Hot Air Ballooning in Canberra

words by ben stephens

A rooster, a duck and a lamb are but into a wicker basket. There’s a tonne of confusion surrounding the possible outcomes of what is about to go down. A couple of glasses are at the ready with the champagne on ice – for if this goes ahead as planned, then the human race would have just put the first rooster, duck and lamb in a wicker basket and flown them high above the countryside.

The year was (allegedly) 1783, the duck, rooster and lamb all survived. There isn’t much known about what happened to them after, though months later the human race began flying around in balloons full of hot air. To begin with, the balloons were tethered to the surface of the earth – you know, so they didn’t just float off. Year’s later captains were landing flights with a full basket, untethered. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.

Hot air balloons & #reflections, just after #sunrise at the #Canberra #BalloonSpectacular earlier this year! #VisitCanberra #ACT #HotAirBalloon #Australia #CanberraBalloonSpectactular #instafamous #travel #instatravel #instagram #seeaustralia #Australiagram #ig_australia #exploringaustralia

A post shared by ShahanT Photography, Sydney (@shahant_photography) on Oct 5, 2016 at 12:45am PDT

Skip forward 200 years and the wicker baskets haven’t really changed that much. Now fuelled by tanks of gas and piloted by CASA accredited captains, hot air ballooning isn’t for farmyard animals anymore.

So next time you find yourself wanting to get high in the nation’s capital, we here at QTLife would highly recommend waking early.  Before sunrise kind of early, and taking a hot air balloon adventure across the valleys and lakes around Canberra.

Why? Because it’s 2017 and you are still yet to do it. It’s quite the adventure and that was on your list of things to do this year, right?

Between Dawn Drifters and Balloon Aloft Canberra, they offer the chance to take to the dawn-lit sky and take in that breathtaking scenery that the ACT is well known for. You’ll meet at the Hyatt before heading out to the launch site to grab some gram’ bangers or help inflate the balloon. Then after take off, you’ll be airborne for around 45 minutes to an hour, dependent on the winds really. After this, we suggest you come back to QT Canberra for a filling breakfast at Capitol Bar and Grill.

It’s these kind mornings that make you feel like getting out of bed was a good choice.

The agents from Sichuan Airlines dropped in to visit. Canberra looking awesome after the rain. #visitcanberra

A post shared by Balloon Aloft Canberra (@balloonaloftcanberra) on Jun 1, 2016 at 7:17pm PDT