winners Cohn, Greece, and McRae

After the dinner and awards I had a chance to relax and spend a little time talking with the other pilots.  Among other things Brian Webb from Australia and I talked through my problem of knowing that I should not leave lift to go on course too early and still do it  and Kari Castle told me a little about flying in the Owens valley in the middle of Sept versus late October.  I was talking to Matt Church from Scotland and finally connected the dots.  I had flown with him in Wilderness, South Africa back in 2007.

I left the party early and was in bed by 10:00 pm for an early morning  departure on Sunday.

"Learnings" and "re-learnings" for the week. 

·         A good understanding of the site and experience flying there can go a long way in improving your results

·         Chelan can be “big air” but its manageable and a beautiful, fun site to fly.

·         1200 fpm lift is OK as long as it’s smooth.

·         Don’t cross the river below 7000 feet even on a high pressure day. Above 10,000 feet or higher is ideal other times

·         If you have a little altitude over the plateau called Coyote Flats you can most likely glide over the orchards to the red house bailout. 

·         Finding lift on the canyon rim is a last resort.  Better to head for the flats and power lines

·         Better to leave the rim with enough altitude to make a last try at catching a thermal in the canyon than slowly sinking down the canyon wall.

·         Launch as early as you can once you are convinced you can stay up.  Have your gear  ready so you can jump in line quickly when you need to instead of waiting and then being stuck at the end of the line.

·         Never leave a thermal when there is more altitude to be had unless it is the last one between you and goal.

·         Stay on the upwind side of the course line when navigating to a turn point.

·         Going back upwind searching for thermals is not a good idea.  Much better to do that downwind if possible.  You lose less altitude.


Dan


Link to more pictures  here  

Manilla, Sydney and home May17- June 2

Arriving back at the River Gums cabin in Manilla felt a little like coming home.  We soon settled back into our routine of flying in the afternoon and dinners at the Royal Pub.  Nothing like their beer battered flathead.

Beer-battered Flathead.  Yum!

We are now into late fall.  It’s a great time for teaching and Godfrey is busy with classes.  The weather is so consistent and conditions so good they can get students up to a P2 rating in a week.

Ridge soaring with Godfrey's students

For cross country flying it is not the best time of year.  The days are shorter and the sun is not as hot so it takes longer for things to heat up and the window for flying is considerably reduced.  Two to three hours of peak thermals.  Still it was lots of fun.  I managed a number of 25K flights.  That is just a good climb from launch and then one more once you are away from launch. 

Washed and waxed

We washed and waxed the Jackaroo.  We are storing it at River Gums for next year.  No 100k XC flight means we have to come back in 2013. 

Wednesday May 30^th was my last available day to fly.  One of my flying buddies managed to get a great climb up over the back from the east launch and could have gone west quickly.  But he probably figured that if I didn’t go Mary Beth would not be available to retrieve him so he headed back to the mountain.  It took me ten to 15 minutes to find the thermal to take me up but I managed to get a good climb out from launch just as he was coming back.  I headed west and found some reasonable lift and one good thermal before running out of altitude and thermal triggers at the gap just short of Bogabri.  25k in one hour and 16 minutes.  I just need to put four of these together next year.

Here I am Mary Beth!

On Thursday, Dave from River Gums drove us to the train station in Tamworth. We opted for a train ride to Sydney with a day of site-seeing before flying back on Saturday.  Taking the train was much less expensive than flying and we had booked a room at a hotel near the airport in Sydney so we just needed to change trains at the central station in Sydney and get the train to the airport.

One thing that we thought we could skate on but turned out not to be the case was the allowable baggage weights on the train. For some reason they only allow 20 kilos per bag on checked bags on the train as opposed to the 23k on airlines.  At the train station in Tamworth we had to take items out of our 4our checked bags and put them in my glider pack which I carried on the train.

The train ride to Sydney was quite pleasant.  Once we got to Sydney things got a little hectic getting tickets and finding the correct track to board the train from Central Station to the Airport while pulling our wheeled suitcases and me with my glider pack. 

Still smiling on the train to the airport

We made it to the airport OK but the directions for the short ten minute walk to the hotel were a little vague and pulling the bags on a hot muggy evening left us a little short on patience with each other.  I wanted to give up and take a taxi but Mary Beth was determined.  We made it to the hotel OK with no backtracking and we were still speaking to each other.  But just barely.

