The weather looked great so we drove out towards Treble Cone.
At the gate at the bottom we just missed the Tandem crew going up but it wasn't long before some locals Grant and Lucy turned up. (they owned Wanaka-Stone). They offered me a lift so Annette waited at the landing area. As we arrived at Pub Corner (the launch a few bends before Treble Cone Ski Area) we saw a tandem take off, Richard I think it was. Then as the wind got a little stronger Grey (another tandem pilot tried to launch but ended up getting dragged across the launch with his passenger. He waited a while and then said as the wind was 30km/hr (gusts) they were canning the day for safety reasons. Grant and I both thought it would ease off and planned to launch. We waited maybe half an hour and I let Grant go first. On his third attempt he got off which made me a little nervous. I had a great lull and got off perfectly. about 2pm. It took about half an hour to climb to the ridge line and then I flew South towards Wanaka and over the highest peak and over a heart shaped high lake. My gloves were very inadequate so I decided to glide slowly towards Glendue Bay with no real aim going further. I had been in the air a little over an hour and eventually landed after maybe 70 minutes next to the caravan park at Glendue Bay. A great first flight at Wanaka.

The header photo is the view above launch towards Wanaka


The New Zealand Alps from above Treble Cone. The Glendue Bay Van Park where I landed.