The Byron Bay Ninja

Yo finally! Flew a different site on Tuesday the 13th of June. Actually cant believe I did it at all. I woke up at ten to ten to the sound of a text. It was my mate Keith asking if I wanted to go down and fly Byron for the day. Normally I wont even go to Tambo at that late in the morning. Im not sure what sweetened the deal but I think the fact I had nothing else planned helped a lot.

I think I also supprised Keith by agreeing and after meeting at Nerang Coles proceeded to throw his kite on my car. Moments later Keith and Ant were of on another whirl wind adventure. Not knowing what to expect we had a lot of time to think about and discuss what might happen. On reaching Byron it wasn't hard to find launch. All I did was pull to the side and let a van with gliders on the roof pass by.

Once we found a park we jumped out and walked up towards the lighthouse. That's when we saw it! a ramp launch was something I didn't expect and I got a few more butterfies in my stomach. Im not sure why I didn't expect it, considering I've seen pics of it on Jonny's blog.

After making our way up we met Neil , Ashley and Marggi. All very nice and very helpful pilots. The wind was blowing about 17 knots at this stage and we waited a while to see a couple of pilots launch. We were also given some good advice from our new friends. It didn't look that difficult but even though we were both very excited we both admitted to being a little nervous.

After half an hour we decided to get our gliders and set up. Unfortunately the car was a ways off. I ended up dropping the gliders at the bottom of launch after mistakenly driving 100 meters back up a one way road. Oh well ill know for new time. We then had to carry our wings up a narrow steep path. After reaching the top I was completely nakered. I didn't even feel like going for a fly I was so out of breath and tired. I really need to start working out again.

Keith, a guy almost thirty years my senior made it look simple and went straight to work setting up. I finally got my shit together and set up myself in the narrow track tucked away behind the ramp. After hiding my camera and wheels, which for the first time ever I opted not to use I threw on my sweaty and got ready. We both watched as Neil launched with a tandem passenger and then we were told we could go anytime.

Seeing I already had my shirt on we decided I may as well go first. After putting on my balaklava I was given an odd look from one of the wire assists who instantly said I looked like a ninja. Fortunately for me the balaklava doesn't just keep me warm up thousands of feet by the clouds, but also stops my hair from being pulled out by my harness. With that in mind I decided to look a little different from everyone else and proceeded up the ramp. I guess Coastal pilots don't need the extra head protection considering they only ever get to a few hundred feet of the ground.

In the end im glad to have had the extra warmth. The winds were blowing at about 20 knots at this point and I was assisted out with 2 wire assists. It felt strange putting my glider on the ground without my wheels. I suddenly felt a whole lot taller as I put my foot on my cross bar to steady my wing. After giving the all clear Keith andwire assist 2 got behind me as I picked up the kite and took two strong steps and was away. Launch felt good and was confirmed by Keith who had also over heard a fellow local pilot giving me praise. (You rock Ant!!) The only mishap of the flight was that I had forgotten to check my harness cord placement and found the one lead I needed to unzipp my bag was down by my feet. Anyway after a bit of jitting around I managed to free it and was able to relax.

Finding lift was easy and within about two minutes I was well on top of the pack. There were actually a lot of people flying this day and being on top was a good way to stay away from the mayhem. A little while later I watched as Keith also launched and made his way up. The sea breeze was excellent and made for an easy, effortless and constant glide. After a while I decided to experiment and see how close I could get to the far edge of the cliff before turning back. This was where the surf hit the point and its deadly rocks below. It wasn't long before I had enough confidence to fly all the way out and over the treacherous image, at times getting pretty low according to Keith who was obviously keeping his distance. Flying over amazing cliffs being battered by the sea was something that I had always wanted to do. I felt very confident and always flew at a height that if I did suddenly hit sink id easily make the beach to land.

We were joined by a wedge tail eagle and a few sea hawks, they were more than happy to share the sky with us. A while into the flight a beautiful rainbow appeared out to sea, not having my radio to contact Keith I found myself yelling and pointing as I passed him on a couple of occasions. About 20 minutes into the flight it became really busy and after sacrificing precious height to do my point passes found myself in amongst every one. Oh well good practice I guess. It didn't take too long before I got on top again.

After the first 35 minutes I found myself starting to look at my watch. 45 minutes in I started to get very bored, although I didn't want to land without flying for at least an hour. To be honest I was bored out of my mind. Flying Byron might be great initially but it didn't take me long to realize that not much happens. That its only a very small fly zone and you don't have to be a genius to stay in the air. It gave me a whole new appreciation for Tambo and Beechmont. In the end I found myself counting down the last twenty seconds before doing one last wing over and heading out to do my very first beach landing.( oh yeah coastal flying is great for wing overs)

As I flew down I thought if I stuff this landing I think im going to have to give the sport away, or at least ill never live it down. I was actually suprised how fast I came in. It didn't look or feel at all like I thought it would after watching a number of pilots land. But then again being a country flyer im use to having the bar pulled in for speed. I actually judged the spot where I wanted to land perfectly and ended up landing without a worry in the world.

I stood on the beach still hooked into my glider for a few seconds before turning around and walking sideways up a narrow track to where the pull down zone was and where the cars were parked. Walking up the narrow parth with a set up glider while still being in my harness was quite an experience. Im sure ill get better at it the more I fly there.

After getting out of my glider I met up with a mate I've flown with at times at Tambo (UK Matt) and quickly accepted a ride back up to my car. Once back up top I met a few pilots who had just watched Keith land. "hey your mate sure over shot" they said. Shit! What's he doing down there I though. He only over shot by 100 meters or so. To be honest I think if your not use to the conditions it would be a very easy thing to do. The strange thing was we could see his wing tips fluttering which meant he was obviously packing up down there.

After arriving back below I walked down to meet him. As soon as we saw one another we laughed exstatically and had a manly hug. We spoke for a while before I decided to go and collapse my wing myself. I immediately formed a dislike for sand which seemed to get over everything. And I wasn't even in a sandy spot. I wondered how Keith was dealing with it, having decided to pull down on the beach.

After throwing our gliders on the roof we decided to go into town for dinner. By this time it was about 630pm. I spotted an Earth and Sea pizza restaurant I recognized from my dinners at Bulimba and that was that. We were seated in front of a warm fire and were brought over ice cold beers. We then reminisced, sent text messages to all our pilot friends (who turned out to be very envious) over I think the best pizza I've ever eaten. The staff at the restaurant were also excellent and seemed to be just as excited as ourselves over what we had just done.

Keith was happy and said we both out flew the locals. The locals were very impressed with our flying and wanted to know who trained us. Others there said it was the best flying day they had had in about a month, that it was perfect. So all in all it was a perfect flying day.

Thanks for Keith for getting my ass out of bed and for joining me up as a member of the Byron Hang gliding club. You rock man! Thanks also to all the nice Byron pilots who helped keep us safe. We'll be back soon i hope.

My new motto for life is as follow:

Live life to the fullest....
Work like you don't need the money
Love like you've never been hurt and
Dance like no one's watching!

All up 1 hour