Adeus Argentina

Taking off from Buenos Aires

The strike was resolved within a day, so the next morning I was back at the airport trying to get on a flight to Rio. Managed to find space for my half-ton of baggage but not myself; at least not until the following day. So my gear spent a day in a storage room in Rio and I had the chance to check out Buenos Aires a little more.

A busy city, like most, punctuated by historical landmarks. Smiling faces and laughter everywhere! Makes me feel so embarrassed to be a citizen of Canada and Australia, where every opportunity is available, to fly around the World racing hanggliders, and yet still manage to find time to be unhappy.

Found some of the most profound statues that I've ever seen. A God, surrounded by rearing horses, appeared to be in static motion. Refusing to allow time to dampen, erode, degrade the intensity of the moment. He stands high above the city floor, unwilling to surrender eternity, as 2005 moves on real-time.

Got on the flight to Rio... as we approached Brazil, the clear weather was replaced by an expansive cold front. Lots of rain, so no in-flight pics. It only took 3 hours to get the gliders through customs- that's fast by the way. It was a 50/50 mix of talking with customs agents and maneuvering hanggliders through the crowds, doors, and other obstacles. When every last glider was safely on the roof of the two trucks that came for me, I wanted to pop open a bottle of champagne... or more like a bottle of Gatorade.

Headed over to Nixon's new mansion, with a detour for some pizza- the real kind. One had 4 types of mushrooms with cheese, the other had chocolate and strawberries... yeah that's it.

Nixon's place is awesome; still being finished, but has a lot of potential. About half the glider storage space as the Moyes factory, a repair shop and a setup area. A pool with a waterslide seals the deal. Customers can wait for their gliders to be fixed while having a swim or sipping on a café in the open-air lower floor. Nixon has employed an ex Brazilian hangglider manufacturer, Carlos (AKA Casperzinho), to service gliders, so the work will be professional.

Tomorrow we're going to build some gliders, replace some sails, and do some performance tuning. The day after we'll head for Andradas, in the state of Minas Gerais, to explore the interior with our gliders. Hmmm... that's a great idea!

Back on schedule.