I was concerned about the possibility of cancellation due to poor weather, camera gear selection and camera set-up, just to name three, not to mention the awfully high bar I had set myself from the previous year with the water skiing human pyramid. 

Arriving in the town a little bit early, I purchased a caffeine hit and continued out to the landing site on Morses Creek Road.

After I met up with Ted Jenkins and the team from Alpine Paragliding, I bundled up some camera gear and jumped in the back of the Troopy Land Cruiser.

After the exchange of tales from foreign lands about questionable street food and paragliding adventures in the Himalayas, we arrived at the top of Mystic. 

The first call of duty was to sign my life away and pretend to listen to the safety brief, due to the impending reality that I was about to run off the side of a hill when there was a perfectly good car just a stone’s throw away. 

Surprisingly there were a large amount of locals that had gathered on top of Mystic to watch Mr Jenkins, also known as Santa Claus, take flight as the phones came out and humourous taunts were thrown about.

After one false start, Santa was off into the breeze with cheers and jeers from the spectators.

Then it was my turn ... "run!"

My tandem paragliding guide successfully got us both and a fair load of camera gear into the air.

The sensation of seeing the ground disappear from underneath my feet never gets old, the rush of wind and gliding across treetops allows you to think for a second you could be Superman. 

It’s now time to do what I came here for but first we had to gain some altitude and catch Santa, who was well and truly above us by this stage.

Climbing on the thermals created by Mystic we soared into the blue sky and I began to take some frames of Santa in his red suit and red wing.

It quickly became apparent that trying to snap someone paragliding while tandem paragliding isn't the easiest task to accomplish but after some time in the air and the oncoming feeling of seasickness, I called it a day and we landed with the skidding of heels on the landing site relativity safely. 

After some hand shakes and exchanges of gratitude, Santa and the crew from Alpine Paragliding were off for another fly and I slowly made my way to the Alpine Hotel for a beer and a gander of the pictures I had captured. 

I would like to thank Ted Jenkins and the crew from Alpine Paragliding for accommodating my slightly insane ideas. I hope everyone enjoys the pictures and have a merry Christmas and a happy new year.