A County Durham man is planning to set a world record by flying across Australia with his friend this week.

Richard Dolan, 32, a former engineer, from Newton Aycliffe and his friend Andrew Twitty, 45, are looking to set a Guinness World Record by being the first to cross Australia by paramotor this week.

The pair have already started their journey which began in Steep Point, the westernmost point of the mainland, and plan to finish at the easternmost point in Byron Bay over 5000km away.

He said they had originally planned to complete their feat in five weeks, but delays have led to them being in Australia for nearly 14 weeks.

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He said "No one's been daft enough to do this before. We will be the first people to cross Australia, flying the whole thing, by paramotor.

"As long as we finish it, which we might even do tomorrow or the day after, then we'll get the record.

"What made us want to do it was that sense of adventure, the Guinness World Record is kind of a bonus.

"I mean, we're not going to do this again. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see Australia in this way.

"It's breathtaking some of the scenes we've seen. It's just stunning, really amazing."

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He humorously described a paramotor as a paraglider, except with an engine strapped to the person's back and said this is how he and Andrew had been travelling.

Mr Dolan said if he and his friend are able to finish their journey, which he is confident of, they will earn the record.

Speaking about the trials faced on their record attempt, he said: "It's been very difficult, mainly because of the weather.

"We've had two weeks where we've been held up in a roadhouse.

"It was desolate, there's nothing around there. With nothing to do, terrible signal. It was like serving a mini prison sentence to be honest.

"I'm glad everything has happened the way it has because it's forced us to have a bit more of an adventure."

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He said the weather impacted their journey fairly often and led to them having to hold up somewhere to wait it out, significantly slowing them down.

Mr Dolan estimated that between the two of them, they had spent £35,000, and this includes money spent on flights, fuel costs, jerry cans, hotels, and other unforeseen costs.

"It was never meant to cost that much, it was never meant to go into our pockets that deep, but it certainly has" he added jokingly.

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Throughout this undertaking, they have encountered kangaroos, lizards, snakes, spiders, and lots of impressive wildlife and landscapes.

He said he experienced a close call after nearly accidentally treading on a baby snake, and was later told, much to his horror, that these snakes are just as venomous as the adults.

Meanwhile, the pair must continuously document their progress such as submitting GPS tracks, witness logs, flight logs, and ten minutes of footage each day to verify their achievement.

He said he was very thankful to everyone who donated, and was grateful to all the help he and his friend have received from the "absolutely incredible" locals.

To help Richard and Andrew, visit here.

Here are a selection of the photos from Richard and Andy's journey below:

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