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Easter 98 in Geraldton
By Gary Bennett

As I sat back and relaxed with a beer after filling out my logbook , I reflected smugly over another great ' Western Soarers ' easter flying weekend. We had what probably would be a record number of pilots with a crowd going out to Mullewa on the Saturday for Darryl Speight and Sue Rowe's wedding.

THURSDAY 9th

Mike Thorn, Miguel ( migwelder) and myself left Perth early after lunch on Thursday with a huge pile of gear that included an inflatable boat with outboard motor. If conditions were right we would ferry our hanggliders across the Kalbarri river and then attempt to fly the Zuytdorp cliffs.

We turned off at the Jurien bay road to go looking for the legendary Jurien site . It was according to Mike's sources only a short way from the town and could be seen from the main road. However after much driving around and some unproductive phone calls we decided it was a myth instead. With none of the hills in sight likely candidates, we continued up a very nice new coast road to Dongara and then to Geraldton.

FRIDAY 10th

We were up early and 9.00 am saw us heading out to Mt Rennie. The met' guy at the airport reckoned the wind would be going se to sw and increasing to 18 knts at some stage in the afternoon. We set the gliders up in 30 min and then watched in frustration as the wind gusted up to 7 knts , we would think it was coming on and then it would lull. 4 hours we waited and watched and did the hang waiting thing.

2 o'clock came up and so did the wind , surging in from the coast and up the Chapman Valley, setting up a 12-15knts + SSW 'erly. Having jealously watched Miguel fly his paraglider in the lighter winds Mike and I launched our hang gliders in a flash. The air was quite thermic and with some nice gentle cumulus clouds wafting through launch on a regular basis, the scene was set for some cross country flying.

All at once the best thermal of the day saw three pilots climbing to 3000ft over the back of launch and while Phil Knight decided to fly West from the 1st thermal, Derek Wagner and myself flew north to follow the river-bed up the Chapman Valley. We got a second thermal and kept going downwind but Phil didn't make it and landed next to the highway.

Derek and myself managed another 2 thermals before landing near the road, mainly to create an easier retrieve for Margo (Derek's wife). We had flown a handy 30 kms and probably could have made Northhampton with a little more application. As we arrived back at Mt Rennie we could see the guys revelling in the smooth late afternoon lift. Thanks go to Margo for a great retrieve.

SATURDAY 11TH

After a quick call to the Met' dude we travelled out to Wazza's Knob (a spur which juts out to the east and at around 300ft above the bomb-out provides good flying in N.easterlies and S.easters).

We got out to launch a little later than the previous day and didn't have to wait so long for the wind to pick up to speed. It was obvious from watching the eagles and kites that it was going to be quite thermic and the pilots who lobbed off first confirmed it with their rising and falling through the cycles.

As some of the guys had to get to Mullewa for Dazza's and Sue's wedding they got up early for a quick fly . The tearing of hearts was almost audible as Karl Ruckriegal and Sam Blight ripped themselves out of thermals to land and head off. Max Browne showed us the way when the former Crow -eater launched into a thermal and immediately skyed out and went X.C.

Myself , Dave Eckersley and Mike Thorn also got away , getting from 10- 20klm along the hwy north of Gero before having to land or fly out over the ocean.

SUNDAY 12TH

Strong easterlies heralded the day and being unsure about Wazza's Knob we checked out the "Bowl". A bit of a nasty site with a rough entry track, and fences ,transmission towers and power lines completed the picture. Mike being the most experienced on ridges flew first. He indicated only one pilot would be able to fly at one time. After watching for a while most of us went back to Wazza's, which even though it was "off " a bit, was much more pilot friendly. We missed seeing Mike get back up from around 20ft to topland. An amazing piece of flying. Bomber got away from Wazza's in a repeat of Saturday's flights to the coast, whilst the rest of us enjoyed the fantastic magic lift often found on the coast late in the day.

After a great evening out on Sunday night "Psycho" Steve Noon and myself headed back to perth Monday morning with most of the crew behind us. I was told that Miguel had a good 15+ km XC on the Tuesday.

We never did fly the Zuytdorp cliffs, maybe we'll get westerlies next time we visit. Many thanks to the Geraldton hang gliding club for their hospitality and helping us out with site entry etc.and congratulations to Darryl and Sue Speight. I heard the wedding went well. Watch out guys Melanie caught the bouquet.