Morning by the Beach

Last Sunday I had something on in the afternoon but the forecast for the coast was looking good. Luckily daylight savings gave me an extra hour. I went down early and was setup by 8:30am. A paraglider pilot was checking out launch but they were some Pilots from Aubury to do some motorised paragliding. While they went down to the beach, I setup alone. It was nice at that time of morning. Just before I was about to launch a couple of couples turned up with their kids. It was good to have people around just in case. It was an easy launch and a great flight. It was great early in the morning and being the only one in the air. Apart from the motorised paragliders of course but they don't count as they were just chilling out going up and down the beach.

AirShow Video

As I mentioned I did capture some footage from the Airshow on my camera. Unfortunately for all, the quality is just above mediocre however I have done my best with the technology available. This is mainly for fast jet junkies and people with a fantasy about cows. Music by Jet.



Just so I don't have to be subjected to capturing potentially great footage in grainy quality with bad sound I have purchased a new camera off ebay. I now just hope it shows up!

Melbourne International Air Show

When I was growing up, like a lot of kids I dreamt of joining the air force and fly jets. Top Gun was a well watched movie. I went to the interview, couldn't answer a particular question which I thought was what they were there to teach me(does the bitterness still show) and I didn't get through. That one day was a defining event in my life. If I had got in, then my whole life would be different. I wouldn't know any of my current friends, I would have a totally different career, I would more than likely be living in a totally different part of the country, I wouldn't have visited the same places, had the same experiences. Apart from family, nothing would be the same. I wish I could view the alternative universe and see where I would be if events on that particular day were different. Sort of like "Sliding Doors". I could have been on the other side of the fence at the air show. I don't think life would have been better, just different. The plane that kept the imagination alive was the FA-18 Hornet. This is the US version.


And just as "sexy" from the front.


I still have a sad tinge every time I see one of these planes or the guys who fly them. The pilots are probably the only group of people I am actually jealous of.


Definitely one of the highlights of the air show was seeing the F-15 fly. Like the Camaro, it was pure grunt. My alligence to the F-18 could change for this one.


Not as fast, but almost as impressive was the US C-17. Apparently Oz has purchased a couple of these. It is the largest plane I have seen but I swear it stopped within about 200m.


I did take some video but they didn't really come out well. I still might see what I can do with them.

Paragliders Galore

Last Sunday after the "Love" party, we still managed to go for a fly. There must have been at least 20-30 paragliders flying. It was the last day of the Mystic cup and a few of the guys had come back from the Worlds in Manilla. John and I got a great thermal just after launch which quickly took me up to where the paragliders were circling. Feeling like I was outnumbered I left to find my own thermal elsewhere.


It was quite inverted but still managed to get to around 2ooom which provided some pretty good views but wasn't exactly confidence inspiring to for a decent X-Country. This is looking towards Mt Beauty with Mystic launch at the bottom of the picture.


I did go for a jaunt down to the end of the valley and back. The burnt out countryside really stood out.

St Kilda Sunset

We are starting to get into Autumn here. It is definitely one of the best times to be in Melbourne. The temps cool a bit, the skies are generally quite clear and there are some beautiful days. I had never seen the Sunset at St Kilda before. I didn't realize just how west it faced. Sharon invited anybody who wanted to join her down at the Espy for the $10 Burger, Chips and a pot meal and to watch the sunset. The time she chose was a bit late but I was down there a bit earlier and got a few snaps.


And just to continue with the romantic theme after Carol and Olli's wedding photo's, I just happened to be at the end of the wharf when these two walked into the picture.


Ok, enough of all these wedding photo's, sunset's etc - the airshow is on this weekend. Back to the flying soon.

Carol and Olli's "Love" Party

About 3-4 years ago I got introduced to Bright by a friend and got introduced to Olli and Carol who were locals. Since then I have spent a lot of time in Bright over the summers and got to know Olli and Carol very well. They are extremely well known in the hang gliding scene having been to most comps over the last ten years. They first meet at a competition in Forbes about 8-10 years ago. They are fantastic people and I have stayed with them many times. A couple of weeks ago they got married in a very private ceremony on the top of Mt Buffalo.


It's hard to imagine a better background setting for a wedding.


The above photo's are courtesy of the lucky couple. This weekend they had a "Love" party. The original "Love" party scheduled for December got canceled due to the smoke from the fires. I guess that would have been like a engagement party. This time it was like a reception. It was just in the back yard of their property in Wandi but was very fitting. Lot's of friends, lot's of food and lots of laughs. They definitely have great set of friends from around Bright.

I wish them all the best. I am sure we will continue to have good times together.

An Inconvenient Truth

I saw an inconvenient truth last weekend. I am not much of a preacher but this is a topic under hot debate. Everybody has heard about global warming - everybody makes there own decisions. I thought this documentary was good. The reason I liked it was because it was very well presented, showed some hard data and gave more information on which to base my decisions. I didn't think it was too alarmist and followed the slide show that Al Gore has been presenting for a long time. It also mixed into it the background and personal story of Al Gore and therefore it became part biography.


Whether your view is that our current situation is cyclical or global warming, it is still worthwhile getting as many views as you can to make your decision.

Spion - Back for another go

Well, after heading down yesterday and not getting a fly, today was excellent. It doesn't get much better than a constant 15-20kt for the whole day. There were about 10 people out and about today. Since there wasn't much of a westerly we managed to get around the corner towards Lorne. After I got round, I found a glider already around there.


