Sorry for not posting for awhile, I've been rather busy and not been able to get to a computer.
You may have seen on the news that Victoria is suffering from some terrible bush fires, the death toll is over 100 and looks set to rise. I cannot think of anything more terrifying than realising that you are trapped in you town and seeing the walls of flames coming towards you. Last week there was a small bush fire in Kings Park in Perth, the speed at which the flames move and the heat is awe inspiring. I hope that the regions winds calm down soon and that the weather cools so that teh area can get a break. ( If anyone wants to give a donation to the victims of the bush fires they can at http://www.redcross.org.au/vic/services_emergencyservices_victorian-bushfires-appeal-2009.htm ).
In other news I've been again to Fremantle to walk round the markets and watch the street entertainment and spend Sunday gliding... (Again if you don't care about gliding skip this paragraph!). I arrived at teh club and finished my last check flight - this involved a simulated rope break at about 600ft... nothing too scary. I was then finally allowed to fly solo - although only in the Puchacz until I'd demonstrated a correct circuit and landing. The weather was not good enough for cross country flying but i still managed to get 1 hour in the puch and then 2 hours in the Astir ( Iwas finally trusted). I've never experienced such a rough aerotow - during the day they broke a weak link (not my tow). One second I was happily in low tow the next I was above the tug and to the left... I think I coped quite well and noone complained afterwards. The thermals were amazingly strong, but very small and really rough. The lift topped out at about 5000ft above ground. I wasn't prepared for the amount of sink in between the thermals though - having climbed up at 6kts average I was then back down to 2000ft at 8kts average!! Oh well despite the roughness (even the locals said it was rough as ***) it was an enjoyable day and I plan to spend next weekend at the club too.
I am now in Margaret River (again) staying at the youth hostel. I arrived after gliding and stupidly spent the evening outside at a BBQ. I have been bitten by lots of different mosquitos. unfortunaly it appears I'm really allergic to the mossies down here and have swelled up ( As a point of reference for Phil the swelling is worse than Irkutsk!). The hostel owner was really worried as she though I'd contracted the river virus, I was marched to the doctors who said that its just a bad reaction and has given me enough antihistimines to knock out a horse... The swelling has now gone down and I just look like I've got a bad case of the pox. Tomorrow I'm doing a canoe tour up the river and having a bushtucker lunch (kangaroo, wine and other local food on the menu) should be fun. The other guests at teh hostel are really friendly so apart from the bites all is well.
Tuesday, 10 February 2009
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Despair at black gangs terrorising neighbourhood!
"Despair at black gangs terrorising neighbourhood" - This is the headline that greeted me over my morning coffee. I was confused - the newspaper has a very limited distribution area in a very nice part of town, I've not come across anything that came be described as a gang and I suspect some of the locals may have a heart attack if faced with anyone that could match the description 'black'. I read on... the gangs have been stealing school childrens sandwiches, 'hanging around' the local bowling club and being menaching outside the supermarkets... It turns out the this rather sensationalist report was in fact about crows - although I think that what the Australians call crows are in fact ravens to us English folk. It made me smile, local newspapers seem to be the same the world over. Although I laugh the crows can cause problems, they're really big birds and it must be quite scarey for small children to be chased for their lunch.
I spent the weekend with Steve and Ruth - the couple we stayed with when we first arrived in Australia. I went to fremantle on Saturday, this is the old port town and now quite a bohemian place with outdoor markets, French style cafe streets and an old prison. The highlight of the visit was definatly having a guided tour round the old prison. Quick history - prison opened to house convicts from the UK in 1830 ish and closed in 1991. The buildings are what every child imagines a prison to be - large, bleak, no green, and the cells are tiny (4ft x 10ft). The guide who took Ruth and I round is a former prison guard and his speciality was tales of marvelous escapes. Some of the stories were incredible, people stole trucks to try and ram the walls, started riots to climb onto the roof and jump (this particular guy broke his leg on the jump down and his get-a-way truck took him to teh local hospital for treatment while he was still in his prison uniform - obviously not that smart!). The story that amused me the most was of a notorious horse thief who had escaped form 5 other prisons by hacking a hole in the wall. The governer decided that the prisoner should be enclosed in a jarra wood cell and only allowed out for 1 hours exercise a day. Unfortunately the doctor decided that the prisoner needed more exercise or he would die - the clever guards gave the prisoner the job of breaking rocks!! This guy then built up a pile of rocks behind him so that the guards couldn't see what he was doing and did his usual escape of breaking through the prison wall - with the pick and axe supplied byt he prison!!
