Thursday, March 12, 2015

 

Balloon Time Again

Every year in March there is a big hot-air balloon festival in Canberra, part of the celebrations for the anniversary of the founding of the city (it is 102 this year). Aeronauts from around the world attend, bringing some quirky balloons with them. Mum and I usually drag Dad out of bed before dawn and take him to the launch site on the lawns in front of Old Parliament House. Literally thousands of Canberrans go to see the balloons take off during the week of the festival. Some mornings it is freezing cold, but this year it was milder. Preparations begin before sunrise. Most of the light comes from the burners that are busy inflating the balloons. The three balloons that I liked best are pictured. One was from the UK. It is green and has the face and ears of Yoda. Another one looks just like one of the Angry Birds. The third one is a giant dodo, advertising Dodo, one of the Australian internet companies. Dad says that it is nothing like a real dodo, but sometimes he is just a real "wet blanket", specially when he is half asleep. A thin fog rolled in just on sunrise, but the balloons launched anyway. I counted over 30 of them in the air at the same time. I like seeing them and will drag Dad out into the cold dawn again next year.

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