The following is the view back towards Spion after getting to the last hill before Lorne. The lighthouse is very tip of the peninsula you can see below. As I was flying back, I past another couple who made it around and were heading down towards Lorne. It is always one of the goals when flying here.


It doesn't take long to get back if the wind is this good. There was still a tiny bit of Westerly so once again, it was great speed run against the cars down to the lighthouse.

Lots of driving, not much flying

After not flying for a couple of weeks, I was pretty keen for a fly today (Sunday). The wind was predominately from the west but was due to swing to the south later on. I kept an eye on the wind and as soon as it started to shift I decided to head down to the Spion. The wind strength was perfect when I left. All it had to was swing a bit more and I would be happy. But after the 2 hour drive, I arrived and it was 30kts, plus a little.


Nobody else was there. It was a bit too strong to self launch. I would have launched if I had a wire assist but it was a little on the scary side otherwise. I sighed, and drove home. 4 hours driving - 0 hours flying. Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Tomorrow is shaping up to be excellent and I know a few people will be down there.

Instead I met up with Joel, Ange and Nat at the pub. The day wasn't a complete loss after all. Ange and Joel are heading overseas in a few weeks.


The resolution on the above photo is #$%@. This camera is generally really bad in low light. This camera is headed for the bin very soon.

Charlie Visited

Over Xmas, when my family was staying with me, we got visited by a extremely friendly cat. He just walked in one day, had a good look around, hung around for a few pats and then left. Then a couple of days later, we ran across the same cat walking down the street. It followed us for at least 100m before we forced it to stay. It must have been the friendliest cat I have ever meet.


In mid Jan, I noticed a ‘lost cat’ ad on the all the lamp posts down the street. It was for the same cat we had saw. I rung the number and told the guy who answered the details on where we had seen the cat and when. He told me they had been away for a couple of weeks and got someone to look after him but they hadn’t seen the cat for 2 weeks. A couple of days later, the signs got taken down so I figured the cat had found it’s rightful owner. What I really thought had happened was that the cat was so friendly that someone decided to "adopt" it.

Fast forward a month or so. I was sitting at the computer with the door open and in walked the same cat. It had a look around, had a drink of milk and preceded to make itself comfortable sitting on the table, floor, on my lap and then next to my computer. It was like it lived here. This time the cat had a collar. The cat’s name is ‘Charlie’.


This is Charlie “investigating”.


Have you ever seen a more contented look. This cat had a happy soul! If I ever came back as a cat, I would want to come back as one just like this.


I am glad this cat story had a happy ending. Hope he comes back for more visits.

New Zealand Ironman

Last Saturday, 3rd March (which just also happens to be Mum's Birthday - Happy Birthday Mum), my brother Rob competed in the New Zealand Ironman. For those that don't know the details, that is a 3.8km swim, 180km ride, followed by a meager 42km run. Now, that is long in anyone's books. I would like to think I know how it feels as I once did a 400m swim, 15km bike run, 5 km run and was absolutely wasted at the end. But I know it is not the same. Just thinking about doing even one of those legs sounds tough but doing all three one after the after just blows me away. I have nothing but admiration for anybody who does it.

Believe it not, they actually webcast the finish line so I managed to see Rob finish. The ironman website also contained his splits here so you could see how he was progressing and guestimate when he might be crossing the finish line. I captured the webcast, grabbed some photos and music, did some editing and put together a short movie. Here it is....



Congratulations Rob! 12 hours racing is admirable. Maybe this is the next goal - the ultimate - the Hawian Ironman.



If anyone who was actually there has any photo's of the man in action, send them through and I will do an update.

Melbourne Motor Show

I recently had the thought that hang gliding is actually saving me money. If I didn't have it then I would be forced to find some other way to get my thrills. A typical avenue a lot of people use to get their "happiness" is through the acquisition of expensive cars. I do like a nice car but I always think of what else I could do with the money. ie. I could buy a 80K VW or I could spend 30K on car and spend a whole bunch of the leftover on holidays. Having said that, it's always good to look. This is the new BMW.


The following Camaro stood out amongst even the Ferrari's. It is pure muscle. It reminded me of something out of Robo-cop. I could imagine this cruising down Chapel Street.

The Porsche 4WD is the ultimate Hang Gliding car although I have heard you can't even get knobly tires for it as they won't fit. It is purely what they call a 'Toorak Tractor'. I would still have one though.

You've just got to love F1....


And Ferrari gets points for style.


Maybe one day....

Dallas Crane

Went to the Espy in the St Kilda to watch Dallas Crane with Sharon, Paula and Lou - there last gig before they hit the road OS. I saw them for a couple of songs at the St Kilda Festival a couple of weeks ago but they didn't really hit it off with me. Maybe it was the big venue. But tonight they were awesome. The Espy is iconic in Melbourne.


Just before we walked in I took a photo of the doorway. The bouncer took offence and said I should ask before I took a photo of other people. You can see the bouncer in the above photo in the yellow shirt near the door. He was a big boy. I don't there was a neck but even if there was, I didn't reach it. I wondered if that mean't any photo I took of a crowd, I should go and ask everyone. I let it go. I don't think he was up for a debate.

The photo's I took inside didn't really come out well. I don't like using the flash inside because you don't get the real image. If you don't use the flash, then the camera uses a long exposure which then makes the image blurry. I don't think it matters too much for this band anyway.

When we left, the bouncer said "See ya mate" so I don't think he took the photo incident seriously.