Holiday Within the Holiday

Flying a plane over the Valley




Hunter Valley Vineyards

Another whirlwind of a weekend, packing in all the activities I possibly can into my 'not long enough 3 month contract' here in Sydney. Headed 2 hours away from Sydney with fellow Edmontonian Shafina & Roland from France. The Hunter Valley 2006 entourage. I was skeptical that we'd even make the 8am bus based on the festivities from the night before, but alas, we did and promptly dozed all the way there. The combination of public transit and highway driving lulls me to sleep. Doesn't matter how awake I am, or even where in the world I am. I could be head-bobbing on a tram in Montreal with my family aghast that I'm sleeping through the tour or on a ferry back from Manly.

Hopped on a bus upon arrival and visited 4 local wineries. It was fabulous because I'm one of those people who is embarrassed in restaurants when the waiter asks me to sample the wine. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. It could taste like sewage water and I wouldn't dream of sending it back. Now I know that I'm a 'verdelho' girl.

Sunday morning, Shafina & I hopped on the ancient bikes at the hostel and cycled around the vineyards. It was very "under the tuscan sun," or at least I'm assuming so because I have yet to see the movie. We rode straight into the HV Aviation School on a tip from fellow travelers and signed our life away. Paid $55 for a 1/2 hour with a pilot in a teeny tiny 2-seater plane. Yes, you actually do fly the plane and assist in the take off and landing. I felt very professional, sweating like crazy with this monstrous headset on and the airwaves crackling loudly as we spoke "cessna over, clearance to take off" and then a slew of important gibberish I didn't understand. I pulled the throttle out as we raced down the runway from 40-60 knots and then the foot pedals switched to the steering wheel. You only need a little turn to the left and the entire plane dips left so then you have to level out the wings. It was good fun. We reached 2000ft at our peak. Then the pilot, Adam, took over because it was a "WILD flight" (that's the name of the company) and we proceeded to take two painfully sharp turns, eliciting a gut renching reaction from me. This is what 2 G's feels like, I was told (whatever that means.) Fighter pilots can reach up to 8. Then the pilot soared up and sharply angled the plane down and cut the engine so that we were free falling straight towards the ground. I felt like I was bungee jumping and I have NEVER had any desire to do that. Whew. Leveled out and Adam asked me if I was 'ok' to which I weakly nodded yes. Despite being nauseated for a good portion of the afternoon it was a fabulous and definitely once in a lifetime experience!