Hang gliding is another one of those “always wanted to do” things for me. My Lonely Planet guide had a really good write-up about SkyTrek tandem hang gliding that insisted that it really does feel like you’re flying, so I decided to try it!
I really wanted to do my hang gliding on Thursday or Friday, but I was a little worried about the weather report for my time in Queenstown. So I decided to book the hang gliding for Wednesday afternoon (after bungy jumping Wednesday morning) just in case the weather wasn’t good, so that I would have 2 more days to reschedule. It got windy in the afternoon but we had a weather check call at 2:30 and SkyTrek said we were good to go.
At 2:50 I was picked up from my hotel by Ian, one of the pilots. We then picked up his colleagues Dave (another pilot) and Augustin (the “ground crew”) and Eve (from Finland), another client. We then headed west out of Queenstown – the opposite direction from the bungy site, which was to the east – and drove for about 25 minutes to the launch site. It was (logically) up the slope of the mountains and considerably cooler.
There Dave and Ian assembled the hang gliders (which we had been carrying on the roof of the van) and Augustin helped Eve and me get dressed up in our very attractive flight suits. Once everything was ready to go, Ian gave me a quick tutorial on how we would take off. In order to do this, we would have to run down the steep slope in tandem until there was enough lift for the glider to take off. We had to do this while attached to the hang glider with a harness, and also while I was hanging on to him.
Luckily, with my extensive marching band experience, the “step (left), step (right), run run run run” didn’t seem too difficult! As it turned out, there was enough wind that we only needed to take 2 or 3 steps before we were in the air!
Wow, was it amazing! For about 15 minutes we flew above the trees with gorgeous views of the valley. At one point, we flew over a pine forest and the pine scent was wafting up to us – so neat! Another time we were over a field and I could see birds flying far below us. A little bit before we landed, Ian asked me if I liked roller coasters, and when I said yes, he steered the glider into a roller-coaster-like rise and fall, which was pretty cool a couple hundred feet in the air!
Too quickly it was over, and we touched down to a rolling stop on a landing field for hang gliding and paragliding. Maybe I need to add “learn to hang glide” to my list of things to do!
I really wanted to do my hang gliding on Thursday or Friday, but I was a little worried about the weather report for my time in Queenstown. So I decided to book the hang gliding for Wednesday afternoon (after bungy jumping Wednesday morning) just in case the weather wasn’t good, so that I would have 2 more days to reschedule. It got windy in the afternoon but we had a weather check call at 2:30 and SkyTrek said we were good to go.
At 2:50 I was picked up from my hotel by Ian, one of the pilots. We then picked up his colleagues Dave (another pilot) and Augustin (the “ground crew”) and Eve (from Finland), another client. We then headed west out of Queenstown – the opposite direction from the bungy site, which was to the east – and drove for about 25 minutes to the launch site. It was (logically) up the slope of the mountains and considerably cooler.
There Dave and Ian assembled the hang gliders (which we had been carrying on the roof of the van) and Augustin helped Eve and me get dressed up in our very attractive flight suits. Once everything was ready to go, Ian gave me a quick tutorial on how we would take off. In order to do this, we would have to run down the steep slope in tandem until there was enough lift for the glider to take off. We had to do this while attached to the hang glider with a harness, and also while I was hanging on to him.
Luckily, with my extensive marching band experience, the “step (left), step (right), run run run run” didn’t seem too difficult! As it turned out, there was enough wind that we only needed to take 2 or 3 steps before we were in the air!
Wow, was it amazing! For about 15 minutes we flew above the trees with gorgeous views of the valley. At one point, we flew over a pine forest and the pine scent was wafting up to us – so neat! Another time we were over a field and I could see birds flying far below us. A little bit before we landed, Ian asked me if I liked roller coasters, and when I said yes, he steered the glider into a roller-coaster-like rise and fall, which was pretty cool a couple hundred feet in the air!
Too quickly it was over, and we touched down to a rolling stop on a landing field for hang gliding and paragliding. Maybe I need to add “learn to hang glide” to my list of things to do!
Holly: If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times: DO NOT BUNGY JUMP. DO NOT HANG GLIDE. DO NOT CLIMP UP ON BRIDGES. Or for that matter, DO NOT JUMP OUT OF AIRPLANES.
ReplyDeleteYour mother can't stand it.
Great descriptions, though. And better to read about it after the fact. Great pictures, too.
YLF
LF - Glad to see you have a computer again!
ReplyDeleteYLDtheHG&BJ&BC