By John Green

Driving hundreds of kilometres for a thirty second flight might not seem the most successful of hang gliding trips, but I remember it as one of the best hang gliding trips I've ever done. I guess sometimes it's all about the people you meet...

As this is a hang gliding story I'll tell you about the flight first. It won't take long. There I was standing in my glider on the 100ft high Conway Beach coastal site, looking out towards the Whitsunday Islands and sussing out the nuances of the 8-10kt slightly crossed breeze. Nice take-off, one pass which took me down to all of 40ft, leaving just enough time to set up a landing on the expanse of low-tide-exposed beach. Total time airborne, thirty seconds.

I was packing up on the beach, going through all the usual clichés in an effort to ward off disappointment - A safe flight's a good flight, Better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground, It's not so much the length that counts as what you did with it - when I was approached by a friendly looking guy with a huge kite draped over his shoulder and a three-wheeled buggy in tow.
"Good flight?" he asked.
"A safe flight's a good flight," I replied half-heartedly.
He smiled from beneath his moustache. "I didn't bring my paraglider today, but the conditions are spot on for some kite-buggying. I've got extra gear, want to have a go?"
"You're a pilot, too?" was my first question, ears pricking up at the word paraglider. Followed quickly by my second question, "What's kite-buggying?"

It's not often you get along with a stranger so well that you feel like friends right from the word go. I don't know whether it was Ian's generosity in lending me gear, or our shared interest in free-flight which initiated the friendship, but one thing's for sure, a couple of hours of muddy good fun sure helped to cement it! We were caked head to toe by the end of the afternoon, having whizzed up and down the damp expanse of Conway Beach, a foot from the sand, dragged at up to 40km/hr by the large and powerful kites. Though Ian clearly won the 'who can get most muddy' competition (looking like he'd just stepped out of a WWI trench) his partner Julie wasn't far behind. Laughing at the sight of ourselves, they were kind enough to offer me a shower and bed for the night back at their house. Sure beats camping.

If I thought that was the extent of Ian and Julie's generosity, I was much mistaken. Not only were they more than happy for me to stay with them while I waited for the hang gliding weather to improve, but Ian was watching the weather with an even better plan in mind. Turns out his day job is skippering for Whitsunday Rent-a-Yacht, one of the well known Whitsunday's yacht companies.
"Want to come out for a two day sail around the islands with Julie and me and a few others, on a $500,000 catamaran?" he asked when the weather cleared.
"You're kidding?"
He wasn't.

Next day saw us heading out of Shute Harbour and into the Whitsunday's under full sail. Sunshine, open blue water, deserted islands, white beaches, wind in your hair, the whole bit. What an experience! The same wind that had been preventing me from a decent fly at Conway Beach was now sending us and our catamaran scudding across the waves. I forgave it instantly.
"See that gap in the islands off to starboard?" Ian asked as he handed over the wheel of the ($500,000) Seawind 1200, "that's Unsafe Passage. Take us through it. Watch out for Surprise Rock on the other side. Call me if you need anything."
"Unsafe Passage? Surprise Rock? You're kidding?"
He wasn't.

I'd never been on a yacht before, let alone sailed one, but my luck seemed to be running well so I took the helm and gave it a go. Batten down those hatches, hoist the main sail, look alive everyone - Captain John is at the helm.

We survived Unsafe Passage.

I managed to miss Surprise Rock.

And we had two awesome days of fantastic weather and amazing snorkelling on the reef, including, at one point, swimming with a huge sea turtle. If anyone is thinking of heading to the Whitsunday's, I'd highly recommend a day or two out with Whitsunday Rent-a-Yacht (phone 1800 075 000, email <rentayacht@bareboat.com.au>, web [www.rentayacht.com.au]). Ask for Ian as your skipper and you can talk flying as you go. He'll even let you drive.

I ended up staying with Ian and Julie for a week and we all had a ball together. Just goes to show, sometimes strangers are just friends you haven't met yet.