Ballooning

“Did you know that ours is the only Parliament House in the world that you can get clearance to fly over [in a hot air balloon]?”.  I think about this for a moment and I’m not sure whether to be proud of, or concerned by, this fact.

It is my father’s 70th birthday and my sister and I have decided that a hot air balloon ride is a suitable way to mark the occasion.  In addition to this, I have agreed to accompany him, which seemed like a good idea at the time.  Now I’m not sure sure.  Partly because ascending kilometers above the earth by the power of hot air does not seem entirely sane.  And partly because getting up at 4 am to spend the morning outside when it’s still very dark and currently -5 degrees Celsius is, well, not entirely sane.

Now that we are standing in the foyer of the stunning Hyatt Hotel, Canberra however, hearing our Dawn Drifters rep talk about air clearances, I am excited.  And nervous.

I spent the first 24 years of my life living in Canberra.  I have woken up to the sound of hot air balloons drifting over my house and gotten up early to watch the balloons take off during the Canberra Festival (held in March each year) many, many times.  I have also flown, by plane, into and out of Canberra at least a few times each year for the past 15 years that I have lived elsewhere.  In some respects, it’s surprising that it has taken me (and my dad) this long to try it.

We have our briefing and are taken in minivans for the 10 minute drive to Errol Kavanagh Memorial Oval.  By this time the first rays of light are just visible on the horizon as the vehicles towing the trailers holding the balloons make their way across the frosty ground.  Soon the oval is covered in tire marks and frosty footprints that only melt around where the baskets, balloons and burners lie awaiting inflation.  It’s so cold and we all stand around waiting for the burners to flare, getting close but not too close!  I am dressed for it, my mum made me wear an extra coat at the last minute (thanks mum!) but others aren’t quite as lucky and have come ill prepared for the early Canberra morning.  There are 4 balloons going up this morning and the one we have been allocated appears to be the biggest.  It’s a double basket and there will be 17 of us in there.  It looks like a big basket to pick up with air but perhaps not quite big enough for 17.  Still, the balloon has to go up first and I figure there is still time to pull out.

We get chatting to some of the other passengers.  There is another birthday celebration which accounts for half the other passengers (a family of 8).  There is a couple celebrating an anniversary and a couple from Sydney who have decided to stop in for the ride on their way to Thredbo for the opening of the ski season.  We have time to talk, there are delays.

The burners for the hot air are frozen and we can’t take off.  The longer it takes to defrost the burners, the more likely we won’t get flight clearance as there’s a good chance the wind will pick up too much.  I had originally booked for two mornings ago, woken up at 4 am to check the weather and gone back to bed, disappointed, when the flight had been cancelled.  If we can’t go this morning I will have missed my chance and either dad will have to go by himself or wait until I can get back to town again.  How does a burner freeze anyway?

I still haven’t quite figured this out.  But it means that we can’t take off yet.  I cross my fingers and stand around stomping my feet on the frozen ground, trying to get warm.  Or at least trying not to freeze over as well.  It’s a beautiful, still, clear morning though and the excitement of the balloons prevails.

Finally we’re told to climb into the basket.  We’re tucked in like sardines and it takes a bit more time to get flight clearance.  All the while I’m still feeling nervous waiting for the take off.  The balloons around us drift off and all of a sudden I look down and we’re off the ground too.  It’s an incredible feeling.  We’re literally just floating through the air and it doesn’t even feel as if we’re moving, it’s more a sensation that the earth is moving away from us than the other way around.  It is quite surreal.

The views quickly unfold around us.  We track a silent course over Narrabundah, Kingston and Barton.  I look down and can see Manuka Oval and Hotel Kurrajong (where my husband and I held our wedding reception).  Lake Burley-Griffin is layered with fog but all those familiar land marks are easy to spot.  The High Court and the National Library, Questacon and the National Gallery of Australia.  Across the lake, Regatta Point and further over, the Carillion with the War Memorial off in the distance and Mount Ainslie presiding over all of it.

A bit further on we drift back down and the buildings are close.  I never spent a great deal of time in this area of Canberra, even when I lived here, but Canberra is relatively small and it’s still all so familiar.   I feel like I can almost reach out and touch the tree tops.  Then, there is a bust of heat and noise and we’re climbing again.

The lake is clearer now and then there it is – Parliament House – old and new with the flagpole perched majestically at the top.  It’s a gently sloping mound, the top of which is now only a meter higher than the hill was before the new Parliament House was built in the 1980’s.  I remember attending the opening as a child.  We’re high now and going faster.  The Hyatt comes into view and then the lake and the National Museum are underneath us.

I can’t stop smiling and I haven’t given a second thought to being afraid.  It’s all so peaceful up here.  It’s still bitterly cold though and I rub my hands together, pulling my beanie down over my ears and my scarf over my nose.  I’m glad for the gloves and the strap holding my camera to me as my fingers just aren’t working properly.  My feet are completely numb.

Soon we’re over the city and the ANU (Australian National University) and the lake is behind us with a wonderful view of the Brindabella Ranges.

The sun is up now and the day is clear and bright.  I can hear and see a flock of cockatoos as we pass over the top of O’Connor and Black Mountain Reserve.  Now it’s all bush below and although we are not as high as we were over the lake, we’re still going fast.  That wind has picked up after all.

Bruce Stadium is underneath us and I can see two of the other balloons off in the distance.  One of them looks like it’s over Kaleen already and the other could be coming down at the University of Canberra.  The fourth one has disappeared but as our pilot tells us to hold on and brace ourselves for landing (just in case), the tree tops brush the side of our basket and I lose sight of and interest in the other balloons.  It’s plainly clear now just how fast we’re really going and that it is us and not the earth that is moving.

Then another burst of flame and we go up again and touch down with only a bump.  I breathe a sigh, realising that it’s not relief at landing but disappointment that it’s over.  I would have loved to keep going, and it would have been a real treat to have flown over home (mum’s house).  I can’t complain though, it was an incredible view, an incredible experience and we’re down safely.  Maybe there was a little relief in that sigh.

The group all help to fold up the balloon and get it and the basket back onto its trailer.  Then, despite being only a 5 minute drive from home now, we climb back into the minivan and it takes us back to the Hyatt Hotel where we meet the other groups, have a quick de-brief and share a glass of celebratory champagne.

What an incredible morning.  I’d been having so much fun that I’d almost forgotten the reason for the occasion and my dad’s birthday.  Like me, he’s been grinning the whole time.  Luckily I still have one more trick up my sleeve and I take him for breakfast at the Hyatt Promenade Cafe as the finale for the celebration.  We talk about the flight and how exciting it was but what has struck me the most is just how beautiful this city is.

Not everyone views Canberra as a desirable place to live or even visit.  Certainly most Australians think of Canberra only as a place where politicians and bureaucrats reside.  The majority of people from outside of Australia think Sydney is the capital city.

But this morning proves that Canberra is so much more than just a political capital.  I am reminded of how much this city has to offer – both to tourists and locals – and indeed, how much it has already offered me in my lifetime, growing up here.  Now that, I think, is something to be proud of.

Good To Know

Dawn Drifters run Canberra balloon flights all year round, subject to the weather.

Would I Return?

Yes.  Mum won’t have it any other way.