Up, Up and Away June 26, 2006
Up a little after 5am and on the road by 6:15 for the 10 minute drive to the airfield, our spirits were somewhat dampened by the rain that fell against the windshield as we drove toward our ballooning adventure. When we arrived we found several other people waiting and the guys with Windward Ballooning Adventures in a positive frame of mind that we were going to make this flight happen. After a few minutes we were loaded into a bus and away we went, destination unknown. By that I mean the ground crewman driving the bus didn’t know where we were going. Damian, the pilot, and another crewman were in a truck pulling a trailer that carried the gondola (passenger basket) and envelope of the balloon and were looking for clear weather. We were like so many of Australia’s four legged residents, sheep, following along blissfully unaware that there were any issues. Then it started to get light. The clouds were thick and low with a steady drizzling rain falling and prospects of floating in the sky looking doubtful. After an hour or so of drive, look and wait, we found sky that was at least dry and clouds that were at least not so low they seemed to be touching the ground.
45 minutes later after unloading the gondola and envelope, the balloon was assembled inflated and ready to fly. 17 passengers and Damian climbed aboard and we were up, up and away. The wind was very light and the balloon moved easily away from our launch site, a small airfield at Cunderdin. Our pilot expertly moved the balloon up and down to catch different wind currents and using those currents, maneuvered the balloon around a tower, trees and buildings. At times we were only 10 feet above the open wheat and barley fields, but at one time we were approximately 2000 feet above the ground. It’s an interesting feeling to look over the side of a wicker basket and see sweet mother earth considerably more than a short hop away.
The flight was a curious mixture of exhilaration and calm. Most of the passengers were quiet as they watched the world go by. Our pilot would offer a bit of ballooning trivia from time to time, but the only real noise was the roar of one or more of the three burners that Damian used to control the altitude of the craft. I believe we were all glad that this was not a constant during the flight and each blast usually lasted 3-4 seconds or less. Another thing I noticed is that it took 5 seconds or more for the balloon to respond to a blast from the burners. That meant Damian was always thinking in the future and planning what to do next and not relying on the speed of his reactions. However he did it, he did it very well.
As I said earlier, the day was cloudy grey and the area we were in had a feel of rain without the actual event. It made for a monochrome experience through most of the flight. The last 15 minutes or so the sun did try to break through and we were treated to colors. Greens, browns and blues mostly with the multi shades of grey always hanging around the fringes of our expanded world.
We were also treated to views of sheep in the fields and their frightened bleats at times when the balloon was at lower altitudes and the burners would roar to life. Two kangaroos bounded across terra firma as we drifted by. I managed to get one picture but as the roo was moving fast, it’s not the sharpest image I’ve ever captured. I also took quite a few black and white pictures of plow and tire patterns in the fields. They were actually very interesting to see and a few of the pictures are pretty good.
Long before we were ready, the pilot was looking for a landing place. He was in radio contact with Matt, one of the ground crew, who was talking to a farmer about landing in his field. From what we could hear of the conversation it did not sound like the farmer was too happy about us landing on his freshly seeded barley field. Damian however guided the balloon to a landing between the edge of the field and a salt marsh; that is, after hitting a fence post and a large bush on the way down. This seems to be the norm in ballooning and we were on the ground with everyone intact. I heard the old adage “of any landing that you can walk away from…” quoted a couple of times and we all agreed. (To appreciate Damians skill; the area between field and marsh was only about 15 yards wide.)
After helping wrangle the massive envelope to the ground, packing it and loading it and the gondola on the trailer, we were off to a champagne breakfast or brunch as it turned out to be noon by the time we arrived back at town. During the trip back to town, the driver slipped in a CD that consisted of Up, Up and Away by the 5TH Dimension, Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra and Top of the World by Karen Carpenter. Over and over and over again. Now that I think about it the balloon burners weren’t so bad after all.