We had been to Sydney before so we didn’t have a big list of things to do.  I wanted to go up in the tower of the harbor bridge and get a Sydney Hard Rock Café T-shirt.  Mary Beth wanted to shop.  All these things were accomplished.  I got my T-shirt and Mary Beth had another Black Opal.

View from the bridge tower

Climbing up in the tower and walking all day put some strain on Mary Beth’s knee but she persevered.  We ended the day with a nice dinner at one of the restaurants in Darling Harbor. Alcohol and Advil seems to do wonders.

Darling Harbor at dusk

We managed to find our way back to the train station and the airport with only a couple of glitches.  We thought we would take a shortcut through a parking structure in getting from Darling back to the nearest train station.  We ended up trapped and had to J-walk across a busy street.  Continuing on to the station Mary Beth tripped and face planted on the sidewalk cutting her finger.  More Advil back at the hotel.

Saturday, things at the airport went smoothly.  I had expected a long line and a wait when I presented the paragliding harness to the tax refund office at the airport.  There was no line and the inspector didn’t even want to see the  harness.  We had lots of time to spare.

The flight back with Qantas was on an A380.  I like them because they are much quieter than the 747s.  All I can say about the flight was that it was long and there were lots of movie choices.  Just none of them good.

We had lots of time in LAX before the flight to Portland and it was a good thing.  Things started out well.  Mary Beth’s cane got us special treatment and instead of waiting in line for 20 minutes at immigration we were whisked through the air crew line.  After picking up the bags we went to where the Alaska Airlines terminal used to be last year only to find out they had moved.  We managed to get on a bus to the right terminal and made the flight easily.  Mary Beth got a ten minute wait for a female TSA employee to do full body search thanks to her artificial knee and cane.  Still plenty of time for the flight.

Finally we arrived back in Portland.  Emily picked us up outside baggage claim and the long day was over.  Great to be home.

Australia 2012 trip statistics:

117	Days traveling
42	Days doing things other than flying
16	Days lost due to weather
59	Days flying
79%	of days available to fly were "flyable"
66.70	Total hours in the air
91	Total flights
83k	Longest XC
392k	Total XC I bothered to record

More pictures on Picasa

Flying Canungra May 14-16, 2012

The ferry from Heron Island took us back to Gladstone Saturday and after we picked up the Jackaroo we headed for Marlborough to spend the night on the way to Canungra. 

Sunday we drove to North Tamborine where we had reserved a room at Stonehaven Manor Lodge.  Stonehaven is a rather interesting place to stay.  It is built to look like a country estate in Scotland with  names for the rooms instead of numbers.  Names such as Inverness, Balmoral, and Edinborugh.  Most of the décor came from movie sets.  Anyway, their mid-week prices were low and they are on top of the mountain and close to restaurants and the Mt. Tamborine  launch.

Stonehaven's website

We arrived too late to fly on Sunday so we settled in to the Stonehaven and had an Indian dinner that was within walking distance from the lodge. Nice dinner but surprizing to me there were no Indian people immediately in sight. Funny to have your order for Indian food taken by a teenager with a strong Aussi accent.

Like almost every site in Australia the sites at Canungra require paying a site fee to fly there.  $30 for two weeks as a visiting pilot or $20 per day.  It is supposed to be payable on line using PayPal but it didn’t work for me and I eventually just ended up sending the treasurer the cash in the mail. 

Canungra club website

Monday I headed for Tamborine but when I got there the wind was over the back.  After some discussion with Jerry, Simone and Diego we headed for Beechmont.   Tamborine is a west facing site that usually works in the morning until the sea breeze takes over and then everyone heads for Beechmont which is on another range and faces east.  Athough as we found out lateer talking to Jerry quite often the sea breeze never makes it to Tamborine and it stays west all day. 

At Beechmont we arrived a little late in the day so we just had 22 minute sled rides working what little lift we found on the way down to the bailout LZ.  We all stopped for coffee after the flight at lodge Diego knew.  We were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Tuesday we met Simone at Tamborine.  We started early with sled rides down to the LZ  ending the day with a nice flight thermaling up 1000 meters above launch  before heading for the LZ.  Three flights.  Not a bad day.  It was interesting to see the wind blowing smoke from the east coming from the coast but plenty of west wind on the west side of the mountain. 

Wednesday was pretty much a repeat but with clearer skys.  It’s pretty amazing to fly there.  When you climb up you see the high rise buildings at Surfer’s Paradise and the ocean looking east and then when you look west you have the mountain ranges and green valleys to the west.  I decided to use the wing mount on the best photo day so had some great video of things below me but not the classic shot of Surfer’s paradise and the ocean.  Guess that gives me a reason to go back.

