freezing cold Ballarat and kangaroo medium-rare

We are back from Ballarat. Ziggy really enjoyed the Palliative Care course and claims he learned a lot. Good on him. We also survived the freezing cold temperatures over there. I've been to Ballarat couple of times before and all I can remember was rain, wind and at least 3 degrees cooler than anywhere else. We were really lucky with the rain, or lack thereof, this time but we almost froze to death. The hotel room we had was huge and therefore barely heatable. A one of a kind survival experience.

We followed the recommendations and found a really nice restaurant where I tried the kangaroo steak which turned out to be just beautiful. The funny kangaroos are not only cute but also pretty tasty.

Sturt Street

a quick walk to escape the cold

Yes, it was coooold

Zig is back at work and I'm making friends with my computer preparing two presentations. I will have a lecture in the Aero Club on Saturday talking about my World Championships experience. The audience will be mostly pure powered pilots so some introduction into glider flying cannot harm anyone.

For the second lecture we have to travel all the way to Melbourne on Tuesday evening (and back straight after that...). It's gonna be a long day...and night. The lecture will be for all interested Victorian glider pilots as a part of the Winter Gliding Workshop and I'll be talking about the preparation for badge and record flights. There are quite a few things to remember to make such a flight a valid one. The flight itself is a pure pleasure compared to what comes before and after. OK, I better get back to work :-)

another working weekend

Another weekend passed by to quickly to even realize it. The maintenance shop is almost prepared for painting. The holes are patched, gaps filled, walls washed off. Filling the gaps yesterday I just couldn't believe how many little nail holes can exist in one wall ... not speaking of the remaining 3 walls and the roof beams. Anyway, it looks much better now and we'll be painting next weekend.

washing the ceiling

and the window

more junk waiting for a ride to the dump

Janus is very excited and curious sticking his nose through the door all the time

We dared to move the piece of art biplane to the other hangar so it doesn't suffer any damage during painting. I just couldn't resist to have a picture taken with this incredible machine. It doesn't mean though that I made up my mind and agreed to take it up for the first flight. Nope, but I definitely wanna witness this unusual event one day.

scary cat

Speaking of volunteers, the guy on the pic below doesn't look like he's got any fears. What about he gives it a try?

fearless creature

We are heading to Ballarat this afternoon where Ziggy will attend a two days Palliative Care course. We're also taking the glider to Joe's for the Form 2 to be ready when the season starts. Ziggy says he wants to fly really badly while I'm OK with not flying now. Two more weeks and I'll be ready again I guess.