Up, up and away :)

Today will forever be logged in my memory as one of those days I will never forget and it very nearly didn’t happen.

After two failed attempts to get off the ground on my hot air balloon trip and a bout of tonsillitis (and the horrible effects of the antibiotics), I have finally managed to take off.

I was almost (but not completely) certain it would happen today as the weather report forecast balmy summer conditions, no wind – in fact the warmest day of the year.

I will only admit I was nervous and a little bit worried about how I’d fair in the sky seeing as I was still recovering but I needn’t have worried.

My departure was moved from Colchester due to the wind and we took off from Blake House Craft Center which is near Braintree and about 50 minutes away. That meant an even earlier start as I had to be at registration before 6 am.

Sadly Richard could not join me as he had work commitments so I drove myself to the flight location and met up with the rest of my fellow passengers.

The balloon was quite substantial and the basket holds 16 people. There were 15 of us flying today (plus Richard the pilot – had to stop myself from chuckling that our Virgin Balloon pilot was called Richard). This meant the compartment I was in only had 3 of us instead of the usual 4 as I was travelling solo.

I met lots of lovely people today but have to say a special hello to Ashley and Dennis. They were a fun, polite couple and we shared the same section of the basket.

This gave me an opportunity to chat to someone mid-flight and we were all avid photographers so we happily snapped one another to ensure we had enough photos of ourselves in flight. We’ve exchanged email addresses and I look forward to seeing their photos.

The flight was simply amazing. I was worried about the security of the basket, the space etc and I had nothing to fear. The basket is a decent size and there’s room to rest on the basket, kneel or sit down.

Following a safety briefing we were asked to help set the balloon up. We all expanded the canopy on the ground and I volunteered to help with the set up. I was in charge of one of the fans and had to deactivate it when there was enough hot air in the balloon.

I knew the fan was going to be loud but I wasn’t quite prepared for the heat from the burners. The balloon filled up rapidly and before we knew it it was upright and we were asked to climb on board.

A final check everyone was happy to fly and we were off… I think there was a collective nervousness when the guide rope was removed but we needn’t have worried. The balloons lift off was absolutely effortless and before we knew it we were meters of the ground and starting to soar higher and higher.

I started at the corner of the basket and apart from the heat of the burner (in the corner you’re not shielded by the burners), you got the best view as I was able to browse the view below on two sides.

It’s a shame we didn’t take off at Colchester as I would have loved to have seen our adopted home from the air but the views from Braintree were stunning.

People don’t believe you when you tell them that Essex is a beautiful county. We glided across open fields, arable fields of wheat and passed over the tops of trees, lakes and rivers. At one stage the balloon was chased by a dog who was intent on barking us down to the ground!

We could quite literally see for miles and we passed over the top of a couple of villages, we saw Stanstead airport in the distance and towards the end of our flight we saw another balloon taking off on the far horizon.

There was only one point where we felt any breeze and our pilot had taken us into it to slow us down. It was odd to feel as the whole experience had been very serene and still. If you didn’t look directly down there would be points where you would believe you weren’t actually moving.

Yes the basket is open to the elements and we all joked about loosing caps, glasses and cameras over the side of the basket but it felt perfectly safe and natural to be floating above Essex. It was quite liberating and I thought the whole experience was quite wonderful.

Sadly a couple people had a touch of vertigo and one girl was nearly sick over the side but I didn’t feel any side effects (which was the case for most of us).

We flew across farms and fields for a good hour before our pilot started to look for a safe spot to land. He admittedly avoids landing in farmland as it costs the farmers money when crops are damaged. Richard let out a happy shrill when he saw an approaching cricket pitch and we headed for it.

It seemed that we came down quite quickly but you hardly noticed it. We were all asked to sit in the basket and hold guide ropes for the landing and before you knew it we were back on the ground. We did bounce on the pitch once and then immediately stopped upright. I was amazed as I had thought the basket may have been dragged along and tipped over as I have seen this in films so often.

The canopy was vented to let the hot air out and we were soon enveloped within it. We were allowed to leave the basket and set upon working together to help fold the balloon up. Imagine trying to deflate and pack up a very large inflatable mattress and you’ll have an idea of what a task this was.

Richard and his crew gave us excellent help and guidance and we managed to fold up the balloon and help get it onto the trailer in a short space of time. Even with 20 of us helping it was hard work and we were all covered in morning dew and cuttings from the cricket pitch.

A local resident decided to complain about us landing on their cricket pitch but our crew handled the cranky old maid swiftly and professionally.

We were treated to a glass of champagne/bucks fizz/juice and offered the chance to purchase the group photo which was taken mid-flight (digital camera on a scaffolding pole with a fish eye lens which is operated with a remote). My cheque is in the post as I’d love to have this as a keep sake.

We were all presented with certificates signed by Richard Branson and then we got on a coach to take us back to our starting point and our cars! I did a sat nav check on my iPhone and we had flown 7 – 8 miles during our hour-long flight.

I had a truly wonderful day and I am so very lucky to have been given such a wonderful Christmas present from Richard.

There are heaps of photos (and some more to come as mentioned), take a look at the gallery here and watch my short in flight movie too 🙂