Hot Air Ballooning
May 3, 2011, 8:16 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2
Hot Air Ballooning
Hello,
My husband and I will be visiting Australia for the entire month of September. We would love to get a bird's eye view of some of the more scenic areas (i.e not the cities), and are not interested in taking a helicopter. So... I'm wondering where the best place would be for a relaxing hot air balloon ride. It looks like it's possible to take a ride near Alice Springs and Flinders Ranges, and I've also seen websites offering ballooning over both Hunter Valley and Yarra Valley. Any recommendations would be most welcome.
My husband and I will be visiting Australia for the entire month of September. We would love to get a bird's eye view of some of the more scenic areas (i.e not the cities), and are not interested in taking a helicopter. So... I'm wondering where the best place would be for a relaxing hot air balloon ride. It looks like it's possible to take a ride near Alice Springs and Flinders Ranges, and I've also seen websites offering ballooning over both Hunter Valley and Yarra Valley. Any recommendations would be most welcome.
May 3, 2011, 4:17 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Portland OR Double Emerald (QF and AA), DL PM/MM, Starwood Plat
Posts: 19,589
Actually some of the cities are very scenic as they have a lot of parkland and water. You might be surprised; I was. Uluru would be the best place but it is not permitted. Alice Springs is out of viewing distance so it isn't so interesting unless you like desert and ghost town architecture. Personally I would pick Yarra Valley as it is like Napa with better wine than Hunter Valley (though that can be good too). Really can't go wrong with this, but September is the start of spring = storms, which may make it the trickiest month for ballooning.
Only 6 years to get post #1 on the board.
May 4, 2011, 2:36 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 84
The Barossa Valley is very scenic and I know they do hot air ballooning up there. It's also a fantastic wine region so if you like wine you can tour a lot of the big name wineries while you're there.
Do you know where you're planning on staying while you're in Australia? It might help make a few more suggestions. The Barossa would be a reasonably easy destination to fit in if you were going to the Flinders Ranges from Adelaide but not so much if you were coming in from a different direction.
Do you know where you're planning on staying while you're in Australia? It might help make a few more suggestions. The Barossa would be a reasonably easy destination to fit in if you were going to the Flinders Ranges from Adelaide but not so much if you were coming in from a different direction.
May 4, 2011, 9:31 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 2
Hi Bensyd, thanks for the warm welcome!
AnnaBeth, right now our itinerary is in the very preliminary stages, but we'll definitely be spending some time in/around Adelaide, so the Barossa Valley would fit right in. Since we'll probably have time for only one of Australia's wine regions, do you recommend Barossa over Yarra? (We're mainly looking for an easygoing/non-crowded atmosphere and high scenic value.)
In addition to Alice Springs/Uluru, we're hoping to spend some time up north in both Cairns/Port Douglas and Darwin/Kakadu areas... not sure if any possibilities for ballooning would exist there...
AnnaBeth, right now our itinerary is in the very preliminary stages, but we'll definitely be spending some time in/around Adelaide, so the Barossa Valley would fit right in. Since we'll probably have time for only one of Australia's wine regions, do you recommend Barossa over Yarra? (We're mainly looking for an easygoing/non-crowded atmosphere and high scenic value.)
In addition to Alice Springs/Uluru, we're hoping to spend some time up north in both Cairns/Port Douglas and Darwin/Kakadu areas... not sure if any possibilities for ballooning would exist there...
Jun 10, 2022, 7:17 pm
#7
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Jul 2, 2022, 4:09 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Yes, its an 11 year old thread...but....
When we toured the red center, we were 2 days at Uluru, then some driving up and around to Alice.
HOWEVER, I booked a dawn helicopter flight with my wife- without telling her. It wasnt until we pulled up in the pre-dawn that she realized it.
Well, it was utterly transformative. What an amazing perspective. Some of my pictures in the low,red dawn light are really quite something.... at one point, all my musings about 'the rock', the geology...all that...snapped into focus when the pilot observed: "you are looking at a fossilized ocean floor". In an instant, what I was seeing- the undulating patterns- all made sense. 6 years ago I can still vividly recall the trip.
Oh, my wife said "this isnt so bad, we arent going that fast"...I looked at the airspeed it was 140.
When we toured the red center, we were 2 days at Uluru, then some driving up and around to Alice.
HOWEVER, I booked a dawn helicopter flight with my wife- without telling her. It wasnt until we pulled up in the pre-dawn that she realized it.
Well, it was utterly transformative. What an amazing perspective. Some of my pictures in the low,red dawn light are really quite something.... at one point, all my musings about 'the rock', the geology...all that...snapped into focus when the pilot observed: "you are looking at a fossilized ocean floor". In an instant, what I was seeing- the undulating patterns- all made sense. 6 years ago I can still vividly recall the trip.
Oh, my wife said "this isnt so bad, we arent going that fast"...I looked at the airspeed it was 140.