Canberra Balloon Spectacular 2016
Posted by Anura Samara, 12 March 2016
Balloons, balloons and more balloons!
The Canberra Balloon Spectacular is yet another Canberra festival that we’ve missed for a few years.
There really is something special about watching so many balloons take-off from the one place. We arrived early, before dawn, but unlike previous years it wasn’t particularly cold.
As always, the action started down at Reconciliation Place and the grounds in front of Old Parliament House. There’s almost too many balloons for the space available and it rapidly fills with balloons and their crews with crowds of spectators around.
We found a spot to watch a small balloon being prepared. When I say small, it didn’t have a basket – just a padded seat for two crew with the gas bottles suspended beneath. The light and sound from the burners is always spectacular in the pre-dawn light. Watching them prepare, you could see the planning that the pilot has to do to make sure that there is clear airspace above before taking off.
One of the favourite things to do is look out for the new and interesting shapes. We had one of the Air Force balloons shaped like Darth Vader, an Angry Bird and one that looked like it was covered in smaller, multi-coloured balloons.
Once most of the balloons had taken off, there was a rush to drive the car to a better viewing spot. I’ve seen so many great photos of the balloons that I wanted to try out different angles for myself. The balloons were heading in a westerly direction after taking off, so we first headed towards Yarralumla on the southern side of the lake, with views looking back towards the National Museum and Commonwealth Avenue bridge. The next stop was the top of the hill behind the Arboretum – I’ve seen some really good photos from up there. The problem today was that the balloons were heading slightly north, between the Arboretum and Black Mountain, so they seemed a bit further away. Also, many were landing either down near the lake or just behind the Arboretum and so were already descending against the backdrop of the bush. All I can say was that I was disappointed with my results.
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