You meet some interesting people who are “living the dream” of flying when you travel Australia.  Simone is an interesting example.  He’s from Italy and a hairdresser by profession.  He takes temporary jobs working up to16 hours a day Thursday through Sunday so he can fly the other days.  He lives in a shack rent free and is saving money for skydiving lessons.  Susan is a German pilot we met first in Bright who has been showing up at a lot of the same sites as us.  She is living in a van and doing odd jobs while she travels around Australia.  I could go on listing people we have met like them. They are here on 1 year visas and make our 4 month trip seem way to short.

There are lots of good restaurants in North Tamborine.  We ate at an Irish pub one nite and had great pizza at Belevdere's on Main two other nights.  Simon recommended it since he worked there and knew the owner.  They cook thier pizzas with a wood oven and have great itallian dishes as well.

Anyway, Thursday we headed for Manilla.  Simone had to work and the Canungra club requires a local be present when visitors are flying there.  There was no guarantee we would have anyone to fly with and Manilla weather looked good.  Canungra  sites are sensitive due to landowner issues around the landing zone.  Too many pilots landing short or on the roads near the LZ.

Pictures from flying at Mt. Tamborine

Now for a week and a half of flying and some more frugal living before heading back to the states.

Keeping my retrieve driver happy April 21- May 12

We took a break from paragliding and did things on Mary Beth's list.

 

Saturday, April 21, 2012   Currumbin Valley         Dinner with Heike and Brett

We left river gums very early in the morning and arrived in Currumbin Valley south of Brisbane.   We found Bret and Heike’s house easily. They have a beautiful house in an Eco development nestled in the hills above the ocean.  They collect rainwater and have solar cells for electricity among other things.  Lots of wildlife around them.  There’s at least one Koala in the neighborhood.  Heike took us on a short walk around the area and through the woods.  Best not to wear sandals or leave too much skin uncovered when walking out in the bush.  We found out they also have leaches and ticks in the deep grass. 

Heike shows off her garden

We had a nice evening catching up with them.  Brett seems to be more interested in surfing now than flying paragliders.  That’s probably a good thing since he is only 20 minutes from the beach.  Heike not quite the free spirit paraglider I met some years ago and now seems focused on, among other things, paying down the mortgage on her beautiful house. 

April 22-23 , 2012               Rainbow Beach            

Sunday we had a nice breakfast at the Currumbin Valley Surf club and then headed to Surfers Paradise.  I wanted to get a Hard Rock Café T-shirt.  At $35 I think maybe I have bought my last shirt.  Surfer’s paradise reminded me of Las Vegas by the sea.  Not the calm and peaceful resorts that Mary Beth and I like.  We headed for Rainbow beach and Debbie’s place. 

Vew of Rainbow beach from lower than I had hoped for

Winds were not good for flying when we arrived but looked promising later.  Unfortunately it was just a short window that we missed when the automatic transmission on the Jackaroo hiccupped.  Turned out to be nothing but by the time we got to the parking area we met a pilot hiking down.  The winds had died.
Monday turned out to be a similar situation.  I hiked to the sand blow and met a pilot packing up.  I decided to wait and see.  A couple of other pilots were waiting.  There was a squall out in the distance that looked like it might provide a short window to fly down to the beach.  Not really a good idea but I got the wing out and could not get it ready in time.  The squall moved in very quickly even though the winds never got really strong.  I got soaked along with the wing.  It was no fun hiking back to the car park.  But I was lucky I didn’t make it into the air.  Not the best judgment on my part.  You get in a mode where you want to get a flight at a site and it can cloud your judgment to the point that you make decisions you would not make at your home site.

Tuesday April 24, 2012 Mackay    

We left Rainbow and headed for Mackay.  Just a 6 hour drive and a rest stop before heading on to Eungella.  I found a park there to kite, dry out, and repack my wing.  Mary Beth found a couple ticks on her from the hike at Brett and Heike’s place so we headed for Woolworths to find some tweezers to remove them.  That was about it for the excitement in Mackay.

April 25-27 Eungella
April 25^th is ANZAC day in Australia.  It’s the equivalent of veteran’s and Memorial Day in the U.S.   Dawn services, parades, special breakfasts and lots of celebrating involving alcohol.  It commemorates Australia and New Zealand’s first wartime service by its soldiers at Gallipoli in World War I.  Wednesday morning we saw the crowds forming for the parade as we headed for Eungella.  Later we saw some of the ceremonies on TV.  Very moving.

