The forecast was for light-mod SE winds - a good forecast for heading towards Myrtleford - or something more ambitious maybe... I've noticed that on days like this the good lift seems to dry up a lot when closer to Myrtleford (limiting flying distance and time) although there's usually still great looking clouds all along hills in the Kiewa Valley long after it's over near Bright. Hmmm...
13:25 - I'm finally in the air. Getting some necessary jobs finished before leaving for flying, meeting people I haven't seen for months at the LP and on a packed launch all delay that great moment when you separate from the ground, and leave everything behind except the rush of flying, the beep-beep of the vario, and the challenge of trying to solve the puzzle of sun, wind, hill and cloud to find the next thermal before the ground comes up to say, "Game over bucko."
13:38 - A nice 1.7m/s climb takes me to 1,960m. There is a slight drift to the NW and I have to keep going to the SE to find the stronger edge of the thermal. Going by radio chatter there is a mass of pilots around Little Buffalo, some around Blackfellas, and another bunch heading off from Clearspot. Below me another gaggles is circling up before they attempt the crossing to Clearspot. As I reach the top of the lift I turn and fly in the other direction.
14:03 - I'm questioning the wisdom of my flightplan now - my glide suffers when pushing upwind. It was a short crossing to Goldmine, but working on the strategy of doing my scratching up high I swerved in some zero sink half way over but there was nothing there (or I turned the wrong way). Approaching the ridge I again stopped to scratch when it felt like there might be lift nearby and slowly spiraled up to 2,100m. I continued upwind along Reliance Ridge to where I am now, down to 250m above the ridge line and scratching in zeros over a trigger point, hoping a thermal will release under me rather than a sink cycle flush me down to the ground.
14:20 - Woohoo! Back in the game! It was a good trigger point and the thermal that I caught there deposited me at 2,200m, easily enough for the crossing to Pyramid, especially since flying down the rigdeline meant that I now have a cross-tailwind for the crossing! I feel a bit clever about that! I'm at 1,600m now, just flying into the peak of Pyramid Hill after a good glide across, and I've got plenty of height to find the next climb - going by the previous climbs the Tawonga Gap crossing should be easy!!
14:40 - I'm right in the middle of the Tawonga Gap 'tiger country' but it's ok - I'm in a thermal on my way back up. The climb above Pyramid topped out at 2,330m and since I hadn't encountered really strong sink I decided to take a more direct line across the gap - heading straight for the observation platform on the Tawonga-Bright road. It payed off - I cut the corner of the crossing and got this climb half way over. Yeehah!
15:10 - 1,800m and I think this is as high as I'm going to get here. I've been scratching for the last 10min in a really good looking bowl, looking for a climb that will give me enough height to cross over to the other side of the valley - which has been the goal for today - to cross to the NW side of the Kiewa Valley and follow it as far as possible. Over where I am it just doesn't feel like the thermals are pumping. I've made up my mind: even though I'm a lot lower than I'd like to be I'm going to go for the crossing - hopefully I can get a climb off the low spur below Mt York.
15:30 - I made it! It was a long crossing and I was below 1,000m by the time I was approaching the hill I was aiming for - but sure enough there was a climb there! It's slowing down now, as I thermal up past the 1,600m mark, but a couple of hundred meters more and I should have enough height to cross around to the front of Mt York.
16:40 - I'm up and established on the west side of the Kiewa Valley and it's just great! For the last hour I've bobbed along between 1,500m and 2,100m, steadily flying down the range. I'm just opposite the junction with Happy Valley now, and I think the valley wind from there is responsible for the light lifty air over the hills on this side of the valley.
16:50 - I passed through that really nice patch of lifty air and hit a stretch of sink that has me down to 1,300m. There's some light lift around here, and I'm scratching around trying to center it and get back up. If it doesn't work out so well I'll try over to the North some - I can see an eagle flying around there about a km away but another is circling up beneath me so hopefully I can catch that climb.
17:05 -Ark! Here they come again! The last 15min haven't been fun - the eagles must be a younger pair (I'm told wedge-tailed eagles mate and stake out a territory for lift - a young pair tend to be much more aggressive towards anything in 'their' patch - older birds are more secure and forgiving) and they object to my passing through. I've been trying to dodge their attacks without loosing much height while looking for and circling in any lift I find but I'm not doing it all so well - one of the eagles bounced off the wing just then and I'm down to 800m. I'm very close to Bob's hill and seriously thinking about top landing on it.
17:30 Woohoo - still in the game!! As I came in very low to Bob's takeoff I stopped to circle in some lift in the bowl just behind the hill. It drifted over the takeoff and then lifted off in a beautiful little 1.5m/s thermal that took me back up to 1,500m behind the hill...
- and the eagles seemed content to let me go. A couple of hundred meters along the ridge I found another little climb that deposited me nearly at 1,700m. Nice, smooth climbs in gentle evening air - great views down the row of hills to the Hume Weir...
- the rough and tumble of the mid-day thermals left far behind - the lengthening shadows and golden light of the late afternoon - all this and much more combine to produce a golden glow of happy-flight feelings that I savor as I circle in the weakening lift, trying to decide on where I'll head from here. I might continue down the hills, but it's a long way from good roads and it's getting late - from here I could cross the river and make it to the Kiewa Valley Highway on the other side of the valley - which should make for a much quicker retrieve...
17:40 - I decided on the easy retrieve option and have been gliding across the valley for a while now. I don't expect another climb - the sink has been light but constant and there have been no signs of lift - I think the light wind is blowing any residual heat over to the hills maybe? I'm down to 500m and enjoying the smooth air I'm in...
...and the texture of the land I'm flying over.
17:44 - On the ground. As I got low I started wriggling and kicking my legs to wake them up - I haven't used them for hours and don't want them to collapse when I land on 'em! I followed the road for the last little bit before turning around for a nice landing in a paddock just next to the highway. Woohooo!!!!! What a great flight!!! Mystic to Gundowring - I first planned the flight last year, and have had it in the back of my mind ever since.... it's such a great feeling to have finally completed it!! It took me 4:20 hrs to cover what ended up as 65.2km - pretty slow as a means of getting anywhere - but as a way of getting anywere - nothing compares!!!
Now to get back...
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