A former Dunedin man took to the skies, capturing spectacular footage of the morning fog blanketing the city last week.
Christchurch surveyor Tim Notman grabbed his paragliding wing, paramotor and camera, took off from North East Valley, climbing up past Mt Cargill on his high flying journey on Tuesday.
Mr Notman filmed his entire 1 hour 45 minute, 80km flight around the Otago Harbour on his GoPro, capturing a beautiful bird's eye view of the ethereal mist streaming across the area.
During the flight he looked over and saw there was quite heavy fog all over the harbour, Mr Notman said.
"It was a lot thicker and went further out to sea than I expected. It was pretty spectacular over the peninsula to see the peaks of each hill sticking out through the fog like islands. I could see why the cruise ships were not sailing that day, it was pretty special to fly over it," he said.
Mr Notman said he took the paraglider up to about 3000 feet and slowly made his way down the harbour, over the peninsula, past Cape Saunders and Harington Point and then over to Aramoana, ending North East Valley again.
Mr Notman used a "powered paraglider", which uses a two-stroke motor that propels you along and can allow you to be in the air for nearly two hours.
"It’s the most basic form of aircraft, you can take off at about 20m and get to about 40-50 kph and you can just cruise around."
The feeling is hard to describe, there is no cockpit in front of you, he said.
"It’s a lot like being in a helicopter, but you are outside but you’re as free as if you were sitting on a swing . . . but you’re 3000ft in the air."
"It’s all about how accessible the sport is.
"The wing and motor pack down to be able to fit in the back of the car so you can set it up anywhere and the freedom you get cannnot really be matched by any other sort of aircraft.
"That’s the part that appeals to me the most, the basic nature . . . the feeling of freedom you have."
