Recap of the OZ trip

'Been back from Australia for a couple days now and I thought a recap was in order.

The trip started off with my complete PG rig & suitcase missing the flight to Sydney. This was a minor set-back & fortunately the Killarney weather wasn't flyable while David & I drove the 7 hour round-trip to Brisbane to pick up the bags.

The Killarney comp was well run & the air of "no worries" was a welcome feeling. David & I didn't fly our best early in the comp. I'm assuming that it was because we are coming off a few months of low air-time during the Northern hemisphere winter. . .

I was able to complete the last task of the competition 114k (71 miles) and felt much more comfortable flying the aussie conditions on that flight. The weather was more flat-land with low cloudbase than I fly usually in CA & OR. It was a great experience to watch the locals tear these conditions up.

Manilla was experiencing a stationary trough for much of the time we were in town, but we were able to get a few sledders and one XC flight. The countryside in both areas was beautiful & friendly, the people were welcoming & eager to give rides and generously offer a "shout" in the pubs.

In all I flew over 300 kilometers and 15 hours. I was able to set a PB at 71 miles and, most importantly, David & I discovered one of the best places to fly PG in the world. We made some great friends. We look forward to revisiting Australia.

It was a great trip but being home is great too.