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Australia 2013: Up and away
posted : Sunday, March 16, 2014
Day 3 was so eventful...probably the most eventful day of the trip.
It started at the ungodly hour of 3am. Which is like 1am back in sg/bru. Usually I haven't even gone to bed at that time on a sat night, but here i am fully (okay maybe not fully) rested and about to begin my third day. Met very little resistance again waking up, not surprising coz I was kinda of looking forward to this (and I definitely do not want to miss my pick up for the ride which already costed me a bomb).
Going for a hot air balloon ride!!
Background: while researching for things to do in GC, several things are on almost everybody's itinerary - theme parks, wildlife sanctuary, paradise country. Most recommended hot air balloon rides and whale watching too but these two are on the pricey side. I am not always a fan of countryside scenery (I prefer city skylines) but the idea of hot air balloon ride really appealed to me somehow. After all, when is a better time to try new things? So I booked a ride with Hot Air Gold Coast despite the steep price tag - hmm, I duno better, but AUD250 is kind of pricey..it's more expensive than my flight to GC hahaha.
Arranged for pick up at my hotel itself and I think by default everybody got the same timing which was 3.50am. Just happened that I stayed the furthest from Cavill where most people seemed to stay at so I got picked up first. And unsurprisingly I was the only solo guy - everybody else came in pairs. Sidetrack a bit, if I was in a dilemma every time people ask me where I am from when I am in sg, it was worse here...I can either be from Brunei, Malaysia or even Singapore coz I live there now mah. Though for some reason Malaysia was always my first choice even though I had the least connection to it. Brunei is just too unknown lah.
So after picking up everybody, it was another 1 hour + journey to Canungra where we met up with another two vans, one of which actually came in from Brisbane (can't imagine how early you have to get up for that). After that picked up more people who opted to drive to the meeting point..and set off to the launch site earnest. By this time it was way past sunrise which left me a bit confused coz I always thought I was to witness sunrise on the balloon (else why wake up so early). Turns out the rides were always planned to be during the first hours after sunrise coz that is when the winds are most stable and thus good for flying.
Past sunrise by the time we reach Canungra
There were 3 balloons in total that morning. Was assigned to the biggest one with the group from my van which carried 20 people. Briefing, then a demo on how to climb into the basket, then one by one we climbed in. Think they had to arrange in such a way that the weight is balanced ah coz the pilot was the one who assigned which quarter each passenger is standing. After that we practiced our landing pose and emergency pose a bit - basically leaning on one side in a half squat position and holding on to a handle in front. Before I know it (or maybe I just wasn't listening) we were off..didn't even notice them setting us away...was like woah woah we are off the ground alr hahaha. 
The balloon I was in.
The other balloon which had a cuter design.
Heating things up!
It was kind of warm in the beginning coz the pilot was constantly heating up air within the balloon and the basket is obviously not big enough for ppl to be far enough from the flames. The balloon rose steadily as if trying to catch up with one if the smaller ones that set off earlier. Out come the cameras to take pictures (one of the rare occasions I had my camera out rather than just using my phone).
This is when I got really irritated by the Singaporean couple I was sharing the quarter with. They jostle around trying to get into position for the best angle possible. In reality if you are just taking pictures of the scenery you can basically take from any position. But no, they had to slowly squeeze ppl out of the way without even asking. As if the quarter isn't cramped enough! And each armed with a DSLR that made annoying clicking sounds especially when they were taking panoramic shots. The other angmoh passenger in my quarter just looked amused and went "that is some serious photography". But seriously! I was annoyed as hell coz mind you I paid the exact same price as you and I definitely don't deserve to be pushed around. So several times I just stood my ground (literally) and refused to budge when they tried squeezing me away. Hah!
Annoyance aside, the hinterland scenery was breathtaking and even the heat from the flames can't be felt as we moved higher. And I really mean it when someone who prefers city scenery to countryside can appreciate it. After a while I just stopped taking pictures and relax and just enjoy the view.
  
Some of the shots I took before deciding to just relax and enjoy.
Journey was about 45min and as we started descending, the pilot had to communicate with the ground staff to let him know the approximate location we are landing at. Oh yea..coz they can't control where they were landing obviously, coz that will depend on the wind direction etc. Say in this case, the pilot saw a vast farm that we will likely land in and got the ground staff who was driving the minivan with our belongings to ask for permission from the farm owner to access the farm hahaha. Not that he can say "no you can't land in my farm" though. More like for the truck to drive into the farm so that they can collect the balloon.
So we landed...was a perfect landing in that the basket remain upright when we landed. All hopped out of the basket. Farm was full of dried cow dung ahahaha but thankfully no smell. Balloon was semi deflated then dragged down, then everybody helped to push air out of it so that they can be folded, then stuffed into a bag. Then we hopped on the truck and out of the farm to our minivan. That concludes the ride!
Deflated balloon
Rolling up the balloon
All packed up!
I did it!!
Part 2 of the trip was a champagne breakfast at O'Reilly's vineyard, which was about half an hour from the landing site. Spread was actually not bad and everyone was handed a glass of champagne when entering the restaurant, made from grapes grown in the vineyard of course. Then some off time to hang around the vineyard before heading off the our respective drop off points.
Picturesque.
Of course there's a glass of champagne.
 
The vineyard itself.
Didn't see any grapes though.
My designated drop off point was at a petrol station at Nerang. Because my intention was squeeze in a day trip to Brisbane after the ride, and from Gold Coast you can take a train to Brisbane via Nerang train station. From google maps the train station seemed pretty walkable from the petrol station so I chose that as my drop off point instead of surfers paradise. So at the petrol station, I just hopped off the bus with a gang of locals. Unknown to me, I was supposed to sign off (or at least confirm with the driver that this was my drop off point) so they thought I was lost somewhere or didn't board the bus back at the vineyard or sth. The HQ called me (I provided them with my australian number once I bought the SIM card) and I told them I had dropped off earlier at Nerang fair petrol station. "Was that your registered drop off location?" "So you are happy to drop off there?" Haha oops. Remembered amidst my exhaustion to at least apologize for making myself unaccountable.
Post getting a bit too long for me to continue about my Brisbane trip here so shall break this into two posts then! All in all, thoroughly enjoyed the ride and though I still think it's pricey, but it's worth it as a once in a lifetime thingy. :)
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