General News
1 June, 2023
Ninety and flying high
CAMPERDOWN and District Historical Society volunteer Gillian Senior recently celebrated her 90th birthday in a special way.
CAMPERDOWN and District Historical Society volunteer Gillian Senior recently celebrated her 90th birthday in a special way.
Ms Senior spent her special day gliding over Ararat, followed by fondue with family and friends.
The glide lasted half an hour and took her over sights including Ararat Prison and J Ward.
Ms Senior said her husband asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate her 90th birthday, which led to her choosing to go gliding.
“I remembered we went up in a helicopter, and we’d done ballooning; we’d done a lot of stuff,” she said.
“I’ve always wanted to go skydiving, but I’m not too sure I’d like the landing not at my age. I said what about gliding?
“He got on the internet and did a bit of research and found the Grampians Soaring Club in Ararat.
“We got in touch with them, and they said yes and offered us a half an hour flight.”
Ms Senior said she was lucky with the weather, with no rain or strong winds when she went.
“Friends offered to drive us there, and we had lunch there, did the glide, and then came back and had dinner and drinks,” she said.
“We flew over town, we flew over farmlands…
“We tried to find some lift, but there wasn’t enough warm air to lift us; it was a bit cold.
“I felt we’d only been up there for 15 minutes, and when we got down I asked my friends how long I was up there for. They said about half an hour; it just seemed to go so fast, and it was interesting.”
Ms Senior enjoyed the experience, saying she loved it and the sights were beautiful.
“In fact, my friend wanted to do it as well in the summer,” she said.
Ms Senior’s favourite part of the experience was watching the rope go when the glider was disconnected from the tow plane, which she found exciting.
Back at home, the historical society also held a morning tea in honour of Ms Senior’s birthday, positing on its Facebook page on Tuesday.