From Port Talbot to Port erville

[AndyH]

In summary, during my adventure I flew in total 422.35kms and flew for a total of 22hrs over 20days that I flew.
 
The company at Flyers Lodge was constantly changing but always pleasant, the company of Steve and Nick was needless to say brilliant and the hospitality and service of Rob and his staff was always perfect.
 
I would most definately love to return there again one day in the future........with a different wing.......and would recommend this destination for anyone who enjoys or is wishing to improve their xc flying, it really does tick all the boxes.
 
See you all on the hill soon.........it's a bit cold at the moment.
 
 

[AndyH]

Day 27 :- Woke early, had breakfast, loaded up the minibus with SteveJ and my luggage and said our goodbyes to all the terrific staff and other pilots at the Flyers Lodge and headed off to Cape Town with my fellow wingmen SteveJ, NickR, Marcus and Rob Manzoni with the possibility of flying Tafelberg (Table Mountain). I must point out that paraglider pilots visit Cape Town to fly Table Mountain, and can quite often stay for a week and never get the chance to fly it because conditions aren't suitable, and here we are, on the last day of our adventure, a few hours before flying back to the UK, with a good chance of being lucky enough to have these ideal conditions. We drop our luggage off at Rob Manzoni's house in Cape Town, and then head for the cable car toll booths in order for Rob to assess the weather, where he confirmed that a flight from the top of the 3000' Table Mountain would today be possible. So we unloaded the minibus and queued for our one-way cable car tickets to launch on Table Mountain, during our ride in the cable car people were asking what we had on our backs, and couldn't believe what we were about to do, and thought it was amazing.....so did I.....a few people even followed us to watch......the whole occasion really was fantastic......and we hadn't even started flying.
     Rob Manzoni guided us to the appropriate launch site, and it was hard to believe that after all I had been through the last few weeks I actually started to feel nervy as I peered over the 2000' unforgiving shear cliff of Table Mountain and I began to run on pure adrenalin. We posed for a few pictures, and commenced setting up, Steve was away first in a nice steady breeze.....the only one......as after his launch the breeze vanished and launching became even more tricky, Nick was next away after 4 or 5 attempts, and it was very unusual to hear the normaly cool Nick verbally plead with his wing to raise above him as he repeated 'Come on baby' a few times on his final successful alpine launch. I eventually managed to get myself off after half a dozen or so attempts and screamed with relief and awe as did the spectators that were scattered along the cliffs edge. As usual I managed to find the sink and even found myself eyeing up a landing option on the outskirts of Cape Town, which wasn't a great place to be retrieved from, as our designated landing area was a small sports field situated on Camps Bay on the other side of Table Mountain. I then stumbled into a thermal and skillfully worked my way from 1000'AMSL back up to 3000' whilst within 100' of a cable car that was full of impressed tourists . I then flew over the cable car wires in the direction of Lions Head.........which I was looking down at.......and then altered my heading for the landing at Camps Bay. This really was a magnificent end to a truly magnificent adventure, being at 2500'AMSL looking over Cape Town to your right, Lions Head straight infront, and the Twelve Apostles and Table Mountain on your left really does leave you speachless.......it is incredible that as paragliders we are so lucky to be able to see the world from this perspective, and so often, it does something to your sole.
     After a breathtaking smooth glide things started to get a bit more interesting as I began to descend into the strong sea-breeze which was also mixed with strong thermals and was very uncomfortable, so lined myself up for landing, pulled in my big-ears and was still going up, so then decided there's only one thing for it big, big-ears.......and it worked. It was only when I landed that I realised how special the flight had been, and knew that I would always remember this day, and the people I was with for the rest of my life, Steve Jones, Nick Roberts, Marcus and Rob Manzoni, not to mention all of the other great pilots I had also met during my stay at Flyers lodge. After packing up we went for some lunch and a few beers, and recognised Raymond's wing flying overhead after a flight from Lions Head, so called him over after he had packed up for a final beer with us.
     We then went to collect our things from Rob's house and headed off for one more flight..............back to Heathrow.    

