By Len Birger <microlighting@bigpond.com>

In 1994 I made a conscious decision to emigrate from South Africa to Australia. This due to the unstable situation in South Africa prior to the release of Nelson Mandela (whom I have personally met), and for the safety and security of my children. As a result of affirmative action, it was almost impossible for a white person to enter the workplace.

Between my wife and I we have seven children (yes, we did have television!). The four minor children were included in our application, the other three decided to apply and come to Australia as well. By 2003 all the children and grandchildren were already living in Australia, and we decided to sell up all our assets and make the move.
We left behind lots of precious memories and exceptionally good friends, so the transition for us was traumatic to say the least. We arrived in Australia on 3 October 2003, and on 4 October we were ready to get on the next plane back to South Africa, even though we were made to feel very welcome by our Australian neighbours. We were amazed by their willingness to go the extra mile to make us feel at home. Their hospitality made us feel even more homesick, as it reminded us of all the good people back in South Africa. But we then realized that there was really nothing to go back to, as our entire family was now in Australia.
It was an uphill battle for a few months, but now that I have started doing what I love best, instructing on microlights under the watchful eye of Kevin Magennis on the Central Coast NSW, I feel truly Australian.
The scenery is absolutely magnificent, and I often find myself comparing it to South Africa. I am used to flying at high altitudes, 6000ft above sea level, and it is now a totally new experience for me flying at the coast. I have fitted in well with the Australian microlighters, and have now settled down. In meeting Australian microlighters I have come to the conclusion that we are of a similar breed. South Africans and Australians have a common bond - our sense of achievement and our spirit of adventure. We always think we are invincible! South African, Ernie Els (winner of the Heineken Classic Golf Tournament Melbourne for three years running), and the Australian cricket team are perfect examples of this!
It is my intention to fly a fair amount of Australia, with my wife as ground support, as she did for my flying colleagues and I back in South Africa when we did trips to Botswana. Unlike the coastal scenery, we flew tree top height over elephant, lion, buffalo, giraffe, hippo and crocodile in the wild (something that I will always long for and never forget). In Botswana we had lion and elephant walking right through our unprotected camp!
Flying over the plains of Africa seeing herds of wildlife was my greatest microlighting adventure - the ultimate, I thought. But now come the big boys, which I'm sure will make all microlighters, no matter their country or creed, feel as though absolutely anything is possible!
Two South African microlighters set off from South Africa in December 2003, for an 80,000km, eighteen month trip around the world, encompassing fifty countries, and six continents! And all of this in two trikes with no ground support!
The pilots, Vic De Agrella and Alan Honeyborne, will be making history by establishing several World Records, some of which will be:
The longest circumnavigation of the earth in the smallest aircraft
The longest microlight flight in the world
The first Africans and South Africans to have flown around the world
What makes two crazy guys set off on such a journey? Is it that, like Australians, they are winners and adventurers? Well, the reasons they give are:
"As a celebration of the first ten years of a democratic South Africa, and as South Africa's contribution to the commemoration of the 100th year of powered flight, we will embark on an eighteen month microlighting expedition around the world."
The personal motivation for embarking on this amazing trip is:
"To achieve the ambition of flying a microlight around the world and to share the experience and pleasures of the expedition with as many people as possible. To use the adventure to encourage people to recognize the opportunity today's world offers in the freedom to pursue any and every dream they have. To motivate these people to place time frames to their dreams and turn these into goals and realities."
Following their daily diary on [www.freedomflight.co.za] makes any reader most envious! They would love having you post messages on their message board. I intend having a good old South African 'braai' (what you guys would call a 'barbecue' - only better!) for them when they arrive in Australia.

Vic and Alan, I salute you.