Meet the locals, News

Meet the locals – Lisa Bradley, Oz Paragliding and Hang Gliding

Scenic Rim local Lisa Bradley has a thing for flying. And when you see the stunning patchwork of Scenic Rim mountains, lakes and farmland from the sky, you can start to understand why.

She’s been teaching paragliding and hang gliding for more than 20 years, and for the last seven years she’s operated Oz Paragliding and Hang Gliding in the Scenic Rim.

Oz Paragliding and Hang Gliding Chief Flying Instructor Lisa Bradley, front.

Lisa, 43, loves sharing her love of flying with her students at the Oz Sky Ranch flight park – a purpose-built teaching facility at Boyland, about 15 minutes out of Canungra.

She is the only qualified Chief Flying Instructor in both paragliding and hang gliding in Australia and New Zealand, and leads a strong team of flying instructors who she has trained and mentored herself.

Her consuming passions are paragliding and hang gliding (and teaching both of those sports) and she also loves gardening, flying small planes, yoga, kayaking, animals and farming.

You’re most likely to see her on the job, sharing her love of flying, but you might also see her shopping for plants for the Oz Sky Ranch at Mitre 10 in Beaudesert.

We asked Lisa to share some of her local tips for the best places to eat, drink and relax in the Scenic Rim.

What do you love about the Scenic Rim?

I love the mountains and lakes and the friendly country people. It is one of the best places in Australia to go hang gliding and paragliding, and you can fly all year round.

What’s your favourite place to eat/ drink in the Scenic Rim?

I love all the cafes in Canungra. Canungra Hub, Bean in Canungra, The Outpost Café and Café Metz Canungra are great, and I also love Flying Bean Café at Beechmont. The Polish Place on Tamborine Mountain is really special, and Albert River Wines and the Bearded Dragon Hotel at Tamborine are my go-to spots for a great meal. They are all different in their own ways and it is nice to mix it up after flying.

What’s your favourite Scenic Rim spot?

The Oz Sky Ranch flight park in Boyland, at the base of Tambourine Mountain. It’s always been my dream to build a flight park where everyone could go tandem hang gliding and paragliding, and to share the dream of flying like a bird. The Oz Sky Ranch is a place that makes people’s dreams come true, and it’s been my dream to do that all along.