The first and only man to cross the Cook Strait in a hot air balloon has died.
Roland "Roly" Parsons died at Paihia on September 17, 40 years on from his historic journey over the Cook Strait.
Mr Parsons was in the fourth balloon registered in New Zealand when he crossed the strait on January 1, 1975 and he remains the only balloonist to have successfully achieved the feat.
The following year, he became the first to pilot a balloon directly over the top of Mt Cook, and later made the first balloon crossing of the Southern Alps.
A funeral notice for Mr Parsons recalls him as a loved brother of Steve and Mel, Ken and Marlon, and a loved uncle of five nieces and nephews.