After Fremantly we went to the Swan valley to look round some of the wineries and do some more tasting. The valley is famous for its Semillon, or Chenin blancs (is it obvious that i clearly know nothing about wine!). Needless to say I enjoyed the trip lots and bought some wine to go with the evening meal.
The plan for this week is to cycle along the Swan valley path, visit the aquarium and take a boat tour up the river. I also have a couple of hours of work to do ;)
Hope everyone is enjoying the snow in England - it amuses me that theres a 40 degree difference between the UK and here!
I spent the weekend with Steve and Ruth - the couple we stayed with when we first arrived in Australia. I went to fremantle on Saturday, this is the old port town and now quite a bohemian place with outdoor markets, French style cafe streets and an old prison. The highlight of the visit was definatly having a guided tour round the old prison. Quick history - prison opened to house convicts from the UK in 1830 ish and closed in 1991. The buildings are what every child imagines a prison to be - large, bleak, no green, and the cells are tiny (4ft x 10ft). The guide who took Ruth and I round is a former prison guard and his speciality was tales of marvelous escapes. Some of the stories were incredible, people stole trucks to try and ram the walls, started riots to climb onto the roof and jump (this particular guy broke his leg on the jump down and his get-a-way truck took him to teh local hospital for treatment while he was still in his prison uniform - obviously not that smart!). The story that amused me the most was of a notorious horse thief who had escaped form 5 other prisons by hacking a hole in the wall. The governer decided that the prisoner should be enclosed in a jarra wood cell and only allowed out for 1 hours exercise a day. Unfortunately the doctor decided that the prisoner needed more exercise or he would die - the clever guards gave the prisoner the job of breaking rocks!! This guy then built up a pile of rocks behind him so that the guards couldn't see what he was doing and did his usual escape of breaking through the prison wall - with the pick and axe supplied byt he prison!!
After Fremantly we went to the Swan valley to look round some of the wineries and do some more tasting. The valley is famous for its Semillon, or Chenin blancs (is it obvious that i clearly know nothing about wine!). Needless to say I enjoyed the trip lots and bought some wine to go with the evening meal.
The plan for this week is to cycle along the Swan valley path, visit the aquarium and take a boat tour up the river. I also have a couple of hours of work to do ;)
Hope everyone is enjoying the snow in England - it amuses me that theres a 40 degree difference between the UK and here!
Saturday, 31 January 2009
English Weather...
For this post I've decided to cast off the Aussie talk and engage is some good old fashioned English weather chatter! ( I promise not for the whole post though :) ) Theres been a cyclone in the north of the state which has meant that for the last couple of days the city has been cloudy and a bit cooler but very humid. I have to say that I'm loving the slightly cooler weather and its proving brilliant for my new exercise routine - I cycle about 5miles to the beach, lock up my bike and swin for 20 mins before cycling home.
So enough of the weather. I've pretty much settled into the Blackburns house now. Its a really beautiful 'old' (i.e. more than 30 years old) house in an area called Mosman park which is between the river and the ocean. They've made me feel really at home and I'm earning my keep by cleaning the house and looking after the grandchildren (yesterday I took them to the zoo). the job front is not looking as promising though. As I've previously reported a lot of the mines in the state have closed down (supposidly due to demand from the Chinese diminishing). This has meant that alot of the miners (and assosciated workers) coming back from the country into the city. I feel a bit guilty searching for jobs in competition with these people who have families, mortguages and no hope of a job that they are used to... I'm still searching but I'm not that hopeful! In the mean time I'm doing some cleaning for a rental company and doing some baby sitting for the lady next door - to be honest this will probably tide me through for the month. I plan to fly to Melbourne at the beginning of March and spend a month exploring the eastern states.
Thanks to everyone whose left comments and I promise I will email everyone soon ;) - now I'm off to Fremantle for the Saturday markets before going to a friends for a BBQ.
So enough of the weather. I've pretty much settled into the Blackburns house now. Its a really beautiful 'old' (i.e. more than 30 years old) house in an area called Mosman park which is between the river and the ocean. They've made me feel really at home and I'm earning my keep by cleaning the house and looking after the grandchildren (yesterday I took them to the zoo). the job front is not looking as promising though. As I've previously reported a lot of the mines in the state have closed down (supposidly due to demand from the Chinese diminishing). This has meant that alot of the miners (and assosciated workers) coming back from the country into the city. I feel a bit guilty searching for jobs in competition with these people who have families, mortguages and no hope of a job that they are used to... I'm still searching but I'm not that hopeful! In the mean time I'm doing some cleaning for a rental company and doing some baby sitting for the lady next door - to be honest this will probably tide me through for the month. I plan to fly to Melbourne at the beginning of March and spend a month exploring the eastern states.
