10 years since we said goodbye to AndyFly

[AndyFlyJess]

Hello all! 

Now this might go unseen as I am not sure how many people may remember my father AndyFly (Andrew, Andy) who sadly passed in 2011 from a seizure. His passion was kiting, buggying, and mostly, being apart of the BrisKites & Extremekites community. On the long weekend of Easter in 2012 my family and I travelled to Yeppoon to meet with many of the kiting community as we remembered dad for who he was, alongside an event that he loved attending (with us AndyFly "maggots" joining the fun 😂) as we scattered some of his ashes on the beach out the front of Driftwood. Our family has so many fond memories of so many different people within this community, and the joy that it their friendship brought Andrew. 

For the first time since 2011, my mum Linda and I have travelled to Yeppoon to spend the last few weeks remembering the adventures we use to have with dad on these kiting trips and the people that we met. We walked along the same beach today, in front of Driftwood, drawing his name once again in the sands that he once loved. I watched a kite surfer today and it reminded me of the times I use to go and kite with dad in Canberra at the Amaroo ovals at 14 years old, learning how to kite and watching dad fly through the sky in his buggy for hours.

So here is a big thank you from our AndyFly family to everyone who remembers dad. To everyone who brought such strong friendships, fun, banter, love and support to dad's life. For everyone who left such kind words after he passed, and who posted such amazing pictures of dad (some of which I am only seeing for the first time ❤️) We are all doing well and hold these memories of you all close to our hearts. 

Hope to see you in Yeppoon sometime in the future! 

Jess  

 

[.Joel]

Hi Jess, thanks for stopping by and rekindling some thoughts of your Dad.  

I have many fond memories of trips around Australia and meeting up with him to kite, two of my most memorable were night kiting with him.  One of the nights in Yeppoon we decided to risk it through the creek and go all the way up north in the buggies, we were going pretty quick on the way back but had really poor visibility as there was not much moonlight and things on the beach were visible at the last second.  One of those was a Crocodile just past Bangalee beach, he only realised it wasn't a log as he went past the front of it, we were literally on edge coming back through the creek  

The second was another night kite on the clay pan at Kingston in South Australia, usually under moonlight it's all lit up but we had no moon that night over the clay pan and it was pitch black.  We went out with @roblukin around 11pm at night, and threw some glow sticks in to our kites to sort of tell where they were in the sky hoping we could avoid running in to each other.  It was pitch black and your Dad decided to come across behind me and throw a massive buggy jump, all I could hear was a faint whirring of the bearings as he was in the air with wheels spinning, no idea where he was then 'SLAM' he dropped right next to me as if we were sitting side by side.  'F##k, I had no idea you were there' he goes to me. We ran off the clay pan in to scrub l I don't know how many times that night  🤪

 

 

[Eluder]

Hi @AndyFlyJess,

Thankyou for your post it brought back some wonderful memories of your Dad.

I use to fly with your Dad at Amaroo oval every weekend. In fact it was Andy who first taught me how to fly.
The past 6 months I have been slowly getting back into kite bugging, when I find the time I have been heading out to Amaroo oval for a fly and even to this day I still remember the techniques that he taught me to make flying easier and safer he was a great friend a mentor.

I have a lot of great memories with your father, I remember when his youngest son asked andy to wear a cape when ever he went out flying and sure enough there was andy ever weekend wearing a blue cape and flying through the air. Here are is a collection of videos of your Dad and the Canberra kiting crew back in the day. I will add some more videos to this thread later on tonight when i have some more time.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[123matt]

Yes, hard to believe 10 years have passed. Andy was pretty quick to come say G'day and welcome any new comers to the oval. Definitely earned the name AndyFly. He loved to jump that buggy of his. Braver than me on those inland winds.   

[Ben Clark AKA technojunky]

Now this bring me back to road trips good times and lots of laughs with Andy. 

Andy was a great mate.

[Strag2.2]

Andy was a gem!! Taught me me a lot in the short time I knew him. Thanks for posting really means a lot.