There is a national park in Eungella where you can view the Platypus and also a flying site.  There is also a campground right next to the paraglider launch with a cabin overlooking the launch site.  Unfortunately we had reservations at a resort at the national park—otherwise we would have stayed at that campground.

Vew from launch

While we were checking out launch an Italian pilot showed up.  I thought the winds were just a little too strong and decided not to launch.  He got away safely but did not find any thermals and soon was on the ground.

We drove to the National park just 7 k away and checked in to our room.  Looking at the weather for the next few days I decided if I didn’t fly today I probably wouldn’t fly at all so we headed back to launch. 
Cloud cover had increased with a few dark ones out there but I was undeterred.  I set up switched on the GoPro and launched.  Staying up was easy and I made a few passes in front of launch to get some picture and then headed out along the north side of the valley.  It was getting easier and easier to  stay up.  WARNING, DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!  In a few minutes as I headed out into the valley I was on full speed bar and big ears to keep from getting sucked up into the clouds.  Groundspeed had dropped to 5 kilometers per hour.  Slowly I pushed my way out to the valley  and found a nice field to land in.  It took a while to get the glider down and on the ground but I made a nice one step landing.  I was happy to be on the ground.  When I went to switch off the GoPro I discovered that it had only taken a few pictures and then switched to standby so I had no pictures from the flight.  Ugh!  Probably just as well, since the pictures showed a sky much darker when I was just off launch than what I recalled from when I launched.  This is another instance of wanting to get a flight clouding my judgment. 

What ws I thinking?

The adventure wasn’t quite over.  I had to ford a creek to get back to the road where Mary Beth was waiting with the Jackaroo.  I managed it without getting wet.
In the evening we went to the creek at the national park and I tried my hardest to photograph the platypus.  You have to look for them at dawn and dusk.  They generally sleep during the day when the sun is bright. They stay submerged most of the time just coming up for air.  So you have to look for bubbles and shoot pictures in low light with your telephoto lens.  You need a very sensitive camera with a big lens.  I did my best but most of my pictures came out blurry.  It’s hard to tell which end is which in them.

We had dinner in the lodge.  Very friendly people there.  They have an opossum feeding station on their deck and a python living under their deck that was busy crushing a mouse while we were there.  That was our evening’s entertainment.  The food was good but a bit expensive. 
Thursday the weather was overcast. We tried for more platypus pictures, took a hike through the rain forest and drove a four wheel drive track.  We got about two thirds along the Four wheel track to a point where it and had a creek to ford that looked a little too deep.  We turned around and headed back to the resort.  That was our excitement for the day.


Friday, April 27, 2012  Hiking Finch Hatton Gorge and a Townsville pit stop
Friday we drove from Eungella to Townsville.  Along the way we stopped for a hike Finch Hatton Gorge.  We hiked 2.8 kilometers out and back to Araluen Cascades.  The sign at the trailhead read “moderate”.   It’s a very pretty water fall.  The main reason to mention it is that Mary Beth was able to do the hike.  No complaints on the new knee.  The other knee now bothers her more than the new one.  But this is a hike she would never have considered before the knee replacement. 

Araluen Cascades

Now it was on to Townsville.  We booked a room at a hostel there and did laundry in the evening before heading on to Port Douglas.  The irony of doing laundry there at one of the Laundromats was when we got to Port Douglas the place we were staying had a washer and dryer in our room.  Oh well.

 April 28-May 4, 2012  Port Douglas  Rest and Relaxation
Saturday we headed further north top Port Douglas.  We had booked six nights in the Regal along with a tour of the Daintree and a snorkeling tour. 

Along the way we stopped at Rex Viewpoint just south of Port Douglas.  It’s a great launch for hang gliders and a little tricky for paragliders.  There is a sharp break that the hangs like but creates a dead zone for the wind where paragliders lay out.  Not very far behind the layout point is a stone retaining wall 6 feet high where the tourists stand and look out.  It it is too strong you risk getting picked up and slammed into the wall or worse yet getting blown on the  fairly heavily traveled highway behind the retaining wall.



Rex Viewpoint launch

The local club asks visiting pilots to contribute $20 for site maintenance, be HGFA members and have an orientation.  I did all three of those but chose not to fly on Saturday and while I watched the weather the winds stayed too strong for the entire time we were there.

In the evening we had a short walk to the main shopping street in town with all the restaurants.  Prices vary from moderate to expensive but very good meals.

