Early Morning Balloons: Canberra, AUSTRALIA

What better way to spend the stupidly early hours of the morning (roughly a 5 am start...) to wake up the kids and take them down to the yearly balloon launches in the Parliamentary Triangle of Canberra. You would think that most people would just spend the morning in bed... but I guess, if you happen to be in Canberra at this time of the year, it is a really nice event to go to if you rouse yourself for the early morning start. But, if you do plan on coming... well, plan on getting here a little bit ahead of time... or parking a fair distance away, as there are actually quite a lot of people who DO manage to wake up early to catch this event!

Canberra is known for its balloons floating around all around the year, but they usually launch from the outer suburbs. On this one occasion in the year, a whole heap of balloon teams gather at the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin in a crowded space to launch in the wee hours.

There are all sorts of interesting balloons on display... many of them are regular shaped, but with interesting colour schemes... and in the past, we have had a whale and a sloth which are always hits with the kids.

Plus, the Air Force always brings a couple of interesting shaped ones...

The stillness of the morning is broken by the gentle murmur of the crowds, and the roar of the balloon flares...

... and over time, they gradually fill up..

... until the point when they are standing upright but still tethered to the ground.

It is really hard to describe hat feeling as each balloon starts to lift off the ground... it is a mix of wonder and joy! Well, at least for me and the kids! Just that slow motion as it gradually lifts away... really quite amazing, and I can see why people keep coming back.

... and quite soon, the low sky is filled with a whole fleet of slow moving balloons! It is quite majestic!

... and here was this year's star hit of the morning.