Seeing the outback from above is an experience like no other
By Steve Meacham
Unlike a plane with its rickety-rack shudders as it rolls along the runway and finally takes off, our Outback balloon lifts off the Alice Springs landscape with an effortless breath of warm air. Mind you, the departure lounge leaves a little to be desired.
Hot-air ballooning is the perfect way to appreciate the vast remoteness and spectacular dawn colours of the Australian outback and MacDonnell Ranges.
John – our bus driver with an endless stream of dad jokes – has picked us up from the hotel at 5.45am, anticipating a 6am launch. But Jason, our pilot, hasn’t even got the enormous balloon – made in England and the largest in Australia – out of its trailer when we arrive, cross-paddock.
You’ll have read about the Montgolfier brothers who pioneered balloon flight in the 1780s and watched the various movies of Jules Verne’s 1872 novel about Phileas Fogg and his valet Passepartout trying to round the world in 80 days? Well, our departure is nothing like that.
Instead, in a dark paddock populated by more camels than cattle, we watch and wait for 20 minutes as Jason, John and crew fill a nylon canopy that is going to hoist us aloft.
I’ve been ballooning several times before. But never under a balloon as big as this, or in a wicker basket licensed to carry 24 passengers in Australia (28 in Europe). We even have seats for landing and safety handles (more of that later).
As soon as we’re aloft, Jason begins his commentary. We’ll be avoiding the magnificent MacDonnell Ranges, he tells us. The air from the desert sweeps over the ridge line dumping dangerous air currents this side of the divide.
Instead, we make do with the sunrise catching the colours made famous by painter Albert Namatjira. I’m on the outside fringe of the basket, which I’m grateful for each time Jason interrupts his commentary to send a sharp loud burst of fire into the thin skin of man-made fibre above.
The initial part of our flight is barely 20 metres above the earth, although we eventually rise to 300 metres, travelling at a top speed of about 50km/h.
All the time, Jason keeps up his introduction to “the Alice”. Everything that was essential to creating this town lies below us.
See those telegraph poles, Jason asks. They were the reason Alice Springs was born. The telegraph (the 19th century equivalent of the internet) had to cross central Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, and Alice was halfway.
Those telegraph poles needed transporting, so Afghans and their camels were employed – hence the world-famous Ghan railway which Jason points out. Meanwhile, an enormously long freight train thunders below, followed by a three-vehicle road train – each dashing to deliver goods a day away. We also get a glimpse of the satellite surveillance base Pine Gap.
Most of my fellow passengers are busy taking selfies or photographing the wildlife beneath the basket (“Is that a kangaroo or a cow?“).
After 50 minutes, Jason is ready to land. We’ll have travelled 10 kilometres, while the recovery team, including John and his dad jokes, have had to drive four times as far. There’s earnest discussion over the walkie-talkies. Where will we land safely?
Jason warned us before we touched the ground to stay in our seats, hold on to the safety handles and not – repeat NOT – leap out of the basket without permission: “Otherwise the balloon may take off again.”
Many of my fellow passengers – particularly those with a fear of heights – are scared of the landing. But it is gentle … at first. Before turning into a Luna Park roller-coaster ride, as the basket is dragged by the sagging balloon across the paddock, leaving us all upside down – safe, grounded and giggling.
John is there as we emerge, with more dad jokes, champagne and cheese.
Apparently, the Montgolfier brothers insisted that any “successful” balloon trip should end in a glass of champagne.
THE DETAILS
TOUR
Outback Ballooning, Alice Springs runs most dawns of the year (weather permitting). A normal 60-minute flight costs $369 an adult; backpacker 30-minute flights $285 when available. See outbackballooning.com.au
STAY
Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters; rooms from $220 a night. See crowneplaza.com
Steve Meacham was a guest of Northern Territory Tourism. See northernterritory.com
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