Last weekend Andrew and I went to Melbourne. We had a couple of vouchers for a balloon flight that my parents bought us that we had planned to use the morning before our wedding, but the flight had been cancelled due to poor weather. We decided to try again this time we were in Melbourne, because the tickets had to be used before January and we weren’t sure if we’d be back again before then. So Sunday morning we got up at 4:50 am and drove Andrew’s mum’s car to the Yarra Valley to Fergusson’s winery where we were to meet. There was a huge leg of a cow rotating on a huge fire, so it was nice and warm inside the winery. Outside, however, was very chilly.

At 6:30 am we got into the cars that took us to the balloon launch site, but the first place that was chosen was too windy and so we kept driving to another spot which was perfect….not a puff of air. Even though there was a frost, it didn’t feel so cold because there was no wind.

We helped to take the basket off a trailer and unroll the balloon. Some people held the bottom open while two fans blew air into the balloon. Then they blew some hot air in and the balloon started to rise. When it was up we all climbed into the basket and gently left the ground. It was so peaceful and lovely up in the air, and it didn’t feel cold because we were floating at the same speed as the air, and so there was no wind chill factor. That combined with the heat from the burners, and we were quite toasty and warm!

We flew for one hour and seven minutes before landing in a farmer’s paddock…one of the 45 sites that the company has for launching and landing. The balloon was landed on the trailer, and then we all helped to roll up the balloon and pack it away. We were very lucky with the weather, because it was the first time in a week that they’d been able to fly! And afterwards we went back to the winery for a yummy breakfast! It was such a wonderful morning.