Since leaving Sydney a month ago, we had planned to stop in Byron Bay to go hang gliding. Flying is something both Sara and I love and it seems so cool to be able to glide in the open without an engine. We did look into going in New Zealand but it was twice as expensive so decided to wait. Our friends in Sydney said Byron Bay had hang gliding for a reasonable price so we saved a few days to ensure a visit to the area.

We’ve been doing great finding free camping and it’s been almost two weeks since we have paid for a campsite. But there is no free camping in Byron Bay so we decided that it would be worthwhile to splurge for a luxury campsite at $40 for the night. After a short drive from the Moreton Bay, we arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon. We spent time catching up on Internet, doing laundry and setting up our hang gliding flight. We got ahold of Brian from Byron Airwaves and he said to call back around noon the next day to confirm the winds are favorable. We were super excited to possibly be going flying the next day! That evening, it started to rain just before it was time to pull our clothes off the clothesline – why does it always rain when our stuff is drying outside? We ended up running a line in the camper and letting everything dry for about 24 hours – talk about making cramped spaces even smaller!

The next morning we stayed at the campsite past the 10am checkout time so we could call Brian at noon. Some campsites are very strict about checkout but luckily this one didn’t have any issues with late departures. A few minutes before noon, we called and the weather was still good… We were going hang gliding! Our meeting time wasn’t for a couple hours so we drove into town to do some souvenir shopping. Apparently Byron Bay has a lot of hipsters – while shopping we walked past more vintage shops than I have ever seen before in my life! I wanted to try out a new style but unfortunately didn’t have enough time.

Brian and his helper Adam picked us up from the free parking area and took us up the hill to the launchpad. The launch area was just a wooden platform on the edge of a big hill – it was a long drop down! Sara was elected to go first then we both were briefed on what to expect. After Sara took off, Adam and I watched for a few minutes before driving down and meeting at the beach for landing. Sara did great and loved every minute of it!

Now it was my turn to fly. Even though I watched Sara jump off the edge, it was still scary standing on the platform about to “run into the sky” as Brian instructs. The adrenaline helped not be too nervous and before I knew it we were soaring. It was an amazing feeling gliding through the sky feeling the wind rush past. Flying felt surreal. It was so peaceful and surprisingly quiet with only sounds of the wind and waves. While looking around, we could see wallabies hopping around below. Brian and I chatted about flying and different places he’s been to in Australia. He even let me fly the glider for a few minutes! We were allowed to bring a camera and we also bought a video from the flights. I compiled the footage into a short video:

That night we drive back north a little to go find a farmers market in a nearby town before the long drive to Sydney.

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