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Published: March 11th 2006
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I could probably sum up our time in Bright simply and quickly; we came, we saw, we stayed!
Bright is in the Alpine region of Oz and features a mountainous vista; it has skiing in the winter while offering summer activities enjoyed by the whole family. It has also been hailed as one of the best areas for Paragliding! Now you see why it’s been months since we updated the web site!
As we approached Bright we both felt our nerves and apprehension growing. The thoughts of getting back into chucking ourselves off mountains brought terrors of standing on launch and looking over the edge, flooding back (terrors is a little strong but sounded better).
We arrived in town and went to see the local paragliding school to check out the situation with equipment and a small refresher. Ted Jenkins (of Alpine Paragliding) looked after us well, and after a week of waiting for the weather, waiting for Ted to have the time, and drinking with the other pilots we found ourselves on launch dealing with the nerves of flying once again. We spent the next two days running off the hill (Mystic is its name, but
Ever Heard of Icarus?
Marks wing in flight (free advertising for Nova). more of that later), flying down, landing, and driving back up the hill. We got over 10 flights in the end - most small but some soaring a little longer - over two days, which was just what we needed, both for competence and confidence. Now back into the swing of it we had to deal with the issues of which and what equipment we wanted and could afford!
We ended up making the tough decision to buy two new sets of kit, more than had been budgeted for, this meant adjusting our finances and our trip length - which is still a decision we stand by and are happy with. And for the pilots reading this we eventually went with the Nova Syntax (low end DHV 1/2) and APCO harness’, we also bought Braunager variometers - exactly the same as the ‘Fly Tech’ (and of course reserves).
Since those days nearly 7 weeks ago we’ve been slowly and carefully building up our skills and confidence. We’ve launched and flown in front of 140 pilots before an international competition (very scary). The weather has been varied with some stronger ‘thermic’ conditions which require a lot more glider control.
Evening weather has sometimes been good for long soaring flights across the face of Mystic, but most of all we’ve had support and guidance from many pilots. Of the help we’ve had we must thank Ted who has regularly given advice and support, and of course John ‘Chappo’ Chapman who’s taken us up the hill and given much advice on conditions to fly, distance and direction to fly, thermalling skills and help with our first cross country flights.
Mystic, and the area around is an excellent place to gain a lot of experience. The ‘valley breeze’ ensures that the wind is often in the right direction for launch, and landing. The many ‘spurs’ around the hill feed good thermals close to launch to get initial height (we’ve both had 2,500 meters - above sea level - from our first thermal on one occasion). The ridge and valley systems are good to make first small hops ‘cross country’, and good to continue to make bigger hops beyond that.
A little about where we’ve been staying - the ‘Outdoor Inn’, or camp Crusty as it’s more widely known. It’s basic (if you hadn’t already guessed) but fulfils the basic requirements
of having a kitchen, barbeque, toilet and shower block, power, but most of all it’s situated at the bottom of Mystic next to the landing field - nice! Crusty is ‘rustic’ and has many types of wildlife such as Possums, foxes, many species of bird, snakes, spiders (huge huntsman) and pilots - the wildest of wildlife.
At present we’re spending our days flying - maybe only an hour or two a day, if it’s fly-able - but after preparing, travelling up, waiting for the right wind and weather, setting up and checking, flying, landing, packing up and sometimes hitch-hiking back, changing, adds up to about 5 or 6 hours in the day. And when it’s not been flyable we’ve often wasted the day waiting for it to be good to fly, or indulging in my new pastime/obsession - gold panning! I can’t claim to have found nuggets but I have found myself a nice few bits of gold dust and ‘fragments’. Nothing that will ever sell for anything but will make a nice memento of Bright.
Anyway, hopefully the photos are better than the words, and probably what most want to see so we’ll try and find some
good ones. Meanwhile if there are any pilots considering flying in Bright - do so, or feel free to drop us a message with any questions. We will most likely be here for another 3 to 4 weeks so hopefully will be able to add some longer and more expert flights to our log book by the end.
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