Day 2 - Hot Air Ballooning
Yes, hot air ballooning.. first time.. we're probably the first in the whole extended family to try.. The worst part of the whole trip was to wake up early. Had to wake up at 3am. and my mum's a light sleeper. And after city tour, both mum and aunt are both v tired. and we slept at 12 something the night before. so all 3 of us didnt had much slp. anyway, i was told that we're supposed to meet this pilot that will pick us up and go to Chateau Yering (which is the place where we will take the hot air balloon ride.. So.. i took a cab at 3am in the morning, and try to get to Alexander Parade (which is the place where i was told to meet this pilot). However, the taxi driver couldnt reach the destination. I dun blame him, cos i wasnt given an EXACT address to meet. And i even called the person-in-charge and let him speak to the driver.. and no... we still couldnt get to where we're supposed to meet. In the end, we waited at this bus/tram stop before daybreak:
I was pissed, having to wait at 4am in the morning with Tom Cruise.. I called the person-in-charge again.. and he said Andrew (our pilot) will come and pick us up. He only came after a long 20 minutes.
This is where we're going to take off. I was surprised that we have to help set up the equipment as well. it was still freezing
Step number one: we had to bring down the basket which was sittin on this trailer that was attached to the 4 wheel drive. It was heavy cos on board the basket.. there was a few gas tanks and some heavy equipment.. that small little girl in yellow boots is only 7 years old. and she was.. the best helped ever. she helped wit everything she could. and she was damn enthu abt everything that was happening. And i mean she really help in a serious and professional way and not disturbing like typical 7-year-old kids..
Step number 2: we have to lay the basket flat on the ground and lay out the 'balloon', which the actual term is called "The Envelop". Mum and aunt helped with 'blowing' up the ballon using two strong fans. We have to fill up the balloon with cold air first. and then... (the best part)
Step number 3: when it was almost filled, we fill it up wit a massive blow torch! nah... that's the gas blower.. as u filled it up with the gas blower, the envelop starts to rise bringing the basket into an upright position.
Step number 4: Take pictures. There were 3 other balloon which starting setting up the equipment faster than us. Namely: Chandon (which is a wine/champagne company) - the yellow colour one, Jacob's Creek (Wine company) - the white and red one and the easily identifiable blue motorola balloon.. The view was incredible.. this was something which i have never experience before. I was quite happy that we got the ugly balloon cos this means that when im in the air, i can take pictures of the nicer balloons!
Step number 5: Get in and take off! Pilot's name was Marc.. (heard that he's one of the best pilot among the eight other balloonist. Not bad.. it's good to hear that we're in the safest balloon. Take off was slow and gradual.. nothing too extreme. so victims of heart attack, if ure thinking of tryin this.. just do it..
View was just awesome.. with me taking pictures away like every minute. the whole flight was about 1 hour.. we were just floating up and down. The ONLY control mechanism is the gas blower. Other than that, it was just the pilot's knowledge and experience and the wind. FYI, hot air balloon is the oldest and most ancient form of aerial vehicle.
Don't u tink this one make a perfect picture for a postcard. Anyway, this passengers of this balloon were a couple and the pilot. the guy was planning to propose to her on the hot air balloon, so we had to give way to them. Wonder how weird it will be for the pilot when he propose.. lol
Another good postcard picture.. or was it my photography-taking skills?
Don't you think so?
ok, come on.. seriously, u have to agree that this one is definitely a great priceless shot.. the view was really amazing.. absolutely incredible.. everyone was just not talkin and enjoyin the view (though we had 10 passengers on board) The pilot was jus talkin to himself without anyone responding.. lol.. it was hard to talk as well, cos when he turn on the gas blower to rise the balloon, it was deafening. cos the gas blower was right above our heads.. (which could possibly explain the bald head that the pilot's got, lol!)
Dunno if u can see it, the bottom right picture is a photo of kangaroos. I was actually seeing a bunch of kangaroos from above.. It's one of those rare times where u can have aerial view of everything..
Just look at that fuckin big mansion on the bottom right hand corner! Tennis courts, swimming pool! wtf! the house is hugggge!!!
once again, breath-taking views..reminds me of meanders.. bottom left corner.. which will form into an oxbow lake..notice the top right hand picture? It's actually a reservoir.. basically, our pilot did a dangerous stunt without telling his passengers. I didnt know this until when we all landed and i heard him talking with other pilots over the breakfast table. We were actually flying 12 inches above the water!!!! The dangerous part of this is that IF a portion of the water goes into the balloon, we'll be dragged down into the water, the hot air in the balloon, wouldnt be enough to go against the drag force of the water. and as more and more water flows into the balloon, we wont die, but we'll be quite screwed..Guess what's the hardest thing to do when ure flying a hot air balloon? To fly at a straight level. i.e. fly straight, without going up or down for more than 5 cm.. that's a major part of learning how to fly a hot air balloon. So that was what Marc did with the balloon when flying low over the waters.. Only two balloons flew close to the waters (including ours).. so there was abit of thrill without our knowledge..
Landing.. The most unbelievable part of the whole hot air ballooning experience. Every balloon has to land on the same patch of land (duh!?!?) yeah, i know. but how? remember i told u that the only control mechanism is the gas blower? u dun have a fan or whatever to control how the balloon flies..Here's the trick. Winds at different altitudes blow in different direction. The pilot has to think in terms of a 3 dimensional picture in order to get us down on the same patch of land. So landing itself took quite a long time. cos we actually went in a circle and then we could land. our pilot was communicating with other pilots to know the different directions the winds were blowing. and with the help of a GPS, he landed without any hassle.
Packing. We didnt actually landed where we started from, cos that will be stupid. and if ure wondering.. the little girl did not take the balloon. Basically, after we took off, other personel drove to the place where we're supposed to land and have breakfast. EVERYONE has to help in the packin of the hot air balloon.
Simon, one of the personnel, in black and purple uniform was instructing us how to keep the balloon. he was a funny dude. he injected lots of humour while giving instructions which makes 'packing up a balloon' fun.. it was hard to make it fun cos the patch of land where we landed were 'bombed' with lots of cow dung. and we have to find a gd spot to land so that we're not in an area where the dung is still fresh and warm.. lol! the black plastic underneath? yes, u guess it.. (or not).. it's to prevent the envelop from gettin any cow dung..
at the end of it, my shoes and socks were wet! v disguting feeling. but hey, it's all part of the wonderful experience. definitely loved it.
It was breakfast time.. we were served champagne in the mornin! so weird.. but it was a v expensive breakfast, i tink. (well, for the money we paid, im sure they have to provide gd food). there was caviar, fresh salmon and alot of other exotic and rare food (buffet style). as much as i heard abt caviar.. it wasnt as gd as i expected. in fact, the good old coffee with a plain crossoint and butter was good.. also had fried eggs and bacon.After the ballooning trip, it wasnt the end of the day yet. Mum wanted to visit my sch. so i tot... why not? since they're not tired.. i was afraid that they are..sch tour was just.... boring! it's such an old school anyways.. NOTHING special abt my uni at all. in fact, i wasnt even proud to bring them there.. having said that.. aunt commented something which is hilarious. he asked me how come got old traditional red old bricked building and opposite it... it's a modern style glass building.. lol! i couldnt answer it..
i dun have a problem with traditional old red bricked buildings. it's just that it's so weird that i dun even see it as my uni. it's so un-uniformed..the rest of the day was just back home and REST.. v tired. Day 3 coming soon....
posted by Mr. Wong @ 6:31 PM
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