Up up and away

Well today was the day!

We woke up super early to make sure we didn’t miss our meeting time. There were about 70 people there, goodness.

We found out that there were 4 balloons going up today. It was all so well organised, very impressive indeed. We got to ride in the biggest hot air balloon in Australia, with a very experienced pilot.

Honestly this was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. Just floating along over the tree tops and then higher and higher to see the beautiful sunrise. We got up to 4000ft.

The landing was also excellent as we landed upright. We got a chance to walk inside the balloon before everyone helped deflate it by walking on it, on the seams, and folding it in lengthways to form a big sausage before lifting it into its trailer.

We were then taken to Peterson House for a fancy champagne breakfast. Peterson House is famous for sparkling wines.

A truly wonderful, special experience which we will treasure. If you are ever in the Hunter Valley, and would like to go hot air ballooning, go with Balloonn Aloft, I highly recommend them.

After a two hour sleep back at the hotel, we checked out and drove up to Port Macquarie to visit with friends from Hong Kong, Russ and Amy and their family.

We arrived at their home around 3pm and had a wonderful time catching up and reminiscing of our Hong Kong days. Really nice to be with familiar friends again. Apparently Russell is taking us up in a small aircraft tomorrow, woo hoo. We shall sleep well tonight after all the excitement of today.

P.S. the group photo in the basket was taken by the GoPro camera and shared with everyone!