Leaving Laurieton

Well it's time to leave Laurieton :(

We stayed a few extra days as our mail hadn't arrived.

Hopefully it is here tomorrow or it will have to get forwarded on.

I have had a great time and got some good flying in, and the kids have had a great time to.

We went for a fish today (no Luck) and saw some whales cruising the coast so girls were all excited.

We are on our way to Manilla (another famous paragliding venue where they hold one of the world cup rounds) on the way we will camp near some waterfalls and do some hikes (walks) It's only 4 hours to Manilla but we will take two days.

Then It's off to The Western Plains Zoo so should get some good pics there.

We have to get the kids and Debs some bikes before hand as you can ride a pushbike around the Zoo, and they need them anyway to keep them amused at campsites.

Anyway some pics of Laurieton to leave you with we will definitely come back this way on our way back up the coast.


Galvo



Kids to the right, See I wasn't always flying I do give up perfect flying conditions to be a good Dad .




Mother and Calf Humpback having some fun on there way to Antarctica




Girls just want to have fun




Our campsite in Laurieton


Some we visitors to our front door, Lucy throwing bread (Wood Ducks)

Once again Dads doing the right thing, Bands at the surf club, gliders in the air.

Emily signed up for drum practice at the last campsite in Umina. That night they all did there thing at the talent show, It was really good and quite funny at the same time they played for 30min.

Emily banging away, They had a guy play first and they followed

Just had to leave you with this view at take off , at 1000m it looks even better :) Taff I'll take you for a flight one day :) Steve committed .

Great Flight

Had a great flight off of North Brother 2 hrs and got to cloudbase in my first thermals :) Some pics Debs took, I have the orange and white and grey glider.

Also had a great 1 hr flight today off of middle Brother . Heaps of police around and I startled one copper as i came into land as they were in the middle of a drug bust we think but wouldn't tell us.

Debs has been home schoolingand we will hang here till end of weekend then head out to some waterfalls and then Manilla then onto the plains zoo in dubbo.

Galvo

Exitement Turns to Dismay

I'm not sure how to write this post?

Well The car is fantastic and the camper trailer is awesome, and there is heaps of storage in the camper so shouldnt have to load the car up to much.

Well I picked the family up at Sydney airport and managed to dodge most of the maniacs that seem to drive here although an impatiant trucky who didn't want to slow down for anyone including corners gave me a bit of a scare.

We all got back to Gosford and stayed at the RSL in West Gosford , we then went to pick up the trailer that I had spent the previous day loading.

We drove around and finally found the beds for the kids we wanted at Camper World, this is where I left my wallet on the roof or tailgate with approx $1450 in it:( Realising this after we had driven to Umina Campsite.

Add to this I broke the screen on my new Tom Tom 920 :( so was a day full of mixed emotion. Ifelt really sick after that but today is a new day the kids have had a ball, Emily has done some drum lessons and is playing in a band tonight? Grace and Lucy have played in the shallows for hours catching small fish and building sand castles.

Umina campground is huge and our view is fantastic, heaps of activities for the kids and a massive playground, highly recommended.

Heres some pics of our new camper and location.

Galvo

North Brother

Had a great Sleddie from here Awsome flying sight,

Was pretty nervous as was my first flight on my new glider.

I have since had a 30min flight from South East Bonnies.

Im in Gosford now and the trailer looks awesome. i will post some pics of it tomorrow.

Debs and the kids arrive tomorrow which I'm really looking forward to.

I don't know how we are going to fit it all in but I'm sure we will manage.

Staying in a RSL motel tonight and tomorrow night then it's camping in style from here on in.

Galvo

First paragliding Pics

A couple of pics of Mike Annear and Eric Tromes (red glider) at Serpentine Perth WA, The Eagle is renouned for attacking the pilots wings at this location and the last photo shows him claws out a 1/2 a second before making contact with the glider.

Eric tried using a loud compressed air horn but the eagle just let out a war cry and had another go?

First Pics with the D300

Everlasting in my 3yr olds hand at 200mm. I believe the VR must be pretty good as we were both a little shaky!!

Monarch Butterfly

Anigozanthos Manglesii

Calothamnus Quadrifidus

Isopogen Dubious

Hibertia Cuneiformis

All the pics were taken handholding the camera on an overcast windy day. Some of the pics have been cropped but thats all.

New camera

Well I finally took the plunge and bought myself a digital SLR,
I got myself a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 18-200 VR lense which should be ideal for the trip around Oz. I can't believe it took me so long,as these things are awesome.
It's going to be great to get back into photography again and cheaper now as i can just deleat the crap shots.
I have so much to learn and not just the digital photography side and all the tricks of the camera but also the editing and publishing side as well.
I have taken some shots in my garden and I am impressed at how close I can get with this zoom tele lens, I should be able to get some great macro shots as well as landscape shots with this lens.
Look up happy in the dictionary and you will see a picture of me:)>
Galvo