No task today.

Maybe later today? Contest Management was expecting severe thunderstorms later this afternoon. They wanted to call a rest day in one of the next four days. They thought, today would be the best choice. It turns out they were probably correct when a line of thunderstorms came raging though Narromine airport a little before 5 pm with winds gusting up to 40 kts and heavy rain.

Many team members spent the day catching up on a few errands, getting some sight seeing in, or just relaxing. Most of the team members have been here for the past 2+ weeks.

Tony and Leah Condon went searching for the official Australian Akubra hats and see The Dish. The Dish is very cool! The bulk of the Apollo 11 moonwalk TV signal was received here. The Dish also spent a lot of time looking for Pulsars and Hydrogen clouds and other things out there. Others visited the Narromine Aviation Museum, which catalogs the aerodrome’s history as a WWII training base, and more. Other team members headed out for lunch at the Devils Hallow Brewery in Dubbo which is about 25 minutes from the Narromine Airport.

In the evening, there was a reception hosted by the Narromine Mayor for the Team Captain’s, Contest Stewarts, Contest Jury President, and Contest Director at the Soul Food restaurant. We had some very nice passed around appetizers and an open bar. I had the opportunity to talk with quite a few Team Captain’s about flying in the upcoming 2024 WGC in Uvalde. The Narromine Mayor gave a speech about the Narromine Airports history and the efforts which went into bringing the 2023 WGC to Narromine. They have had over 150 volunteers working on preparations and now running the 2023 WGC. Many of these volunteers have been working on preparations for the WGC for over a year. The mayor was very pleased with the efforts and results.

Hopefully, we will have better soaring tomorrow…

WGC Australia – Team USA Page

~Pete Alexander (Team USA Captain)