First XC in Canungra

How do you even start with a day like today? I love this place. I was talking to a guy on launch today, and he said he moved from France to the Gold Coast because you can thermal all year round here. Not just fly all year round, thermal all year round. As a matter of fact, the lapse rate is off the charts here in the winter.

So today we finally got the conditions that made the locals skip work, which doesn't mean it was epic, but it was a great day for XC. Yesterday we asked the locals what time they were going to be on launch, and they said 8am... It seems you can launch here at 8 am and start your XC. We started a little later today, launching at 9:45.

Beechmont is where we launched from, and you have to fly across 3 valley systems before you get out on the flats where base starts to rise and you start racking up the miles. We had some cu's over the valley systems which made the way a little easier, but out on the flats it got blue and things slowed down and the going got tougher. When the going gets tough, what do you do? You grovel. What does groveling get you? Low saves, and low saves make you feel good.

One other thing that made the day special was that I flew the whole day with Heike, which is nice because I get to hang out with her every day anyway, just not in the air. So we even hitched back home together, and girls have better luck at hitching (I hide in the bushes until a car pulls over).

So we didn't break any records, but it was good for a 2:48 flight and 38 kilometers.

nous volerons encore demain!