Sunday morning we went on a snorkeling trip to the low isles on the “Sail Away”.  We had a great time.  Only 14 of us on the boat designed for 30 and we had the dive spot pretty much to ourselves. It was easy snorkeling in water around 4—5 feet deep.  Lots of soft coral.  Talking to some people this trip was probably better than some of the boats that go out to the reef.  Less time getting to and from and quieter on the sailboat than the diesel powered craft.

Link to more pictures

Monday we had an all day tour of the Daintree area north of Port Douglas.  It’s a rainforest with plenty of rivers and creeks where you can see lots of different vegetation and of course crocodiles.  The weather was overcast so not the best for photography.  We went as far as Cape Tribulation where Captain Cook ran aground and then back for a croc hunting trip on a boat in the river.  Then we had a trip on a 4wd track to a beautiful waterfall where we could have had a swim if it had been a little warmer and we didn’t mind sharing the water with an eel.   Highlight of the trip was probably catching a glimpse of a Cassowary crossing the road with his chick.  You don’t often see them in the wild.  And if you do you need to keep your distance as they  easily rip you to shreds with the claws on their feet.

Beach at Cape Tribulation

Link to more Daintree pictures

Tuesday we visited the Wildlife habitat in Port Douglas. They had a good collection of wildlife native to northern Australia.  Mary Beth really loved feeding the swamp wallabies.

Link to Wildlife Habitat pictures

Wednesday we just relaxed at the beach and in Jacuzzi on the deck of our apartment at the Regal.  Another great, but expensive, meal in the evening.  

Four Mile Beach

Thursday we headed down towards Cairns and took a skyway ride up a mountain over the rain forest canopy to the town of Kuranda.  Kuranda was at one time just a sleepy little hippy community but now it is a tourist town.  Lots of shops with expensive things to buy.  We escaped with  just a few.  Dan now has his own kangaroo skin and a bottle opener with a handle made from the parts that make a male Kangaroo a male.  It will make a great white elephant gift come Christmas time.  From Kuranda there is a train that runs back down the mountain to a town just outside Cairns.  Coaches are restored 19^th century and the views from the train are spectacular.

On the Railroad...

Friday was another just hang out day in Port Douglas.  More beach time and a little planning for where we were going next.  We packed the car Friday night for an early departure on Saturday morning.

May 5-7 Airlie Beach and the WhitSunday Islands
Saturday we drove to Airlie Beach.  We got there late in the afternoon.  The Traveler’s Auto Barn brochure had recommended this as a place.  It was definitely a place where there were lots of backpackers.  We had a room on the hill overlooking the harbor and Witsundy islands.   The view was great and it was a short walk to down to the main “strip” in town where all the bars and restaurants are.  A short walk but very vertical.  Advil and alchohol made the return trip home up the hill bearable for Mary Beth.   We made arrangements to do the half day cruise to Whitehaven beach in the Whitsunday Islands. 

Whitehaven Beach

More pictures from the Whitsundays

Sunday was a nice sunny day and the cruise through the Whitsunday islands was beautiful.  I think the sail trip to snorkel at Port Douglas spoiled us a bit relative to transportation on water.  The diesel boat was very noisy.  Whitehaven is on the top 10 beach list (don’t recall who’s list).  We had a great time just walking down the beach and wading in the surf.

In the evening we stopped at the hotel bar for a drink and ended staying there for dinner.  Good food but rather slow service.  Anyway we got back to the room early enough to get plenty of sleep before heading to Rockhampton the next morning.

May 7 Travel to Rockhampton
Monday we drove on to Rockhampton.  It was about an hour away from Gladstone where the boat to Heron leaves from but it was the only place we could find relatively low cost accommodation.  Apparently the mining boom has put rooms in demand and we couldn’t find anything in Gladstone for under $200 a night.  We had intended to do some shopping for snorkeling equipment and wine before heading to Heron Island.  Surprise.  It was Labor Day in Queensland and everything was closed except for restaurants and the movie theater.  We made the best of it.  Mary Beth got to see “Hunger Games”.  She had read the book and was happy to see that they had changed very little in the movie version.

May 8-12 Heron Island
We arrived at the Gladstone early and I spent an hour looking for some snorkeling equipment that was cheaper than the $45 we were going to pay renting.  No luck with that so we went on to the harbor.  We put the Jackaroo in covered secure parking about an hour before the ferry left and settled in doing last minute E-mails and (god forgive us) Facebook.

