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Stirling Ranges Trip - Easter 2001

Present: Gordo and family, Frilly Knighty, Philthy, Ruckus, Pissy Pete, Jamie, Max, Gavin Nicholls and family, South Park, Wolfie, Brendon, Simon Shuttleworth, Russel Creagh plus a coupla local's whose names escape me at the moment.

Day 1 - Friday
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Simon's Shuttle Service hadn't arrived yet, so we set up in the Amelup paddock for some pull-up winch towing. This paddock is about 1.4kms from corner to corner and even has its own road house with toilets, meat pies, ice creams and petrol. Unfortunately the wind got a bit too strong so we decided to give it a miss and head back to the camp for some hydrolic sandwiches.

Day 2 - Saturday
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This turned out to be a very eventful day. Simon arrived with his trike and we headed over to Amelup for some aero towing. There were quite a few nice looking cu's around by lunch time. We set an optimistic task of 70kms to Jerramungup for those wishing to XC.

Jamie had the best flight making it almost to Ongerup (35kms). Frilly, Pete, Gavin and myself all landed within 20kms. Cloud base was about 4000' and we had some climb outs of 400fpm average. Gordon had an hour up over the paddock. Simon ended up doing about 20 tows. The retrieve was interesting since Jamie reported landing in Jerramungup when he was in Ongerup! Pete and I gave up waiting an hour after dark and hitched a ride back with a friendly local farmer.

Day 3 - Sunday
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A fantastic day. Simon did some PR giving the farmer and his kids some trike rides in the early morning calm. Brendon also got his first ever go in a trike. By lunch time the wind was gusting to about 15 knots and the air was pretty rough down low. Those who chose to fly were rewarded with tows to 5000' amongst the cumulus giants. Light lift enabled us to prolong our flights with a few people staying aloft for an hour or so. Frilly got towed back to camp at the end of the day and had one of the best flights he's ever had. It sure is tough floating amongst the clouds watching them spill over the back of the magnificent Stirling Ranges!

Day 4 - Monday
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Gavin and family had to depart early, but not before little Rhys Nicholls had the thrill of his life going tandem with Simon. True to form Russel Creagh arrived three days late! His timing was good since conditions were perfect for his first ever tow behind a trike. We decided to fly from the caravan park's airstrip for a change.

Once again we spent the afternoon being towed amongst the clouds. Jamie, Max and Frilly were fortunate enough to be aloft during a 180 degree wind change, soaring the convergence and having excellent flights. Max and Frilly headed down to the "Wind mill" restaurant about 12kms from camp. Russel had two excellent tows in his Sting XC, the last of which was to 6500'!

On reflection we had an excellent trip. Great weather, great company, fantastic scenery and no bent gliders. The caravan park has great facilities (including it's own airstrip!) and is very family-friendly. Thanks to Simon (hope your arms recover soon) and South Park for organising such an excellent event - no doubt we'll all come back for more.

Phil W