More cool weather

Well, after my hot air post, I have had some interesting emails. At least I know that people read my stuff and take note. All in good spirits of course. :) But I just can’t help myself – I love talking about God. And He has indeed blessed us with great flying weather this week. Philip has been having an absolute ball - which reminds me, Philip said the secret of a rain dance is all about timing!

We have had two days of perfect south-easterly winds and again for today and predicted once more for tomorrow too. For a hang gliding instructor this is almost heaven on earth. At the moment the wind is very light but my guess is it will pick up and by lunchtime it will be good business.

I will post a great pic of his flying later today but right now I have to run – I have a neck massage appointment in half an hour. :)

cold air...

Philip after a great day...

One of the cause and effect results of all the hot air is that of cooling down. We did not have too much rain from this cold front (though from all the ‘hot air’ it seemed like it was going to be a mighty big one!) but what we did get was a bout of cool summer flying conditions. Sunday was a peach of a soaring day. The wind was SSW and strong, too strong for all the PG’s pilots (but for the most experienced ones) and perfect for hang gliding – if only the hang gliders where around. Where were you guys?

Philip on his first soaring flight at the Map of Africa.

I got Philip used to some strong wind flying with a couple of loooong glides from the dunes to the beach below. And then today. Ah… Another peach. Philip pigged out with 5 flights from the Map with a total of 2hrs and 30min airtime. He did very well and is super stoked. No doubt he will sleep well tonight!

Philip flying well above the paragliders...

Wilderness is really a super place to learn to hang glide.

Hot air...

I am sitting on my wooden deck – a solitary seat, just me and the forest, (which is a point out of hand about the whole idea of solitary I guess!). Every now and then the northwester scurries through the lodge trees (and my hair!) like a natural blow drier. (I could have made full use of it if only I had washed my hair!). But this warm wind brings with it its own character, its own mood and it is anything but cold. It’s hot and so too it seems with some of the recent events in life (and the world!) Like the Honduras according to Avaaz, with their proposed new law making the morning-after-pill contraception illegal – transgressors looking at jail time (including those that presicribed or supplied them) even if taken after a rape incident. What about the mentally impaired incidences? Don’t these people think?

Like this hot wind it all just blows me away.

I am frequently distracted by the view by the way – it’s hard not to! I am looking at the north-westerly gusts hitting the ocean causing white-capped ripples to race out to sea – a great example of cause and effect. Still, I am amazed at the kind of people that are out there and even worse, that they are the ones that seem to be making all the decisions for the rest of us on how to live our lives.

Scary? Well, it should be.

Of course that is our world and for one reason or the other God has seen it fit to function that way.

What?

No?

You know, you are absolutely right. In no way did God see this world fit to function as it is. But we certainly did. We have been charged to look after it. The blame rests entirely upon us – our shoulders. It is our ability to act on free will that has made this world what it is – not God. Case in point, the holocaust – which so many people use as an excuse to say that there is no God. (It’s funny how those who claim this are exactly the ones who do not know God at all, which explains their misguided understanding. But what really bites them in the butt is that they must believe that it is man that allows those atrocities to happen, not God!?) The truth is, it is our ability to act on free will, which has made this world what it is – not God.

Are you not bewildered at what man is capable off!?

I am.

It’s not just hot air this…

Philip managed to do one more high flight off the Map – we snuck in early just before these north-westerly winds took over.

Philip learns to hang glide day 1

Easter has come and gone. Much has happened but for now I can tell you that Philip arrived on Saturday to learn to hang glide. Of course his timing could not have been worse - a large cold front moved in and put a stop to any ideas of flying. We did spend a lot of time in the class room and on the simulator of course. This seems to have paid off though - today, his very first day on the training slopes saw him do proper flights from about 15ft. Here in Wilderness Conditions are just so very good to learn to fly a hang glider - without a doubt one of the top places in the world.

Stay tuned as to follow Philips progress in mastering the art of hang gliding over the next few days.

This is Philip getting to grips with the HG thing - 1st day.