the wind beneath my wings
look i'm flying!
How can I jump off a cliff? Seriously? That was the question that tortured me for months as I waited for the day when I would go hang gliding.
I asked my partner to take me hang gliding for my birthday, but waiting for the right day to go was agonising. Every other weekend we would ring up to check if the weather was good, only to be told we had to postpone because it wasn’t windy enough or there was too much wind. I felt like astronaut John Glenn as described in The Right Stuff, who woke up one morning thinking “today is the day!” that he would be launched into space, only to have the launch postponed again, again….and again (eventually he did make it, one month and four days after the original scheduled date of 16 January 1962).
On 17 January 2010 I made it to my launch too, four months and four days after my 31st birthday. The day was very overcast and it looked like rain, but the hang gliding company we had booked with assured us that the weather was “perfect”. So, with a mixture of trepidation and excitement, we took the long scenic drive down to Stanwell Park, located on Sydney’s south coast near Wollongong.
On arriving at Stanwell Park, we could see a small gathering of people. In the distance I saw big rain clouds, some small mountains and valleys, and a hang glider coming towards us. It looked very tranquil. It wasn’t until I got to the edge of the cliff where we would be taking off that I really began to panic.
Peering over the edge of the cliff, all I could see was plunging blue ocean swell. When I saw other hang gliders taking off, they seemed to disappear off the cliff for quite a bit before the wind would catch them and send them floating precariously upwards. “There is NO WAY I can do this!” I thought to myself. I wanted to turn around and go home.
Fortunately, observing rational human behaviour (as in watching my boyfriend take the plunge first) had a very calming effect. Ok, maybe not exactly calming, I just didn’t want to cause a scene. Inside I was throwing a tantrum. But when the time came to put on the harness and the helmet there was no turning back. ”Just stretch your legs out once we take off” advised the instructor. I hoped I would remember.
Taking off happened so fast. I don’t think I actually did anything, just went with the flow of running towards the cliff with my instructor and a huge hangar on our backs. Once we went over the edge we began to soar, and stretching out my legs was very easy.
The feeling of flying is surprisingly secure. There was so much wind and force carrying us that I never felt unstable. Images of land, sea, winding roads and green hills floated slowly beneath us, and with a mild turn of the handle bar we could go in any direction.
Coming back to land was a thrill, because I could feel the wind rushing up against me. We landed on our feet with a gentle thud. It seemed to be all over too quickly, and I wanted to go up again.
I don’t think the experience of hang gliding changed my life or made me brave or anything like that, I just now know that given the right precautions and conditions, it’s a very safe thing to do, and the sensation of flying way above land and sea is beautiful and serene.
Enjoy.