Tocumwal, Public Library on January 4 2013.

ritzdeluy@hotmail.com     www.soaringcafe.com     www.glidinginternational.com

Wel,….l here I am …..AND….live! It has cost me some investigation,  but now I am just fine and on the best spot in town with airco and all kind people from town walking in and lovely helpful ladies behind the desk. Tocumwal still is the place to be as other then I thought the last daysd internet and WIFI here are top and available for ALL without cost. What about that!!!!

I found out that writing in word to publish that later is not my “cup of tea”. I need to feel the “connection”, so I feel pleased to have virtual contact with you now.
I will publish some pictures as well in the other blogs.
These blogs are more for readers who have been here in Toc as the diary is mostly from Toc.-people and the guests at the airport. Sorry to the other readers but I will continue my look on soaring and specially on Chaves on www.soaringcafe.com

So what happened yesterday on January 3.
By now you now that it was a bit of a sad day for me, but very weird it did not feel like it.I started early by making pictures during Eddies briefing, where as I said yesterday already, the briefing room was so full , that pilots had to wait in the door. No worries and great for Eddie and Cheryl.
The day was going to be rather good but not a top day! Temperatures at Mildura with 40 dgr. here in Toc., it was 38 but it felt hotter.

 

Some of Eddies guests.Hirotaka Ishimaru and Shota Eura,Rolf Buelther who kindly always informs me with news from the Geelong Gliding Club  and Greg Maggs.

And nice to catch up with Anders who  dropped in from Corowa for a few minutes. Nothing changed there, still the same big happy smile!

I was grateful to Dundee to get day 1 and 2 -news on but we had to go through a lot of trouble. I had to use his laptop and copy and paste twice and pictures had to be put on a stick etc. I spare you the details!

After I had a nice lunch with Linda who lives in Monte Carlo and is here for soaring also in Corowa , while Chris her husband flew the LS 4. We did some shopping in Lynnes Antique shop, place to be for tea and Dutch apple cake and to buy what ever you want, had a coffee in Chrissies Book Lounge and back to the airport to collect the beers from Dundees fridge.

Off to the cemetery where we had with some friends a really good get-together, drinking VB on Dennis at 5. After we visited all our friends who are there as well, as Hadley, Jeff, Old Jim, Dessie,Andrew and Maureen.All got their share in the VB-ceremony.

Off to the airfield again, where I made some pictures from the vintage toys from Ken. He is going somewhere to Adelaide for a vintage competition, not taking the Olympia but the Slingsby T 21.It was very warm to de-rig such a glider!!!

   

Caught up with Werner Meuser who flies Ingo’glider here for a week, and his wife. When I checked if they had heard Markku Kuittinen had died they both looked stunned. No they had not and were very sorry to hear this bad news. Of course both remember Markku from many comps.My friends from soaring cafe have already published their sadness as well.
This is was I got from Pasi from Finland on my question what happened.
—“I think his heart just gave away. Half a year ago his wife died also to the heart attack. So sad.–”
Indeed it is sad, we lost a fantastic pilot and friend and sorry to hear that his wife passed away earlier did n’t know that either.

Ingo , werner and his wife.

Off to dinner than to catch up with Bill and Judy Harvey and Bob and Marg Smith Hetty.A long day but even with the sad note a good one. A pity Inge could not be here!

Bill and Judy.