I’m not a fan of early mornings, but when the reason to get up is to get up in the air on a balloon flight over Byron Bay, it’s easy peasy*.
After a quick debrief I’m escorted with my fellow ballooners to the take-off point.
| Hot tip: You can use this drive time to catch up on some zzzs. Just be careful you have a strategic shoulder to lie on in the process. |
High winds off the coast mean my ballooning adventure starts in-land at Clunes where we wait in awe as the balloons fill up with more hot air that I could express in one day (it would be close). It takes a while but is quite exciting to watch as they expand and expand to become your colourful, huge, inflatable, flying basket holders.
Take off is smooth as you gently lift and start to glide into the sunrise. The entire ride is gentle and scenic. Taking a snap of the sun coming up over the hills will be your desktop picture for a while to come.
As we sail towards the coast, our guide points out the towns and fills us in on the history of ballooning. One tradition I love is that if they land in someone’s backyard for the first time they are always ready with bottles of champagne for the land owners.
If someone landed in my backyard unannounced, I would be easily won over with a bottle of champas, so I feel like I really have an affinity with ballooning.
The ride continues and we sail through the air going up and down to catch different wind directions to steer us towards Byron Bay.
At one point our driver takes us right into the middle of a tree-lined hillside at and expertly lifts us out of the middle in just enough time for us to feel like we could touch the canopy.
You could float along for hours, taking in the scenery. I understand why Richard Branson attempted to float around the world in one of these. It is quite peaceful and doing it alone would be an amazingly tranquil experience.
| Controversial tip: If you’re planning to propose, go the whole hog and book out a private balloon. There were around 16 of us in the basket and while you can huddle in your corner to take in the view together, it would definitely be a crowded proposal. |
What comes up must come down and we head towards our landing site – “the lady on the veranda”, named after the lady who was on her veranda the first time they landed there, who was already drinking cocktails at 8am – I’m sure she would have appreciated the champagne.
The landing process is also smooth. Don’t be alarmed by having to make the brace position. You simply glide onto the ground with a little hop before the balloon settles – well that’s how it happens for us.
And to top off a great morning, a Champagne breakfast is waiting at the ranch once you have helped pack the balloon up. Maybe it’s thanks to the French founders, however it seems all ballooning experiences end up with Champagne –- I definitely think this is my sort of experience.
*Easy peasy may be overstating it a tad, but it’s definitely worth it.
Check out a video of the experience here: