Hot air ballooning over Melbourne

Thurs 12/9/13

It's only yesterday I flew over the Twelve Apostles & here I am today going hot air ballooning. Does it get any better? It was not long after my arrival in Melbourne that I saw hot air balloons drifting across the city early one Sunday morning. Hot air ballooning was going on the bucket list.
It was an early start this morning, as we had to make our way into the city to Hilton on the Park for pick up. We were driven to a site, balloon in tow, near the Westgate Bridge. With the crew only consisting of our pilot, Kiff, & assistant Barry, it was all hands on deck to set up the basket & balloon. There were 11 of us going up with Kiff.
The basket starts on its side & is anchored to the bus. The balloon is partially inflated using air from a petrol driven fan. Once the envelope is inflated sufficiently, the burners are engaged in bursts to give the balloon further gradual inflation until it has complete lift & is vertical. The inflation lifts the basket upright, onto its base. Once this occurred, within minutes everyone had climbed aboard & we were gently lifting off the ground  At this point it was still dark.

 

 

The balloon is at the mercy of the winds & travel is determined by the wind's speed & direction & thermal lifts present. The balloon can't be steered, but it can be spun in either direction by pulling on ropes & releasing air. When the balloon is aloft, you don't feel the wind, as the balloon is travelling at the same speed. A flight plan was logged with the airport prior to departure, giving details of the number of balloons, take off point & proposed destination.

 

 

  

  

 

 

We spent at least an hour in the air & travelled about 16km in an easterly direction towards the sunrise,  before delicately touching down on a bitumen road that led to a sports field. I have to say that touch down was surprisingly gentle, even more so than landings I have experienced in a plane. An amazing experience.

The only disappointing thing about the hot air ballooning was that we were the only balloon up at the time. I would have loved to have seen other balloons up there with us. I think pictures of balloons  drifting across over roof tops would be even more spectacular if taken from the height of another balloon.