After brunch, Holly and I walked up and down the streets of small-town Northam while taking care of mailing post cards, paying bills on-line at the local library and soaking up the local culture and history in this town of 7000. After a Chinese dinner, of all things, we returned to the B&B and called it a night.
As I post this we have arrived back in Hong Kong where we will rest and regroup. We leave July 2 for Osaka, Japan at which time we will continue the log.
We have decide that we will post pictures on our regular photo web site at http://community.webshots.com/user/davishongkong . We will try to have the Australian pictures posted to this website before we leave Hong Kong.
45 minutes later after unloading the gondola and envelope, the balloon was assembled inflated and ready to fly. 17 passengers and Damian climbed aboard and we were up, up and away. The wind was very light and the balloon moved easily away from our launch site, a small airfield at Cunderdin. Our pilot expertly moved the balloon up and down to catch different wind currents and using those currents, maneuvered the balloon around a tower, trees and buildings. At times we were only 10 feet above the open wheat and barley fields, but at one time we were approximately 2000 feet above the ground. It’s an interesting feeling to look over the side of a wicker basket and see sweet mother earth considerably more than a short hop away.
The flight was a curious mixture of exhilaration and calm. Most of the passengers were quiet as they watched the world go by. Our pilot would offer a bit of ballooning trivia from time to time, but the only real noise was the roar of one or more of the three burners that Damian used to control the altitude of the craft. I believe we were all glad that this was not a constant during the flight and each blast usually lasted 3-4 seconds or less. Another thing I noticed is that it took 5 seconds or more for the balloon to respond to a blast from the burners. That meant Damian was always thinking in the future and planning what to do next and not relying on the speed of his reactions. However he did it, he did it very well.
As I said earlier, the day was cloudy grey and the area we were in had a feel of rain without the actual event. It made for a monochrome experience through most of the flight. The last 15 minutes or so the sun did try to break through and we were treated to colors. Greens, browns and blues mostly with the multi shades of grey always hanging around the fringes of our expanded world.
We were also treated to views of sheep in the fields and their frightened bleats at times when the balloon was at lower altitudes and the burners would roar to life. Two kangaroos bounded across terra firma as we drifted by. I managed to get one picture but as the roo was moving fast, it’s not the sharpest image I’ve ever captured. I also took quite a few black and white pictures of plow and tire patterns in the fields. They were actually very interesting to see and a few of the pictures are pretty good.
Long before we were ready, the pilot was looking for a landing place. He was in radio contact with Matt, one of the ground crew, who was talking to a farmer about landing in his field. From what we could hear of the conversation it did not sound like the farmer was too happy about us landing on his freshly seeded barley field. Damian however guided the balloon to a landing between the edge of the field and a salt marsh; that is, after hitting a fence post and a large bush on the way down. This seems to be the norm in ballooning and we were on the ground with everyone intact. I heard the old adage “of any landing that you can walk away from…” quoted a couple of times and we all agreed. (To appreciate Damians skill; the area between field and marsh was only about 15 yards wide.)
After helping wrangle the massive envelope to the ground, packing it and loading it and the gondola on the trailer, we were off to a champagne breakfast or brunch as it turned out to be noon by the time we arrived back at town. During the trip back to town, the driver slipped in a CD that consisted of Up, Up and Away by the 5TH Dimension, Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra and Top of the World by Karen Carpenter. Over and over and over again. Now that I think about it the balloon burners weren’t so bad after all.
After brunch, Holly and I walked up and down the streets of small-town Northam while taking care of mailing post cards, paying bills on-line at the local library and soaking up the local culture and history in this town of 7000. After a Chinese dinner, of all things, we returned to the B&B and called it a night.
As I post this we have arrived back in Hong Kong where we will rest and regroup. We leave July 2 for Osaka, Japan at which time we will continue the log.
We have decide that we will post pictures on our regular photo web site at http://community.webshots.com/user/davishongkong . We will try to have the Australian pictures posted to this website before we leave Hong Kong.
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 7:03 AM
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