Thursday

Today I was a bit tired, but it would be the last sunny day of the week, so it was clear that I’ll do paragliding. After school I took the bus home, throw my school stuff in a corner and picked up my glider. That trip home and back took me an hour, but it didn’t matter. At the bus stop in Queenstown I met Victor, who stayed in Queenstown because he wanted to see how I’ll start. We took the gondola, which brought us above Queenstown. I spent 74$ for an annual pass. That’s really cheap, because a retour-way ticket coasts 25$!
On the top I asked some tandem pilots, where the take-off place exactly is. Actually there are two take-off places: One beside the chair lift station, which is only for commercial pilots, and the other one on the top of the hill, which takes you 15min to walk up there. But it isn’t an easy way. It’s a steep and tiny path through the forest. Up there you have the choice to start in two opposite directions, so you should have front wind at any time. I don’t know exactly how high the difference between take-off and landing place is, but I think it’s about 500m.
Victor filmed my take-off and I’ll link it here or maybe on facebook.
I just flow straight to Queenstown, made some wingovers, tried out a A-stall, but it didn’t really work because I didn’t pulled the lines enough: the wingtips were still on their normal places and not in the middle. Then I look at the wind and begun with the landing. I landed on the site of a rugby field, which is quiet comfortable to land. You may guess how long I was flying. If you want know the answer, I'd post it on the end of this post.
At the bus stop I met Victor again. It took him longer to come down with the gondola than me with the glider.

To take your own glider to New Zealand: 61 SFr,
Annual pass for the gondola: 74$,
Make some Wingovers over Queenstown: priceless.

Something you can’t afford…

(4 minutes 15sec! xD)

Robertson St 42, Frankton