Thanks to everyone whose left comments and I promise I will email everyone soon ;) - now I'm off to Fremantle for the Saturday markets before going to a friends for a BBQ.
Wednesday, 28 January 2009
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
The 26th if January is Australia day so in tribute I will write this post in Australian... A quick glossary of words is at the end of the post ;)
I got up in the morning of Australia day and headed to Ros's house for the day. Ros was the house mother for Phils sisters at boarding school so we have a sort of attachement (even though I've never met her before). Upon arrving we cracked open a 'stubbie' and left some others sat in the 'eskie' (sp?!?). I spent most of the day watching some of the neighbours playing cricket and having a bbq on the beach. As an aside it was intersting to note that the were more blokes in the group than 'Sheilas' - aparently Perth as a very high number of Sheilas to each bloke, as most of the boys have headed out to the mines (not for much longer me thinks!). For food we had a typical Aussie meal of BBQ followed by banana and passion fruit pavlova. I then headed into town to watch the sky works 'crackers'. All in all quite a nice day, I was however surprised by the lack of street entertainment during the day for those sat waiting for the crackers. The local police spent the news complaining about drunken behaviour - however if there is nothing else to do all day but sit holding your place for teh crackers and drink... It was also interesting to see that alot of cars had Australian flags hanging out the windows - Ros seems to think this is a demonstration of a new found Aussie pride, I however wonder whether it is another example of creeping Americanisation.
On another note the man names Australian of the year (Prof. Mick Dobson - Aborigional historian and activist) called for Australia day to be changed to another date. He believes that the its an insult to the Aborigional community to celebrate Australia day on what they call invasion day.
In other news I have moved into a gliding friends house, bought a bike and am looking for work!
Glossary:
Eskie - cool box
Stubbie - small bottle of beer
cracker - fireworks
I was also trying to get in Ute - pick up truck! :)
I got up in the morning of Australia day and headed to Ros's house for the day. Ros was the house mother for Phils sisters at boarding school so we have a sort of attachement (even though I've never met her before). Upon arrving we cracked open a 'stubbie' and left some others sat in the 'eskie' (sp?!?). I spent most of the day watching some of the neighbours playing cricket and having a bbq on the beach. As an aside it was intersting to note that the were more blokes in the group than 'Sheilas' - aparently Perth as a very high number of Sheilas to each bloke, as most of the boys have headed out to the mines (not for much longer me thinks!). For food we had a typical Aussie meal of BBQ followed by banana and passion fruit pavlova. I then headed into town to watch the sky works 'crackers'. All in all quite a nice day, I was however surprised by the lack of street entertainment during the day for those sat waiting for the crackers. The local police spent the news complaining about drunken behaviour - however if there is nothing else to do all day but sit holding your place for teh crackers and drink... It was also interesting to see that alot of cars had Australian flags hanging out the windows - Ros seems to think this is a demonstration of a new found Aussie pride, I however wonder whether it is another example of creeping Americanisation.
On another note the man names Australian of the year (Prof. Mick Dobson - Aborigional historian and activist) called for Australia day to be changed to another date. He believes that the its an insult to the Aborigional community to celebrate Australia day on what they call invasion day.
In other news I have moved into a gliding friends house, bought a bike and am looking for work!
Glossary:
Eskie - cool box
Stubbie - small bottle of beer
cracker - fireworks
I was also trying to get in Ute - pick up truck! :)
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Back in Perth
Well we left Narrogin this morning and I've put Phil on the plane back to England. Which leaves me all by myself in a YHA in Perth by a very noisey train station! All is not lost though... at Narrogin i met a very nice couple who have offered me their spare room on the condition of a bit of baby sitting for a couple of weeks. I move into a very nice area of Perth on Tuesday after the Australia day celebrations.
Not much more to report, Phil did quite well on the last two days of the WA state competition - he was the youngeest pilot there by a good 20 years. Its quite funny as each gliding club i've been to seems to have the same characters repeated. So even though i only met the other members for a few days, they appear very familiar to people I already know...
Oh well - I'm off for an evening stroll along the river.
