Balloon Fiesta, Canberra
I can never sleep well the first night in a new bed.
I'm not sure how much sleep I got last weekend, not getting to bed until midnight Saturday, and then, even worse, having to get up at 5.00am to catch the dawn departure of the Balloon Fiesta.
It wasn't as cold as I'd expected it to be, although I'd rugged up just to be sure. Couples, families and plenty of tripod-wielding photographers milled about on the lawns outside old Parliament House. The food huts had plenty of customers, the air filled with the smell of frying eggs and crisping bacon.
The giant hot air balloons were gradually unpacked, unrolled and then slowly inflated with powerful roaring blasts of propane gas.
It was quite a magical sight really, these giant beasts calmly and gracefully blooming before us. In the still morning air, they slowly unfurled.
In an unfortunate set of meteorological conditions, the balloons had to remain grounded, alas. Westerly winds would have pushed them towards the airport and twenty balloons hovering about passenger planes is not really a good thing.
The balloons had ascended successfully on Saturday and Monday. For us, though, we had to contend with admiring them up close. Not such a terrible thing really.
The Canberra Balloon Fiesta happens annually in March/April. This year's Balloon Fiesta took place 13-16 April 2007.
Next post: Breakfast at Pancake Parlour, Civic
Related GrabYourFork posts:
Canberra Road Trip Part 1: Berrima
Canberra Road Trip Part 2: Canberra
Canberra Road Trip Part 3: Balloon Fiesta Nighttime Spectacular
Canberra Road Trip Part 4: Dinner at Les Rendezvous, Manuka
Canberra Road Trip Part 5: Balloon Fiesta at dawn, Old Parliament House
Canberra Road Trip Part 6: Breakfast at The Pancake Parlour, Civic
Canberra Road Trip Part 7: Lunch at Lynwood Cafe, Collector
posted by Helen (Grab Your Fork) on 4/20/2007 08:02:00 pm
2 Comments:
At 4/21/2007 12:24 am,
PiCkLeS said…
Helen your blog made the top 100 Australian blogs at number 36, Congrats! http://blogpond.wordpress.com/top-100-australian-blogs-index/
At 4/21/2007 10:50 pm,
Helen (Grab Your Fork) said…
Hi Pickles - Thanks :) I actually received an email from Craig Harper notifying Grab Your Fork's inclusion at number 34 on his original list of Top 100 Australian blogs as ranked by Technorati (it's on the side bar way down on the right).
I noticed Blogpond has just compiled another list: Top 100 Aussie Blogs by Australian Audience and GYF is at 21, using Alexa rankings.
I don't take these lists too seriously, but it's good to see that Aussie food blogs are up there. Who wants politics when you can have pancakes instead? :)
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