[AndyH]

Day 26 :- Today was SteveJ and my last day, and so it was decided that todays goal was Citrusdal cafe for a few beers, 4 weeks ago this would have been a huge task for me but today I just found myself nonchalantly accepting the challenge, and so me and my Mojo2 launched from Daskklip one last time and headed north along the very, very familiar ridge. Today I couldn't believe how relaxed I was in comparison to the anxiety that I had felt at the beginning of this adventure, and realised how much Porterville had improved my flying confidence. On reaching the pass I took a thermal to the top, but with insufficient height for me, and a retrieve truck directly below, I opted to land for 28.5kms and watched a Sport4 glide effortlessly across the valley from the same altitude that I had managed. I then completed the final kms in the retrieve land rover with Marcus and Maurice, feeling completely flown out.The thing I learned today is that 4 weeks of paragliding in Porterville is enough for me.....I need to fly somewhere else........maybe Table Mountain. 

[AndyH]

Day 25 :- Felt eager heading up to launch, so headed north along the very familiar ridge, but after 13kms decided to land due to a severe kicking whilst suffering some large collapses and full frontal, when everyone else around me seemed to be flying along quite smoothly. The thing I learned today was that my Mojo2 doesn't appear to penetrate thermals as dynamically as higher performing gliders, and tends to bounce of them, or get spat out.......maybe it's just me and the way i'm flying today. 

[AndyH]

Day 24 :- Feeling refreshed after a day off it was time to make the most of my last few days here in heaven, but on launch it was one of those days when the wind was backing and veering from northwest to southwest....which for me on my Mojo2 is never great. So launched in a northwesterly and after a few seconds of struggling for groundspeed established that the wind had now backed to a southwesterly, so altered my heading and faced north, todays flight was a real hard slog that required patience and tact with progress being so slow. After making good distance to the north, the wind then veered back to northwest, so I was forced to alter my heading once again, after managing a few kms in this direction I could feel that the thermals were becoming very rough and chopped up near the ridge, so headed out to try some flatland flying and noticed that it was much the same here too, and realised that it was because the wind had increased significantly.......this was confirmed when I saw SteveJ landing his Sigma6. I decided to head for the same landing field, but couldn't get down, and found myself having to perform all number of rapid descent techniques just to get down, eventually after numerous attempts I managed after 20.3kms, but not in the intended field. The thing I learned today is that in changeable winds always head in the direction where conditions will provide you with the best groundspeed on a DHV1, it stops you looking like a fool when you're suspended motionless in mid-air when everyone else is going forward.

[AndyH]

Day 23 :- No flight.

[AndyH]

Day 22 :- After yesterdays flight I was mentally and tactically prepared for another long flight, so got myself ready on TO, launched at the appropriate time, and slowly made my way north along the familiar ridge using the 6.5m/s thermals. Whilst flying I noticed that I was going to have trouble making the crossing unless the thermal tops gained altitude, and so a slow as possible ridge run was required to give conditions a chance to improve. Unfortunately by the time I made the pass the thermal tops were still too low for me to make the crossing in one transition, meaning I would have to find a thermal during it, so after 1hr 50mins(the longest it had taken me to make the pass) it was time to head across the valley. My glide was excellent and it appeared as if I was going to make Citrusdal town with height to spare........if it wasn't for the rough air I was heading for I would have.....and needless to say a damn good kicking ensued, and I found myself on the deck after 1hr55mins and 34.5kms, the big bonus today was that it was only a 10min walk to the cafe. I was soon joined by Raymond, and a little later by Nick, and after our coffees and ice-creams Raymond left to try and get a lift..........within minutes he was pulling up in a spice wagon outside the cafe shouting 'hurry up boys i've got us all a lift', so Nick and I jumped in the back and the driver secured the door in the open position, so that we could enjoy the view (and the smell of exotic spices) out of the back doors all of the way back to Porterville......ahhhhh bliss. The thing I learned today is that I should have headed for Rhenosterhoek as altitude was so low.

