On one flight in Brazil, the Canberra woman and her friends landed in the middle of farmland where, nearby, they had a bar and soccer field.

She said the group spent the rest of the afternoon playing soccer with the local kids and drinking caipirinhas - sugary rum cocktails - until they were picked up.

"It's a great way to meet people and get that real grassroots insight into the local community," Ms Ellis said.

Ms Ellis, a public servant in Canberra, has just returned from a stint in Brazil where she took home third place for Australia in the Paragliding World Cup's Women's Superfinal in March.

"It's pretty special and it's a pretty amazing place to go flying," Ms Ellis said.

Unlike the pros from Europe or the United States, who paraglide full time, Ms Ellis had to balance her nine-to-five job in Canberra with being an international competitor.

"At the end of the day, that's my hobby, that's what I do for fun," she said.

"My priority in life is my career and paying my mortgage."

While the pros clock up 600 to 700 hours of flight time a year, Ms Ellis squeezed in 200 hours a year.

"To go over [to Brazil] and be competitive when the playing field is not exactly level. It's difficult," she said.

She completed nine flights over 12 days in March before she eventually won Australia the bronze.

Ms Ellis said paragliding was her hobby and while she said she didn't want to brag, going to Brazil and competing with people who did it for a living was "a pretty great achievement".

Ms Ellis said she started paragliding about 10 years ago for "something to do on the weekend" around Lake George, but knew right away she wanted to push it further.

Just two years later she started competing.

"It's basically like orienteering but you're in the air," Ms Ellis said.

All pilots start from one point then use a GPS to reach checkpoints, covering courses tens of kilometres long. 

The art is staying in the air: Ms Ellis said she would read the terrain to find thermals - pockets of hot rising air - to get more altitude and stay up longer.

Around Canberra, Ms Ellis said she heads to Lake George or the Brindabellas to fly but it's always an adventure.

Recently she took off from Collector and ended up in Gundagai with no way home.

"That's one of the biggest appeals," she said.

She ended up hitching a lift when she called out to mates on Facebook.

"Canberra's actually an excellent place for a paraglider pilot," Ms Ellis said.

"If the weather's on for Lake George on the weekend, I can just throw my gear into the back of the car."

But her favourite place to paraglide however is a place called Chelan in the middle of Washington state in the United States.

"You're going to get epic conditions. It's just a perfect racing location," Ms Ellis said.

While Ms Ellis is a woman in a male dominated sport she said there was no reason why a man would be a better pilot than a woman.

Ms Ellis is aware of women's sport booming, in both exposure and participation and said maybe it was just the right era for women.

"Can I explain why this momentum is gathering? I'm not sure," Ms Ellis said.

"I'm seeing that momentum and I'm inspired by it and it inspires me to work harder and compete in my area. It's nice to be part of that.

"I can't really explain it."