Last week, father-and-daughter glider pilots Terry and Abbey Delore flew from Bluff to Auckland, travelling 1,600 kilometres in one epic 14-hour day.
They will attempt a glide from Auckland to Cape Reinga in early January.
Terry and Abbey Delore in the glider cockpit. Photo: Supplied/Delore Soaring
You can keep up with Terry and Abbey's travels here.
The Delores duo launched their two-seated ASH 25 glider just after 5am on Monday 20 December.
All the weather lined up until they were forced to land at Auckland Gliding Club about 7pm, Abbey tells Karyn Hay.
She's been "soaring" with her father - who holds multiple world records for gliding - since she was 16.
"Aviation is in my blood and it's something we thought would be really neat to do together… and capture some attention for the sport to show what these aircraft are made of."
New Zealand is a mecca for glider pilots, Abbey says, as our waves of wind provide good lift to high altitudes where they can go fast.
While Terry is very experienced at sitting for long periods in the cockpit, Abbey says the long journey "sucked a lot of energy" out of her.
It's quite a squish in the cockpit with equipment and parachutes, and travelling at 400 kilometres per hour is pretty noisy.
"At that point it's loud. It sounds like there's a jet behind my head."
When she's gliding with Terry, Abbey usually sits in the back doing air traffic control.
"When one person is flying, the other person is navigating or reading ahead, spotting clouds… so it's quite a collaborative effort."
Gliding is a mental game that requires drinking electrolytes and eating plenty of snacks, she says.
"It's kind of like sitting in a La-Z-Boy chair for 14 hours but you're glued there - you can't go anywhere."