[Jeremy]

Congratulations AndyH, a whole host of great achievements (for me the best one is your self analysis where you decide it's ok to "can-it" and important to enjoy it). Your whole journey has been great to follow, a very candid self appraisal all along and a very good read ................... most enjoyable!
Thanks and once again congratulations. Jeremy

[AndyH]

Day 21 :- Now that I had sorted out the psychological issues and my expectations, the weather was ideal, and it was a great day to go paragliding and have a nice relaxed flight. I launched and slowly headed north taking every thermal to the top, and after 24kms it was time to start thinking about crossing the Citrusdal valley, I just needed a big thermal before the pass and to just take it from there, the thermal Ineeded was there waiting for me, it was 7m/s and all the way to 3300'ATO, by now I was alone as everyone else had crossed earlier on their higher performing gliders, and now it was my turn to cross. I got myself directly downwind from Citrusdal town after using a gentle climb that I found above the middle of the valley floor, and just patiently searched for a thermal where I knew there should be one, and suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a piece of paper being carried upward, so headed for it and my vario started to confirm that I was in rising air, so found the core and using my gps trace was able to stay in it, or refind it and take it to the top at 3,600'ATO, from here I could see the Clanwilliam Dam up to the north, the breathtaking views of the Cederberg to the east and the Olifants Rivierberg(which looked tiny from here) to the west, this view completely took me by surprise and really did literally take my breath away, this view alone made the adventure worth every penny I had spent.......unbelievable........this was the most enjoyable transition of my entire flying career. I now knew that I had deffinately managed a new personal best, and realised that if I could find 1 more thermal I would have flown over 50kms. I then lined myself up with a likely looking trigger and eased on the bar, it was then that I saw rugby posts and a rugby field coming into view as I got closer to the valley floor, and thought to myself is that the constriction rugby field, which would have been 50kms, and as I was thinking this I heard Richard(the Flyers Lodge manager) say over the radio 'Andy is just approaching Constriction rugby field, I'm behind him', I usually find voices over the radio quite distracting when flying but on this occasion it sent my pulse racing, and for a moment I lost my concentration, which I still needed as there were a few kms to do before getting there and I was now in an area of sinking air. I only just managed to overfly the rugby field by 400' and lined myself for my 50kms landing.......but with only 200' to the deck I found myself another thermal which began topping up my altitude, and from nowhere in came Nick Roberts and Richard, the first time I had seen them for over an hour. With my 50kms achieved I made that fatal mistake of leaving lift and watched as Nick showed me how to stay in it. I finally landed after 2hrs30mins for 62.5kms, a fine personal best and only 9.9kms short of setting a new DHV1 site record from Dasklip Pass. When I landed I gave a big woooaaaah over the radio, and received congratulations from both Nick and Richard, I felt incredibly ecstatic and my adrenalin was pumping, I had finally achieved what I had come here to do, and it felt better than great. Richard landed shortly after in the same field and told me that he had followed me for the last 30kms, and Nick also explained to me later that he too had deviated from his course to jump into MY thermal. The things I learned today are that a gps is a fantastic flying aid when used properly, this is the one biggest reason for me doing the distance today, and always enjoy the view, it allows me to relax and recharge.

[AndyH]

Day 20 :- After a relaxing afternoon reflecting yesterday, I realised that to go forwards in paragliding you have to take a few steps back, and it isn't going to be a continuous matter of constant improvement, after all our past time is weather dependant, and today was a prime example of tricky conditions with the wind backing and veering. So launched and headed north, and found myself some great 6m/s climbs, but the problem today was that the wind low down was southwesterly, and higher up it was northwesterly, and after flying 12kms north the wind was now northwesterly low down too, and my ground speed was painfull, so altered my heading and went south, flew back past TO and landed after a patient and tactical 28.5kms, and still felt fresh even after flying for over 1hr30mins, I now felt that I was going forwards again and that the conditions weren't testing me as much as earlier on in my adventure, after packing up I reached the road where Marcus a German pilot was driving past, who stopped to give me a lift back to the lodge.The thing I learned today is that having patience and relaxing is less mentally exhausting and enables you to make great decisions to make the best out of a difficult situation.     

