Standing on the edge of a cliff at Stanwell Tops, south of Sydney, I hold the nose of my hang-glider as a strong gust of wind blows in off the ocean, threatening to snatch the giant kite from my grasp.

 

 

With me on my maiden condor voyage is Curt Warren, a hang-gliding instructor with 16 years' experience and more than 7000 tandem flights under his belt. The morning is dark; grey storm clouds linger on the horizon, carrying rain. Warren says it's a perfect day for gliding. We fasten the frame together and he trusts me to clip the wings to the glider, an action that will determine whether we sink or soar.

Mercifully, there's no time to dwell on the ominous ledge in front of us. Warren attaches us to the safety line and gives me a piece of advice before we set off: "Run towards the cliff as fast as you can and don't stop until we're in the air."

Together we charge towards the lip of Bald Hill. I'm struggling to process the fact that I'm running off the edge of a cliff but before I can protest, we're flying above the Pacific Ocean.

The wind rattles along the fabric wings as I take control. It's not until I relax my arms that I can adjust the glider's movements. I pull my right hand towards my hip and we veer right. Pushing the bar away from my chest allows us to hover above a school of fish. To gain momentum, I imitate Warren's earlier movement and pull the bar inwards; we jet past another glider riding a thermal south towards Wollongong. We're surfing the wind, as Warren calls it. A Cessna flies above and I turn towards Bulli, Mount Ousley and the smokestacks puffing from Port Kembla. We skip between pockets of air

We approach the beach like a shaky 747 as Warren dips the wings. He instructs me to lower my feet from their perch and I'm running before we hit the ground. Our feet touch the sand and we run for another 20 metres before coming to a stop. Warren grins and gives me a high-five as we unclip; he seems to have got as much of a buzz from the flight as I have.

For the full story: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/gone-with-the-wind-20100415-sfrn.html