Reminder: click on any thumbnail to see the full sized images. Go on – they’re worth it!

The only downside to ballooning is the ridiculously early wakeup time … you are so scared of sleeping through the alarm and blowing all that money you’ve spent, that you spend the whole night in a state of waking in fright.  Ilze and I both woke on the hour every hour, and bounced out of bed at 3am through sheer relief at not having to watch the clock any more.  We were up and out the door by 3.15.  The roads were dead quiet, and the high rises of Surfers loomed out of the darkness over us as we headed to our rendezvous point at Star Casino (formerly Jupiters).

Our group was shepherded onto a small bus for the long drive west, via Canungra and Beaudesert, to a paddock near Gleneagle in the Scenic Rim.  We were running late, and three balloons were already flying as we approached.  Ours was inflated and waiting for us, so it was straight into the basket, a quick safety briefing, obligatory photos, then we were untethered and skywards, the ground falling gently away from us. Our serenity was only disturbed by the roar of the burners every few minutes.

We flew over the Scenic Rim.  Unlike our Hunter Valley flight, we could see houses, gardens and swimming pools, as well as farmland, well and truly green after the floods.  Ringed by mist-wraithed hills, we could see the shape of the remnant volcanic crater.  We watched a digger, looking like a Tonka toy.  We saw cloud formations, and the burnished gold of sunrise.  We were way higher than the birds.  There was only one other balloon flying with us.

The wind dropped away and finding a landing site was a bit challenging.  The other balloon landed in a paddock belonging to a farmer who’d locked the gate, so they were going to have an interesting time getting people back to their bus.  We landed on the adjacent property, after a lovely hour of floating peacefully above the world.  Our landing was a gentle kiss, a slight lift, then softly down on terra firma.

We enjoyed the fun of packing the balloon and watching the basket being winched onto the truck; then we all got to stand on the sides of the trailer, hanging on to the basket for dear life while we bounced across the rough paddock – a bonus “hay ride”!

The buffet breakfast was a bunfight – almost literally. Tourism is alive and well, and the casino was jammed full of people queued up for omelets and eggs benedict.  Ravenous, we scoffed ours and headed for home.

The rest of the day was lazy – although we were back by late morning, it already felt like a full day.  We pottered around, looked at photos, and had naps.  Later, I went for a swim in the (slightly) heated pool, then a lovely evening stroll along Marine Parade, watching the sun set over the Broadwater, the boat reflections, and the lights twinkling into life, against a rose pink sky. 

I’ve never been a fan of the Gold Coast, but this part of it is just lovely; at least until the weather breaks, which may be as soon as tomorrow.  I’ll only post balloon photos today, and add the sunset shots tomorrow. Here are a few of the Go-Pro shots.