[AndyH]

Day 19 :- Went up to TO for a flight and waited a long time for conditions to become good, during which time a German pilot fell out of the sky infront of launch and broke his leg and dislocated his ankle.....conditions were exceptionally rough today.... and eventually I found my window to launch and headed north in the craziest air I have ever flown in. After 3.5kms I was scratching along mid way down the ridge in some even rougher air when my wing suffered a huge ridge side collapse which had me heading very quickly at a rocky ridge, amazingly my wing recovered with less than 5mts to spare, so I got myself away from the ridge and landed after 5.4kms, kissed the ground and radioed for my retrieve. After packing up I made my way to the road side to wait, and realised how close I had just come to a serious accident, and decided not to go back up to launch for a second attempt. When Maurice the retrieve driver arrived, he looked at me, and said 'You're one lucky b******, I thought you were dead, I saw the collapse and couldn't believe you missed the ridge', to which I replied 'Take me back to the lodge, I don't want to go back up today, it's too rough'. The things I learned today are that you can't be too relaxed when paragliding in Porterville and always take wind direction into consideration......even if there isn't much.

[AndyH]

Day 18 :- After 2 days off, 1 because of weather conditions and the other because of alcohol, I was eager to get back on course, as time was beginning to run out and I still hadn't managed my goal of 50kms. So launched and flew along the main ridge in fairly good conditions, but after 30mins just started to feel a bit fed up and stressed out with all of the flying, so landed after 19kms and was just glad to be on the ground, I had reached a point where enough was enough and I just needed more time out to gather my thoughts. The things I learned today are that paragliding is an exhilarating past time providing you don't put yourself under too much pressure to perform better than you have done, so I decided that from today onwards I am just going to go up to TO for a flight, with no particular goals in mind for that day, and not stress myself out, after all I am on holiday.

[AndyH]

Day 15 :- After 3 consecutive xc personal bests, today I was hoping to make it 4 in-a-row, so timed my launch and found myself flying with an UP Trango that was being piloted by Raymond the South African guy, despite this being a high performance glider I still managed to stick with it along the main ridge for about 25kms, at this point it was time to find and take that big thermal all of the way to the top in preparation for the valley crossing. We both managed to reach 2900'ATO, with Raymond reaching the top of the climb first, and then myself a few seconds later, I watched Raymond begin his speedy crossing to see how good the air was along his chosen path, it looked good so I followed a similar path but headed slightly further north with half bar, after a minutes glide I noticed Raymonds wing fold up into a bag of washing and laughed as he desperately sorted out the mess infront of me, what I didn't realise is that I too was flying into a huge mass of sinking air, and it wasn't long before the smile was wiped off my face and I was also falling out of the sky with my wing folded up above me, it was reasuring to see that Raymond's wing reinflated, and even more reasuring to feel mine reinflate. As I was unable to find any lift during the crossing I arrived low at the foothills of the Middelberg, and my luck had seemed to run out as I patiently waited for the sniff of a thermal to top up my altitude, sadly nothing came and landed after an eventful 30kms and watched Raymond battle on for a few more kms. Whilst walking to Citrusdal cafe I became aware of how mentally exhausting flying can be, and felt that the last 4 days had really taken its toll on me, so decided that a few beers in the bar next door to the cafe would be a good idea in order for me to wind down, so when Raymond and I met up at the cafe he agreed, so we sat outside the bar, relaxed, and spoke of our failed marriages and life in general. As time was getting on we thought we had better go and try to get a lift, so after a short walk, in the very hot late afternoon heat we were walking over the bridge that crosses the River Olifants when the locals shouted up for us to go down and join them for a swim in the river, that seemed like a better idea to me than walking to the N7 in the heat, so we did, and were treated to free beers and loads of questions about paragliding, they thought we were mad to be doing it. Eventually the temperature became bearable enough to walk, so we said our good-byes and continued our walk to the N7, on reaching the N7 we were lucky enough to get a lift within minutes, and coincidentally at the same time as a certain Nick Roberts was being dropped off after his lift from further north, so he was also able to join us as far as Picketberg where our lift ended, after a 15minute wait we were then picked up by a couple of long distance lorry drivers that had probably been driving non-stop for the past 6 months, and taken in convoy back to the front door of the Flyers Lodge. The things I learned today are that if I'm going to do a long flight I'm going to need to top up my altitude(on my Mojo2) during the valley crossing in order for me to increase my chances of finding lift the other side, and that after flying for between 70 to 90 minutes in Porterville I start to feel drained and lose my concentration, and that learning xc flying is NOT easy.     

