Sunday, April 06, 2008

1st Australian Red Bull Flugtag

What's a flugtag, you ask? I don't know myself, but Wikipedia tells me it is flightday in German. Cooked up by Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz and first held in 1991 in Vienna, the competition would have groups of people trying to fly homemade human-powered contraptions as far as they can. Very similar to the Birdman Rally competitions held in Manly Wharf, though I can't say which one is the original. Most oftentimes, these things don't actually fly at all. Competitors and audience alike are only there for the fun of it.

GF and I got to Mrs. Macquaries Point a couple of hours after the start of the event. The embankment area is truly packed with people. We stayed for a while and watched groups of people launch themselves into the water in their flying machines. It was funny the first few times, but then it starts to get monotonous pretty quickly. The weather was quite good, so we walked our way back to Circular Quay through the Royal Botanic Gardens. Coffee and hot chocolate at the Customs House cafe.

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