Not much more to report, Phil did quite well on the last two days of the WA state competition - he was the youngeest pilot there by a good 20 years. Its quite funny as each gliding club i've been to seems to have the same characters repeated. So even though i only met the other members for a few days, they appear very familiar to people I already know...
Oh well - I'm off for an evening stroll along the river.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
p.s. - Creepy Crawlies
On a side note, I have now been bitten by 3 marsh flies (evil green things), lots of mosquitos and there was a snake in my shower this afternoon (non poisonous - but even so I decided to shower in a different block!)
Checks flighted out!
WARNING - this is gliding related post, non-gliding types may find it boring ;)
Today we woke up to the kind of weather scenes that would have English glider pilots quitting their jobs and running to the airfield. The Aussies however appeared confused by the strange weather system and scrubbed the day!! RASP had got the forecast drastically wrong and rather than looking out the window the task setter scrubbed the day - cloud base was about 6000ft and the average thermal strengths were 4-6 kts! (they were even nice large even thermals!). Phil managed to fly 270km without too much of a problem.
Today was also the day that I started the first of many check flights. Narrogin had an English pilot fly here two years ago who forgot about the wind gradient and caused $20000 worth of damage to one of their gliders. This means that the club have the most detailed vistiting pilot check list I have ever seen (the club self insure so it hurts all the members if one of the gliders gets damaged...) So before I am allowed to fly solo I have to demonstrate:
* normal low tow to 2000ft and normal circuit and landing (fairly easy, no problems here)
* a tow which includes boxing the slip stream, and a hook off (the proceedure if you can't release the rope).
* two spins, one in each direction with at least 2 turns for each spin.
*stalling exercises
*circuit modified due to sink
*circuit modified due to lift
*circuit with no altimeter/ASI
* simulated rope break on aerotow
and Demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks/ features
*demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks
Further to fly cross country I have to do a field landing and tow plane retrieve and fly a mini xc flight with an 'experienced instructor'.
So far understandable if a little on the overly cauctious side... however after completing all this I have to have a check flight every day that I want to fly until I have flown 8 days at the site.
I am half way through the above list - I can fly solo once I've had a simulated rope break but got alot more boxes to tick before gettting close to going cross country...
On a slightly different note we met a glider pilot from Sutton bank yesterday. He had some of his first flights with my Granddad as instructor. He was telling me all sorts of stories which is always nice. Incidently he flies regularly at another club over here and suggested I go visit them to fly cross country - its further north (i.e. better weather) and hasn't had any accidents with us dodgy English pilots!
Today we woke up to the kind of weather scenes that would have English glider pilots quitting their jobs and running to the airfield. The Aussies however appeared confused by the strange weather system and scrubbed the day!! RASP had got the forecast drastically wrong and rather than looking out the window the task setter scrubbed the day - cloud base was about 6000ft and the average thermal strengths were 4-6 kts! (they were even nice large even thermals!). Phil managed to fly 270km without too much of a problem.
Today was also the day that I started the first of many check flights. Narrogin had an English pilot fly here two years ago who forgot about the wind gradient and caused $20000 worth of damage to one of their gliders. This means that the club have the most detailed vistiting pilot check list I have ever seen (the club self insure so it hurts all the members if one of the gliders gets damaged...) So before I am allowed to fly solo I have to demonstrate:
* normal low tow to 2000ft and normal circuit and landing (fairly easy, no problems here)
* a tow which includes boxing the slip stream, and a hook off (the proceedure if you can't release the rope).
* two spins, one in each direction with at least 2 turns for each spin.
*stalling exercises
*circuit modified due to sink
*circuit modified due to lift
*circuit with no altimeter/ASI
* simulated rope break on aerotow
and Demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks/ features
*demonstrate knowledge of local landmarks
Further to fly cross country I have to do a field landing and tow plane retrieve and fly a mini xc flight with an 'experienced instructor'.
So far understandable if a little on the overly cauctious side... however after completing all this I have to have a check flight every day that I want to fly until I have flown 8 days at the site.
I am half way through the above list - I can fly solo once I've had a simulated rope break but got alot more boxes to tick before gettting close to going cross country...
On a slightly different note we met a glider pilot from Sutton bank yesterday. He had some of his first flights with my Granddad as instructor. He was telling me all sorts of stories which is always nice. Incidently he flies regularly at another club over here and suggested I go visit them to fly cross country - its further north (i.e. better weather) and hasn't had any accidents with us dodgy English pilots!
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