4:30am
The earliest alarm of the trip. At 4:30am, Melbourne’s streets were completely empty, and breakfast was a Coles ham and cheese sandwich eaten at the tram stop. Glamorous.
Inflating in the Dark
We met the Picture This crew, and a minibus took us out to the launch site, a clearing in the middle of a forest, still pitch dark. The crew rolled out the balloons and blew cold air into them with giant fans. Then they fired up the burners, and the balloons slowly rose up off the grass, glowing orange in the dark. Several other balloons were getting ready around us.
Lift Off
Then everyone climbed into the basket, and up we went. It’s surprisingly gentle. No jolt, no wind in your face, because you’re moving with the wind. Just the roar of the burner every now and then, and the ground slowly getting smaller.
Sunrise from Above
And then the sun came up. The mist was still lying low over the suburbs, the sky went from pink to orange to gold, and there were balloons floating all around us. Below, the houses, roads and parks of Melbourne stretched out in every direction, with the city towers far off on the horizon.
Landing
The landing was the exciting part. The wind changed, and the pilot had to bring us down on a private airfield, which meant a radio call to the control tower first: “Hi, it’s just a balloon, please don’t shoot.” Touchdown was smooth, then the crew squeezed the air out and packed it all away.
We were back in town by 10:30am, with a whole day still ahead of us: South Melbourne Market and the Old Melbourne Gaol.
Information About the Balloon Flight
A sunrise flight of about an hour over Melbourne. The launch site depends on the wind, so it's confirmed the night before, and you meet in the dark well before sunrise.
PS: Flights are weather-dependent and do get cancelled, so book it early in your trip. That way there's time to rebook if the wind doesn't cooperate.