My Australian Hero

I had intended to write a bit more about Jeddah and also about Ewas movie, when I read about great news from down under where the Aussies already had 6 rounds in the Canungra Classic comp and they fly the final round tomorrow/in a few hours.
Local boy and top Australian pilot Jonny Durand bombed out the first day because he was very sick, and is now in first place!!! Believe it or not, it really sounds incredible! World Champion Attila Bertok is close behind him, so it will be a very nerve-wrecking last round!
Unfortunately I couldnt make it there this year, but every morning when I have a cuppa and look at Big Jon´s great Canungra mug, I think of my friends down under and hope that they get great thermals and a safe flight. And I keep my fingers crossed for Jonny the legend - he deserves to win after that incredible week.
By the way, to get one of those great mugs, you have to be in the top 10 of the Canungra Classic comp, which is quite difficult with all those Australian guns racing there. Results and pictures here: Canungra Classic 2008
By the way - all you paragliding guys should consider trying hanggliding as well! Australian pg pilot Enda Murphy is currently ranked 5th in the comp in his second year of hanggliding. I bet he has a lot of fun!
Also amazing - young German talent Jonas Blecher won one round in this years Classic! I took me years to get there once... great on him, I hope he enjoys the great company and the parties just as well.

Ewas paragliding movie in the cinema!

I just returned from the premiere of the first paragliding movie in cinemas ever: "Reise zum Horizont" (Journey to the Horizon), featuring Ewa and her 69 years old pg student Dörthe.
The applause for producer/editor Thomas Latzel and for Ewa and Dörthe was neverending, about 200 spectators were deeply touched by their amazing story and incredible aerial pictures in different parts of the world. More tomorrow.

Jeddah - Timezone GMT+3

My last adventure took me to Saudi Arabia. The only way to enter the country is by work or with an invitation from a company or the Royal family, so I was excited to see a country that I usually cant travel to. We flew Frankfurt-Jeddah-Asmara (Eritrea)-Jeddah and arrived just after midnight.
Jeddah airport is quite small, with a large area outside for the muslim pilgrims who do the hadj and go to Mekka or Medina. No chance to get to those places unless it says "muslim" in your passport. Anyway, I could not have rented a car anyway, because women are not allowed to drive a car in Saudi Arabia. Really, no kidding! Also, women dont work, not on the market, not in restaurants, not in hotels... so there are a lot of Indians, Pakistani, Africans - people from other countries who do the work.