[AndyH]

Day 14 :- My xc confidence had really come on during this flying adventure, and today's conditions looked like being epic, so this mixed with my confidence meant that today I should manage another epic flight...........after taking some more pain killers. So timed my launch perfectly again, and was away heading north again, the thermals were even rougher edged today than they had been the entire holiday, putting me into a spin on one occasion, and it wasn't long before I was being sucked up at 8m/s, this was exactly what the doctor had ordered for me and before long I was far enough north along the Olifants Rivierberg to find myself a perfect thermal to take me to the northern foothills of the Middleberg. I minced around on my own as everyone else had already started making the crossing, and I slowly began to descend as I used everything I could to remain in flight, it was then that I noticed Nick way out infront of the hill with super altitude, and there was no way I was going to make it out that far unless I could find something big, I managed to produce my most patient flying to date and slowly worked my way back up to just above ridge height, and with nothing else coming up the ridge I decided to fly the three staggered peaks that head off towards Citrusdal Town, this was a big commitment, as landing options would have been nil if I gone down due to a mass of power lines, but with the wind being westerly I took the chance........it paid off and I managed to top up on each peak as a horrified Nick looked on.I was then heading for the deck in some really rough air just west of Citrusdal when I lined myself up with a good looking source and crossed my fingers, I somehow managed to make something of the mess the ensued, and found myself with enough altitude to make Citrusdal Rugby Field for an amazing 35.75kms, yet another personal best 3 days in a row, and I had 28 well behaved kids run onto the rugby field to cellebrate with me. I then walked south through town passing a shop called 'F.All Chinese Shop', I didn't bother going in because they didn't have much to see in there, and went to the cafe for coffee and ice-cream. The things I learned today are that my Mojo2 opens up no matter what mess it's in, crossing further north works best for me IF there's a thermal there and not all the black kids are a pain in the a***.

[AndyH]

Day 13 :- Today I was feeling great.......after I'd dosed myself up with pain killers for my rib....so went up to TO and slowly set up whilst assessing the conditions for them to come right for me. I picked my moment perfectly, and was hoisted skyward like an African Black Eagle in a fantastic thermal, and was immediately into my flight along the Olifants Rivierberg, after a number of collapses in a short space of time I knew that conditions were good, the thermals were very strong and sharp edged, and I managed to core on a 7m/s thermal above 'Bumpy Ridge' which took me to 2,900'ATO, and it was from this thermal that I chose to cross the Citrusdal valley, after making sure that I had milked it to the top. Whilst crossing the valley I was unlucky(not clever enough) not to find any lift, but still made the crossing and managed to reach the foothills of the Middelberg, but in my haste I pushed along the foothills in the hope of flying into a thermal instead of being patient like SteveJ and waiting in the same area. My mistake cost me and I was soon on the deck watching Steve and Raymond gaining altitude smoothly where I had been minutes earlier....aahhhh paragliding can be so cruel, but hey hang on a sec, I'd just crossed the Citrusdal valley for the first time and after checking my GPS I also noticed that I had set another personal best of 29kms.........excellent, and to top it all off Raymond and myself managed to get a lift all of the way back to the front door of the Flyers Lodge from Citrusdal cafe. The things I learned today are be more patient with the weaker stuff at the foothills, and try and cross over the valley a bit further north on my Mojo2.