By Peter Bolton

The Labour Day long weekend in October was the occasion for a mini-pilgrimage by the "chosen few" to the former Mecca of South Australian hang gliding - Mount Horrocks. At around 2500ft asl, Mt Horrocks is twice the height of the regularly flown hills in South Australia. Situated in the South Flinders Ranges near Port Augusta, it is well situated for scenic, even spectacular, flying.

Since access was regained a few years ago, there has been a lack of impetus to get organised and fly the place. But in fact, the amount of organisation required to fly Mt Horrocks is not very large, because the site now offers the opportunity to either fly from the front after a lift up from the land owner, or drive right to the top, fly from there and top-land. Neither of these options requires a driver and both options are available to hang gliders and paragliders. However, it is further from Adelaide than various other inland sites, so more determination is required for most pilots.

The first day of our long weekend trip saw moderate north-west winds which were ideal for Illawarra Hill - a prolific cross-country site half way to Mt Horrocks - so we flew there on the way up. By noon, the winds were too strong for the paragliders to continue, but the hang gliders "hung in there" and eventually started to get away. The first few to get away hit the inversion early on and did not get very high or far. Others, including me, launched later and got away, eventually being rewarded by topping out at over 4000ft asl. Although not part of the state comps, Colin Hansen "won" the day, landing about level with the unofficial goal of Balaklava Gliding Club. I was about 5km behind, landing on the road to avoid landing in crops.

That evening, most of us drove to Melrose in the South Flinders for a meal and camped at Spear Creek - the foot of Mt Horrocks - that same night. It was quite a warm night, despite only being early spring time. The warm night should have triggered alarm bells, as it was probably a precursor of the next day's soaring conditions - stable.

However the next day at Mt Horrocks was special because we had such an interesting mix of pilots - roughly equal numbers of hang gliders and paragliders, the hang glider pilots including a few who last flew there nearly 20 years ago! That was when landowner discontent lost us the site, but the new generation of owners allow us up there (to the top only outside the fire ban season) as long as we pay them for the privilege of driving to South Australia's Holy Grail of hang gliding.

Conditions in the air in front of the hill soon got rough - probably due to the inversion. I wasn't feeling too well and went "looking for Hughie", then flew into the best thermal of the day...

The first of the accompanying photos is looking back down on launch from about 800ft above it and to the south of it. If you look closely, you can see small white wings flying just in front of the W-NW facing launch, towards the top left of the photo. Also near the top left of the photo can be seen a few of the buildings near the Spear Creek camp ground.

The second photo is of the first town over the back - Wilmington - where I landed on the oval. The hill in the distance to the right is Mt Remarkable, a local landmark. The land is a pleasant green at this time of year, unlike the yellow-brown of summer and autumn. Paul Kelley "won" the day, with a flight of about 40km to somewhere east of Melrose. Steve Blenkinsop was between him and I, as was Jeff with the day's best paragliding flight. Due to the inversion, maximum heights attained were only around the 4000ft asl mark. So due to the high ground we were flying over, ground clearances weren't huge. But this was only early spring and things are yet to "hot up" (and dry out) in South Australia... Legend has it that ten grand days were achieved here in the summers of yesteryear.

The last photo is of paraglider pilot, Jonno, launching. The water you can just see in the distance is at the northern tip of the St Vincent Gulf, near Pt Augusta. The Herde family, who own the land at launch and in front and run Spear Creek, are "on our side" and will take us up to their lower launch all year round (for a small fee). It would be good to see some flying visitors from interstate there occasionally. Most of us don't live very close by, so we're not there too often - yet...

For accommodation and access to the front of Mt Horrocks all year round, contact Spear Creek Caravan Park (Mark and Kylie Herde), phone (08) 8643 6668, email <spearcreek@centralonline.com.au>, or see [http://www.users.centralonline.com.au/spearcreek/caravanpark.html]. I can be contacted on 0401 368736 or <pbolt@ozemail.com.au>.