 It was a nice smooth ride on the twin hulled ferry over to the island.  Sunshine and calm seas made the trip very pleasant.  Trying to photograph the birds flying along the water looking for fish was next to impossible.  Too far away and too hard to focus on them.  I spotted one lone sea turtle on the trip but we went by him too fast for a good photograph.

Heron Island was originally a turtle canning factory at the beginning of the century.  The owners soon figured out that this would not be a sustainable operation and converted the island buildings into a resort.  It’s changed over the years and now is $400 a night Eco resort.   At least the meals are included.   It’s a bit expensive for my taste but its Mary Beth’s reward for all the paradriving and staying in some of the more basic accommodations during the last three months.  You can do a little rationalizing.  Here you don’t have to pay $200 dollars and spend two hours sailing out to the reef and when you consider what you would spend at Port Douglas for a nice hotel, snorkeling trips and three great meals a day it’s a BARGAIN.  At least I keep telling myself that.

We had a garden view cabin with lots of birds to watch in the trees.  If you wanted to see the ocean it was a short two minute walk to the beach. 
After unpacking on the first day we took a guided reef walk.  At low tide there were lots of varieties of sea cucumbers, shell fish, and even a small shark to check out.  We got a great sunset picture of the shore at low tide with a beautiful sunset.

The meals here are great.  Amazingly on the first night none of the main dishes were fish.  Mary Beth had kangaroo and I had Angus beef.  Alcohol is not included in the rate.  Mary Beth had a $16 cocktail before dinner and we had a very nice bottle of Cab-Shiraz blend for only $35.  That was the cheapest wine on the menu.

Wednesday morning we picked up our snorkeling equipment and took a tour of the marine center that is located on the island along with the resort.  In the afternoon we headed out on the boat with the divers for an hour of guided snorkeling.  We were out on the edge of the reef where the water was around 3-10 meters deep.  Because of the relatively strong tides of the last few days the water was not as clear as it might have been.   We did manage to see a huge green sea turtle among other things.  Mary Beth was glowing when she got out of the water.  Her knees felt great and she had just ticked off one of the items on her bucket list.

After snorkeling we went to the info center for an hour presentation on sea turtles.  It was interesting to see how attitudes have changed over the years.  From the turtle cannery that started the settlement on the island to a resort where they had turtle riding till the 60’s and now with all the protection the green turtles on this part of the barrier reef are coming back strong. 
Thursday morning we went on an island walk.  We saw something pretty uncommon for this time of year. There were tracks on the sand up to the forest where a turtle had come ashore to build a nest and lay her eggs.  This turtle was about 60 days later than the rest.   The guide explained how the island was formed and some of the specific vegetation and birds that can only be found here and on a few other islands on the reef.

After the tour we went snorkeling.  You simply walk down the beach a ways and jump in the water and head out.  We were shooting for high tide.  The water was only 3-4 feet deep with bits of coral and sea grass spread out between larger areas where you could stand up without damaging anything.  I had the camera and spent lots of time just pointing and shooting.  It was very difficult to see what was framed exactly in the camera.  There were lots of fish to photograph.  The trick is getting close enough to them before they hide in the sea grass or under/around the coral.
There was a  Lemon shark (probably more than one) out there with us.  I saw him swimming right under Mary Beth at one point and swam over to tell her but he was gone.  Then I saw him again and managed to get a few photographs.  The theme from “Jaws” started playing in my mind and even though these sharks are not aggressive I decided it was time to call it quits for the day.  I already had taken over 100 photos.  When we got to shore a lady told me that she had seen the shark swimming behind me earlier.  He must have been chasing the same fish I was.

In the afternoon we took the bird watching walk.  It was only an hour but there were plenty of opportunities to see and photograph the birds.  We chilled out in the bar until nearly sunset.  Then we raced to the jetty to get some pictures.  I think sunset is better from the beach.  But still pretty fantastic any way you look at it.
Friday was our last full day.  Mary Beth decided we should head for the north tip of the island for snorkeling.  We did an hour in the morning, had lunch and then another hour in the afternoon.  We retired to the bar to relax and sort through the 169 underwater photos.  No turtles but lots of small fish and coral this time.

We decided that snorkeling off the beach is better than the dive boat—at least for the on trip we took.  At the edge of the reef you have to dive down to get close to anything and we didn’t see nearly as many fish.
It was tough to leave this place.  When the sun is shining and the water is warm there doesn’t seem to be a better place to be on earth. 

More Heron Island pictures