Rock and Roll |
August 11, 2010 |
Johnny and Jody doing what they love best, there where a few looming clouds but rain didn’t stop play.The teaching continued throughout the day moving the students through there syllabus and having a blast while at it!
Sadly whilst the boys were teaching on the hill poor old Tinks enjoyed a nice morning shower at work courtesy of the weather gods. Its looking good for tomorrow so fingers crossed.
Bell again |
August 9, 2010 |
With the help of Johnny, Jody and Joe our first day students found their feet of the ground. there may have been few disgruntled noises from the hill as the qualified pilots watched the red ribboned gliders snagging the best lift of the day. Having said that we could all join in with the enthusiasm and excitement in the landing field and remember how it felt our first flight. I would like to congratulate everyone out yesterday and hope to see them again soon.
Got to love those pain au choclat… |
May 22, 2010 |
Sunday morning and the market in arhachan was thriving, we all gathered at the café nestled between the fruit and vegetable stalls with our freshly made pastries, enjoy steaming cups of coffee, talking about the day ahead. Our bags full of local strawberries, oysters, baggets, meats and pate, such a great opportunity to stock up on fresh food for the week.
On the dune, the winds are to strong for some, unless you are Johnny or Jody (our rather gorgeous new trainee instructor) they had a ball swinging their gliders around close to the ground and skimming along the sand. Our two trainee tandem pilots had the time of their lives also giggling and squealing like little girls. Watching them just trying to get down was hilarious, the passenger’s arms waving around desperately pulling the ears in only to hit another pocket of lift. For our beginners it was site assessments PLF’s and parts of the glider completed, we decided not to attach them to a wing just in case they caught an early flight home! That evening Grandma Welch graced us with another spectacular paella… we won’t mention the lack of saffron as I don’t believe anyone noticed.
Can’t belive you forgot the coffee pot! |
May 17, 2010 |
I’m sneakily devouring a pot of coffee whilst John and Izzy do the first airport pickup, fuelled with caffeine based enthusiasm I have decided to write the first journal up date. Now most importantly for those of you who have, every now and again, looked at the FC journal they may be aware that myself and Alfie have parted company due to a weight related incompatibility.. I would like to mention that we have been reunited (At this point I am struggling to hold back from jumping clean out of my seat and punching the air) and are now in a very happy relationship involving a few less cakes and biscuits!
With all this talk of myself I have forgotten to set the scène again, how rude of me… Okay picture this; a cosy little mobile home surrounded my gently swaying trees offering dappled shade from the suns hot rays. I look out upon the biggest lump of golden sand in the whole of Europe listening to the birds singing whilst all the time watching out for the little white party bus to return,, baring our first clients. Here, in the beautiful Dune de Pyla, it feels like home from home and as mummy bear I await the arrival of this weeks surrogate family.
Rain stops play… |
April 12, 2010 |
Woke up to heavy rain so will change our plans and head further south to Catavina and the boulder fields. We’re all looking forward to Phil’s cooking tonight and will shortly be going to stock up in Ensenada…. it’s a long shopping list!
Day one…. |
April 12, 2010 |
A long day. We started at Salsupuedes but the wind was too southerley
so we spent 3 hours on the beach kiting and inflating before going up
to the take off at La Salina for a sundowner. Unfortunately the wind gods weren’t
with us and it was coming over the back. All was not lost – we had a pack of coyotes visit just as we were leaving!
Tomorrow we head for San Antonio del Mar, a wild and very beautiful stretch of beach with some great coastal cliffs.
Ready to go….? |
April 10, 2010 |
This is my third day in San Diego and I have a mountain of kit to show for my efforts. Despite numerous trips to Walmart there always seems to be one more thing. Anyhow, the rest of the team arrive today so I’ll be heading off to the airport shortly.
I’ve been staying at a hotel 2 miles from the border and looking out from my room there’s the golden arch of McDonalds and the city of Tijuana in the back ground. Just seems like a strange contrast. Hasta la vista. J
Theres No Hiding on this Expedition… |
April 10, 2010 |
As soon as CFI John got to San Diego he rented a vehicle and it is fitted with a GPS tracker so we can now see where he is. At present he is just a few miles from the Mexican border.
Here is the link to te tracker that is linked to Google Earth:
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=03X5Ymr0PhOTJyV0vd89tOiqHD0eoUX2Z
If you cick on the link above this is the image you see.
Daniel – Flight Culture Technical Support Team.
13 Hrs to go… |
April 6, 2010 |
It’s funny, but no matter how well i prepare, it always seems that the last night is a struggle. Oh well, not long now.
I’ve had shopping lists through from Phil, our chef, and i think we’re going to need another vehicle to get it all on board. I’m just thankful he forgot truffles on his shopping list!
I’ll update again from the other side of the world.
Hasta la vista
Final prep |
April 5, 2010 |
Well, only 36 hrs before I head out to San Diego and I’m surrounded by a mountain of 1st aid stuff, radios, GPS’s, and all sorts of toys. it’s so exciting and I can’t wait!!!
more later,
Johnny