May 2000
monthofMarcheachyear seesthe
national capitalof Australia celebrate its
birthday in spectacular fashion. This year
thethree-week-longCanberraNational
Multicultural Festival featured food, mu-
sic, dance, drama, fireworks, dragon boats,
film festivalsand, of course, ballooning.
Afterfourteenyears,theCanberra
Balloon Fiesta has attained a well-earned
national and international reputation,now
beingrecognizedasthe largestballoon-
ingevent in the SouthernHemisphere.
Thousandsof spectatorsjoinedbal-
looncrews at 5:30 a.m. each morningon
the lawns of Old Parliament House while
it was still dark to experience thethrill and
excitementof 60balloonspreparingfor
take-off at first light.
And for those lucky enough to enjoy
theeventfrom theair,few sightsinthe
worldcouldcomeclose.The distinctive
architectureofParliamentHouse(both
oldandnew)withitsvastexpanseof
manicured lawns, all surrounded by Lake
BurleyGriffin,makesforaballooning
experience that few will forget.
AccordingtoMartinMoroney,the
event’scharismaticFlightDirector,the
non-competitivenatureof the eventmakes
itsomethingspecial.
This year,localpilot JohnWalling-
tonwassomethingof a celebrity, having
just successfully completed the veryfirst
ballooncrossingfromNewZealandto
Australia. Thiswasall the more remark-
able because the route is againstthe pre-
vailingwinds!
John,who was accompaniedon this
history-makingflightb yhigh-profile
Aussie adventurer DickSmith, toldBal-
loon Lifethat the tripwasthe resultof a
$100,000betbetweenDickSmithand
advertisingguru JohnSingleton.
“I gave ourselves a50-50chance at
best of making it. I first thought we’d land
somewhere in Queensland, but as the ad-
venture woreon, I began to hope we’d just
land anywhere in Australia and not in the
Sea.
“Thelandingwasawesome! I’dal-
waysdreamedof landing like we did—I
meanmyideaof a trans-oceantripisto
arrive onthesurf. Thisisactuallywhat
happened. I’ve never before attempteda
landingwiththeaidofatrailingline,
whichhada greater thanexpectedeffect
on the buoyancyof the balloon, bringing
usdownfasterthanplanned.Ithought
‘what theheck’ and dropped the basket on
top ofa wave. We literally surfed ashore!”
The Royal Australian Airforce is one
of the few Air Forces in the world to have
anentire squadrondedicatedto balloon-
ing,andtheyweretheretoowithtwo
balloons.
Accord ingtoWingCommander
Anne Borzyeki, ex-Commanding Officer
of No 28 City of Canberra Squadron and
co-pilot duringthe Canberra BalloonFi-
esta, the RAAF find hot air balloons are a
terrific PR tool. “Wherever we go, people
turn up in droves to watch in wonderas we
take off andland.”
Onthisoccasion,FlightLieutenant
AdamWilliamswaspilotingtheirdis-
tinctivelocally-madeKavanagh90bal-
loon and he invitedBalloon Lifealong for
ride.Adamdemonstratedhisflying
expertise as we practiced a touch down on
a small lawn near the building site of the
new NationalMuseum, and he delighted
inperformingafew“splashanddash”
maneuversinLakeBurleyGriffin.He
just kissedthe surface a number of times
soexpertly that my shoesdidn’t.
The most distinctive balloon present,
anda firmfavorite withthe Aussie kids,
wasC adb ury ’sFred doFro g .Thi s
CameronSpecialShape balloonwas pi-
loted bythe UK’sNigel Progmore.
Another favorite with theyoungerset
wastheDoubleHelixModelHotAir
BalloonCompetition, which brought out
hundreds of primary and high school stu-
dentsfromalloverCanberratodesign
and successfully fly their own model bal-
loons.
A highlightofthe week-longevent
BalloonFiestawastheSkyfire,which
saw over 2 tons of fireworks lighting the
skies aboveLake Burley Griffin.The spec-
tacu larpy ro tech ni cev en twas
complimentedbyaballoonglow which
tookplaceatthelake endofthelaunch
field.
