Herald Sun story
here.

On the western escarpment of the Gold Coast hinterland’s Mt
Tamborine, a brilliant palette of greens – the trees, the grass, the fields –
stretches out through the Canungra ­Valley below. But we look skyward. Necks
crane, eyes squint as the earthbound crowd watches a swarm of hang gliders climb
into the blue. Higher and higher they go, about 40 of them, giant bird-like
craft powered by the ­atmosphere and piloted by men and women who have
­conquered their fear and embraced the freedom of flight.

Somewhere in the thick of this dazzling display is Jonny Durand, a local lad
whose first solo flight was off this hill, running down the green slope and
launching into the air at the age of 14. Now 35, he’s ranked No. 1 in the world.
He’s done breathtaking loops around the Morning Glory cloud of the Gulf of
Carpentaria, a fast-moving “tsunami in the sky”. He’s broken two world speed
records, zooming out into the Great Australian Bight and back, twice in one day.
He’s flown 11 hours across the deserts of Texas to set a world distance record
of 761km – only to be overtaken by a friend on the same day by a measly 3km. It
still rankles, and it’s a record he intends to beat.