by Helen Gardner

Helen Gardner, an IDPA member who lives in Sydney, Australia, sends the following report on her trip to popular Lake Keepit in northern New South Wales.

Last January Paul O'Malley, an Australian private pilot I know, decided to go up to Lake Keepit, which is about half an hour's drive from Tamworth, N.S.W., where a friend of ours, Tom Payne, lives. Tom had been towing gliders with a Husky for the Lake Keepit Soaring Club to get his flying hours up for his commercial license. (We had met Tom through an Australian Flyaway 2000 trip we did last September, when he was a student pilot.)

Paul asked me if I was interested in going. So on Saturday, January 20, we left from Sydney at about 7 a. m. It was a lovely trip on the New England Highway as we were driving a Mazda MX5 convertible with the roof off. That weekend was hot, something like 40-plus degrees C. [That's about 104 degrees F.] When we got closer to Tamworth and Lake Keepit, it got even hotter and hotter. We got to Lake Keepit about 12:30 p.m. and met up with Tom who was assisting others with the gliders. Boy, the heat was hitting us badly.

Our accommodation was fantastic, with beautiful air conditioning and basic needs in it. Paul, Tom and I went for a drive round the lake to the kiosk to have some lunch. There were camping sites as well as water-skiing and swimming facilities around the lake. The lake is massive.

We went back to the gliding club area. I just had a rest in the cabin as it was too hot to be out. Tom and Paul helped out with the gliders, i.e., flying the Husky. When the guys finished later that afternoon and came back we all sat outside and watched all the kangaroos and rabbits as they came out on the airstrip for a feed at about 5 p.m. After that, we had a late dinner at the gliding club's clubhouse. Then we retired to sleep.

Kangaroos on the runway! It's 5 p.m., feeding time at the glider airstrip at Lake Keepit, N.S.W., Australia.

Tom got up early the next morning to help out. Paul and I slept in. We got up and got ready, then we went to see what the guys were up to. They had changed flying direction because of the wind. So they changed ends of the airstrip for takeoff. Paul and Tom organized me for a glider flight for that afternoon. Paul and I went for a drive to the Kiosk to get a few things and take more pictures, etc., then returned to our cabins where Tom had made use some lunch and rested. I had a rest for the rest of the afternoon until that glider flight while the others went out. Paul picked me up and took me to the gliding area where I met the instructor who would take me take me for a flight.

I had never been in a glider before, though I have been in ultralights and GA aircraft: Jabiru, Trike, MXL, Eagle, Tobago, Trinidad, Victor Air-Tourer. The instructor explained a few things about a glider, all interesting, especially the procedures.

Then it was time for the flight. The Husky towed the glider aloft, then released it. The glider went through about 10 thermals, all great for viewing over the lake. It was beautiful: the weather was good. We landed smoothly with no problems.

Helen Gardner in a Puchatek sailplane at the soaring school at Lake Keepit.

After that, Paul and I packed up and headed back to Sydney about 6 p.m., arriving home about 11:30-midnight. We headed for the sack to sleep, so tired.

The following week, Tom Payne took the checkride for his commercial pilot license and passed. He was over the moon. We all headed up to Lake Keepit again early in February for a little holiday and flying. I love going up to Lake Keepit: it's a beautiful place, as you can see from the pictures.

Free Aussie flying trip CD-ROM

If you're interested in seeing more photos of flying trips around Australia, IDPA member Paul O'Malley (who took the photos for Helen Gardner's article above) reports that he has made a CD-ROM of photos of his last flying trip around Australia. It is a slide show using Microsoft's PowerPoint, but Paul reports that he has attached a small program to run it so that you do not need PowerPoint to view it.

If anyone would like a copy of this CD, send your postal address to Paul at flybfree@bigpond.net.au.

Each month Paul posts photos of a flying trip on his Web site, and all these appear on the CD. The address is www.homestead.com/AT_jabiru/jab1.html.