Destin Carving the Air above me in Queensland |
The upper takeoff at katabunda, the hill may only be 800 feet high
but on good days thermals pop off all around it make it possible
to gain several thousand feet of altitude and cover good distances |
You meet lots of interesting and fun people paragliding. The Road
to the top of this hill is near vertical and rocky. You feel like
the truck is going to tumble over backwards as you drive up. Our
Nissan Pintara would not have a chance. |
After thinking that the wind would be to strong to fly on the coast
we decided to go for a drive andcheck it out for something to do
and got in an hour of fun flying at NE Bonnie Hills. |
Byron Bay was the most well rounded spot to hang out in. Many good
surf beaches, lots of nightlife with good live music, Good paragliding
a short drive away from town with a good group of local pilots.
Could have easily spent another few weeks here (we stopped there
twice on the trip) Here I am flying a couple thousand feet over
the ground at possum shoot, Byron Bay is in the upper right hand
corner of the photo. |
Made it to Melbourne. Melbourne is a great city. Not as pretty as
Sydney but has much more going on. Lots of side streets downtown
with loads of bars, cafe's, restaurants, clubs ect... More nightlife
and live music than Sydney as well. |
Well Destin had to leave
from Sydney so we worked our way down the coast with strong winds
the entire way so no flying. Sold the surfboards, Sold the Car,
Said good-bye then I got a plane ticket to Melbourne and then took
the train/bus to a small mountain town of Bright, Which has a 1500'
high hill called mystic behind town. Just so happens this is one
of the most consistent flying sites in all of Australia and there's
not much else to do in Bright but fly! Here we are at launch in
the early morning to get a few mellow short flights before the thermals
start kicking in then the real flying begins. |
Getting ready at the Launch at Mystic. One of the easiest launch
sites I found during the entire trip |
Since the area is very good for flying it can get crowded. When
there are a bunch of pilots all flying together it is called a Gaggle(like
Geese). I got to fly in my first real gaggles here in Bright. At
one point on the weekend I counted 28 pilots in the air at the same
time. It takes extra concentration to keep track of all the people
around you but adds a new challenge. |
The Hostel at Bright is very Paraglider Friendly. The owner is a
long time pilot and there is a discount for pilots, flying magazines,
videos, and entire walls of maps of the area and places to and not
to land. Even pre printed laminated signs saying "glider pilot
to Bright" for hitching back to town after a long cross country
flight. |
Here I am flying 3500' over mystic Mt. with the town of Bright in
the upper right had corner. You can just make out a paraglider coming
into land at the main landing zone in the lower right hand corner
of the photo. The small speck and shadow over the dark tree's just
before the open field. |
Holding both brakes (controls) in one hand to take a photo. Not
easy to take pictures and fly in rough thermal conditions. Even
though it often gets to 95 deg on the ground most pilots have thick
fleece gloves, full flight suites, Balaclava's and other warm gear
for the air at altitude gets very cold. Paragliders often reach
10000' here in bright and they dress very warm. I made it to almost
6000 from a 2500' launch which is as high as the thermals would
take me on the days I was there. Was nice and cool |
flying over the mystic Mt. with logging roads and pine trees below.
There are no natural pines in the area but the plant them and the
area looks like the western US at times. |
A few pilots working the same thermal. Having other pilots around
helps to locate the rising columns of air. |
For $5 a trip you get another ride up to the top of mystic. They
pile people inside and lots of gear on the roof rack (and a person
or two often hops up and rides on the roof for the rough bouncy
ride up the Mt.) |
You just can't ask for better flying conditions that this! |
My last flight of the entire trip was a sunset buoyant ride down
to to a smooth landing. Here is the person who launched behind me
landing ending a great day and for me a great paragliding trip! |
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