Up, Up And Away...

I'd always wanted to take a hot air balloon ride, and was estatic when B presented me with an 'experience day' voucher for one for my 30th birthday a couple few years back.

Hot air ballooning is a VERY weather-dependent sport and cautious pilots only fly when the weather is close to ideal...when skies are clear and wind conditions are normal. Storms are extremely hazardous for hot air balloons, because of the danger of a lightning strike. Even rain is a problem, because it decreases visibility and damages the balloon material (of course, it's not much fun to fly around in wet weather anyway). And while you need a nice wind current to have a good flight, very strong winds could easily wreck the balloon. Getting just this right combination of conditions was always going to be a challenge in a country cursed blessed with the 'good' weather the UK has on offer.

It took no less than 7 attempts over 3 years, but eventually we got our chance to soar...or rather drift in a hot air balloon over Northampton, one balmy summer evening in 2006. 

Part of the experience was helping to inflate the balloon...

A load of hot air

Then we all climbed into the deceptively sturdy wicker basket, to await a rather bumpy take-off once the ropes were released. We seemed to gain height at an amazing speed.....



The pilot blasted the burners to get us to the right altitude...

And then we drifted for ages, over motorways...



And suburbia....



Even over a posh estate....



By now it was almost twilight....



And time for us to find somewhere to land....where you end up is always an adventure and can't be planned, as the balloon drifts at the mercy of the winds. We first tried landing in a field, but had to blast up again when the pilot spotted horses running around. More drifting onwards, and eventually we braced for a thump landing in a meadow. The balloon hit the ground hard, dragged along the grass for a while before coming to an abrupt stop, then tipped precariously before finally slumping back into its upright position.

Bit of a scary ending!

The deflated balloon was packed up and we drank a champagne toast to a successful ride.

Definitely something I would love to do again some day, but over somewhere spectacular and exotic, like the rainforest of Costa Rica....



or the Arabian desert....

Photos of exotic ballooning from here

Where would you go hot air ballooning?



Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon

We could float among the stars together, you and I

For we can fly we can fly

Up, up and away

My beautiful, my beautiful balloon

The world's a nicer place in my beautiful balloon

It wears a nicer face in my beautiful balloon

We can sing a song and sail along the silver sky

For we can fly we can fly

Up, up and away
My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
Suspended under a twilight canopy

We'll search the clouds for a star to guide us

If by some chance you find yourself loving me

We'll find a cloud to hide us
We'll keep the moon beside us

Love is waiting there in my beautiful balloon

Way up in the air in my beautiful balloon

If you'll hold my hand we'll chase your dream across the sky

For we can fly we can fly

Up, up and away

My beautiful, my beautiful balloon

Balloon...

Up, up, and away.....

Up, Up And Away - The Fifth Dimension