Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Ironman

With 9.5 hours of flying time under our belts we really graduated to level 2 of the Lifestyle Kiting Course this week. It all started out as a bit of a fizzer when there was not enough wind at Red Hill. Picked up tho after a coffee at New York Coffee shop and then onto Stromlo Observatory to do the Sunday launch.  Assessing the situation and noticing we had an audience of bike riders as well as power lines to contend with I was feeling pretty damn confiedent of a great launch. Will let out "Fandangle", thats my girl kite, to the maximum length and she was flying high and proud. First competency - Flying with confidence - tick. I then went and got my second kite from my car "Ironman" and found that he kept flying in tight circles and head butting the ground. It was due to not clipping him together properly. Second competency - Troubleshooting turning - tick. Then we swapped hand pieces and Will was going strong and long with Ironman. I had a laps in concentration and when I did look around I saw Will running across the road after Ironman, trying to step on the hand piece before it got tangled in the power lines. It was really funny. Third Competency - Emergency Retrieval - Tick. We continued flying for another 1/2 hour and then I saw Will again running with an intense look on his face. First thought was "elite athlete" but then I noticed he didn't have the hand piece and Ironman had cut loose again and was flying in the most poetic fashion I have ever seen undertaken by an Ironman kite.  He rose over the power lines and went off the side of the mountain and hung there like a fragile butterfly looking for its mate.  There were a bunch of peddle power ladies ascending the mountain and I could hear them saying "who would fly a kite out there, its too dangerous" which really cracked me up. By this time Will was no where insight and for me to find him I had to reel in Fandangle.  Will bobbed up after a while and said I found the kite - its on the ground so I said lets get it and he went one way and I staggard around doing cross country walking which was rather nice I must say, listening to the birds and insects and the trees gently waving their leaves.  We assessed the situation and decided we would have to cut the reel string to take Ironman home again. Fourth competency - Orienteering in the Nations Capital - Tick.  We spent a good couple of hours in the sun, laughing, feeling joyful and getting a good dose of open ended play.

This is Wills dream kite which is 40 feet long and I have major reservations about him taking on this level of kiting considering he only weighs 6 stone. I have mentioned he might need to get a tow ball mounted on the back of his Mazda 3, just so we can anchor it. I'm not ready for the ninth competency - Exploring the stratosphere. Kites are wasted on the young don't you reckon?


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