Greyton to Botrivier PPG

My good mate Ant of The Aerial Perspective was very kind to invite me along to Greyton, where he needed to take some pictures.  We cruised out there in the Vito early this morning to find the town dead still (wind and street-life) with heavy dew on the ground, and so we stopped at a local coffee shop for tea and toast.  Greyton is as pleasantly bucolic as I remember, albeit somewhat more developed these days.

Greyton from the air.  Photo courtesy of The Aerial Perspective
Greyton from the air. Photo courtesy of The Aerial Perspective
After completing consumption of our comestibles we went looking for a launch area.  The Greyton Sports Club had a nice field, but it was still very wet and surrounded on three sides by trees.  A foray down the other end of town was more fruitful…well, too fruitful, in fact.  Not only did we find a great little field, which was slightly raised and offered a puff of wind, but it was also downwind of the dump and sewage settlement ponds.  To complete the scene, a large herd of splendidly flatulent bovines stood contemplating us from over the fence.  Perfect.  Although the field was small and the ponds large, the light wind was conveniently blowing across the corners, offering a decent run and space to climb out.  We rigged quickly, and then I helped Ant launch so that he could get the photography done quickly.  I was rapidly ready to go, and then in my enthusiasm flooded my engine and had to take if off to get it restarted.  By that stage, the wind had almost disappeared, and what little remained was now blowing directly over the ponds, across the short axis of the already short field.  Eish.

Great SA PPG video

Eish… the work, she has been too much.

I have been nose-to-grindstone for quite some time, but the experience has been incredibly rich, with a number of firsts.  Some of those stories will follow, I hope, but the blog takes a back seat at these times.  Unfortunately, the flying has also been exceptionally sparse.  In the absence of my own escapades, I stumbled across this video.  It captures much of the essence of PPG in South Africa.  Enjoy.

Paramoteur: South African Tour 2012 from Luc Trépanier on Vimeo.

En septembre 2012, Cyril et moi sommes allés en Afrique du Sud pour visiter au sol, mais surtout pour survoler en paramoteur ce magnifique pays. Nous y avons rencontré des pilotes ayant un haut niveau de maîtrise de notre sport. Ces derniers nous ont grandement facilité la tache au cours de notre voyage et nous en sommes reconnaissant. L’Afrique du Sud est un pays offrant des paysages et une faune unique. Ce petit vidéo sans prétention relate quelques vols que nous y avons fait. C’était mon premier voyage dans cette région du monde et je ne souhaite qu’une chose, c’est d’y retourner.

In September 2012, Cyril and I went to South Africa to visit the country from the ground but also to fly with our paramotor over some magnificant places. We have met pilots with high skill level who help us along our trip through the country and we thank them. South Africa has a unique wildlife and landscapes to offer. This unpretentious little video present some flights that we have done. It was my first trip to this part of the world and the only thing I wish is to go back.