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Unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph the events
of the next few minutes.
As we touched down, our pilot instructed us all to stay aboard until he
gave
the word to climb out. Logically, if we had left him alone in the
basket, due
to the reduced weight, it would have lifted off again. So, as half of us
went
over the side one by one at each end, we were required to keep hold of
the
top edge of the basket to weight it. When we were all out, we had to
shift
our grip to the handles lower on the side as he gave it a small burst of
gas,
enough to raise it to the height of the trailer. We all helped to guide
it into
place and he then released the vent at the top of the canopy to allow
the hot
air to escape so the balloon would deflate.
Time to put the camera away again and help pack the canopy back into its
bag.
I would love to have been able to photograph this activity, which looked
like
some sort of school PE game with us all beating the air out and shoving
it into
as small a roll as possible until it lay at its full length on the
ground.
Then came the challenge of stowing it back into its bag. Three ladies
were
chosen to hold the bag open while everyone else lifted, dragged and fed
the roughly gathered roll into it. About half way through, everyone had
to congregate around the bag and attempt to shove the bulk down as far
as it would go. As our pilot instructed, those who couldn't get close
enough
to lean on the canopy added their strength by leaning on the backside of
someone who was close enough !
With space now to fit in the rest, the lifting and dragging was repeated
until the whole canopy was "sort of" in the bag. Then our young Dane
was selected to climb atop the whole kit'n'caboodle (about shoulder
height on me) and dance on it while our pilot and bus driver heaved the
top edge of the bag to settle the canopy right in. That would have made
a fantastic shot !
This
YouTube video will give you a good idea of how it's done,
even though it's not quite the same. This one is much smaller too.
All packed up and loaded, we were on our way back to Alice
for our champagne brekky. We've done this in other places and
the breakfast has been served in a hotel, but not so this time.
It was picnic style. Fortunately we'd begun to thaw out by now
and could actually feel our toes and fingers again ! It's nowhere
near as cold up there in the sky as it is at ground level.
Being a vegetarian, I was treated to a hot mushroom, onion and
tomato meal while everyone else had chicken and quiche. There
was also fresh fruit, tea and coffee. Champagne was served
mixed with guava juice which tempted me to try it... and come
back for seconds. Our Danish friend (dark jacket) couldn't get
enough of it and our pilot eventually asked him what his plans
were for the rest of the day. He said apart from a flight to
Cairns at 5pm, he was just relaxing. I have to wonder if he made
his flight since he took two bottles of champers back to the hotel !
Where's MY chicken and champagne ?"
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