Lennox Head: Take the Nestea® Plunge

On the advice of a colleague, we took a day trip about 20 minutes south of Byron Bay into the quainter resort town of Lennox Head. Lennox had all the environmental accouterments of Byron Bay but without feeling so overrun by backpackers and tourists. It’s the type of place where you dream of opening a bookstore and having business hours from 11AM – 2PM. The rest of the time you would be surfing, bike riding, sunning and otherwise escaping from life’s little burdens.

We first drove down the small strip of shops and restaurants to get our bearings and have lunch before returning to the other side of town to visit Lennox’s famous Lake Ainsworth. The lake is unique because it is surrounded by tea trees which drip into the water and for all intents and purposes this phenomenon creates a massive bowl of Lipton Tea you can swim and frolic in. (note: I didn't use any color tricks in the photo below).

While looking for a place to grab a bite we were involved in some accidental hang gliding. Which btw, I imagine is markedly better than a hang gliding accident – although I thankfully have no personal evidence to prove that assumption.

We came to the south end of town and noticed a couple gliders in the air ahead of us. They were launching off of a cliff head called Pat Moreton point and I pulled the car into the parking area to watch for a second. The cliff itself was stunning so we decided to hike up to the top and take a few photos. The gliders flew overhead and landed peacefully while we were making our way back to the car. I snapped a couple photos of the gliders as one of the pilots asked us if we wanted to go up. I did! Real bad like!

I told the guy that we might think about it over lunch but by the time we got to the car I had made up my mind.

Amy said, “you go.” I said, “you too.”

“We’re in,” I said to the smiling Aussie.

We each paired up with a pilot for the tandem flight. My new friend and sole/soul protector was named Ash. Amy can’t remember the name of her bloke (Aim, if it comes to you leave it in the comments below - I need some commentz yo).

We suited up in what I have always thought looked like caterpillar costumes. The whole harness then clips into the top of the glider with a massive carabiner. The rigorous training, which lasted all of 15 seconds, was “when I run, you run and then once we get up to a comfortable height I’ll have you put your feet in the bottom of the bag.” Officially certified by Ash, 2007.

We walked out slowly hunched under the glider and then stopped to wait for the wind to become predictable. After about 30 seconds Ash said “let’s go” and we started running like chickens for a feed trough. I don’t think we took more then 5 steps before we were ripped from the earth. I immediately started to question the positioning of my harness in the "groinal" region. I thought, “this could be a painful flight it I don’t have this thing situated correctly.” Luckily once I put my legs back in the bag the harness felt fine where it counts.

As we were rising I joked, “Did you learn to hang glide just a couple days ago?” And Ash responded, “actually, this morning.”

Amy and her pilot took off shortly after us.

Turns out Continental Airlines won't accept hang gliding miles

The sensation was, at first, a little shocking and breath stealing. I guess I didn’t expect to feel such a sense of exposure, but dangling hundreds of feet in the air in a silly caterpillar costume seems to trigger something in the rationale side of your brain that says, “oh now look what you’ve gotten yourself into, you &$%*ing idiot!”

I did settle in after a few minutes and really began to enjoy the idea of flying. At one point there was a large hawk under us making nearly the same motions in the air and it literally felt dreamlike. I completely understand how someone could become addicted to hang gliding – even without having the adrenaline junky syndrome.

In all reality I learned that Ash had been flying for over 20 years and both he and Amy’s pilot were professional hang gliders who have traveled the world to compete.

These pictures are for you Andrew G, I know how much you like Lennox so I said to myself “What can I get Andrew for Christmas? I know, I’ll go to Australia, make my way toward Lennox and then rent a hang glider. While floating perilously in the air I will capture the perfect bird’s eye picture of the town. Then I will return and give him the beautiful photos as a present. He will love it!”

This is how I normally spot restuarants for lunch

Spying on the neighbors

Footage (or should I say Wingage?)

The landing was short and sweet. One large 180 degree turn while dropping quickly was all it took, and at the last second we slowed to a soft hover and landed – like a helicopter coming slowly down on its target.

We landed with such a high. Even though Amy and I did nothing other than hang like a bag of potatoes, the sense of accomplishment was awesome. We had enormous grins all the way to lunch. And then the remainder of the afternoon, we would both start to laugh spontaneously knowing what the other was thinking... “We flew today.”

I must say how amazed I was with Amy’s courage. I have a history of seeking out needlessly dangerous stuff, but for someone who gets queasy even thinking about roller coasters, she saddled-up like a Red Bull Flugtag pro. We both agreed afterward that we probably went because it was spur-of-the-moment. Had we thought about it for a long time and tried to fit it into an itenerary, we probably would have just spent the first half of the day walking the beach and picking out spots for our future bookstore .

Amy!

Lake Ainsworth - Tea Partay