Just a load of hot air Hot air balloon ride

Bunch of comedians, my mates. For my birthday, (which just happened to be the big 40! No stress. No panic. No midlife crisis. Ahem.) my mates told me I was always spouting off a lot of hot air and so decided that sending me up, up and away in a hot air balloon was the most appropriate present for me! The cheek of it.

OK, so it may be said that I always have an opinion and am not one to be stuck for words, but as we floated above the Kent countryside with my gaggle of mates and family waving at me from below I have to admit, I was lost for words.

The whole day out was fantastic. My hot air balloon ride experience started with helping inflate the balloon with the fans whilst the balloon is lying down. They told us that air from big fans is used on the un-inflated balloons and as the air from the fans is the same density as the atmosphere, the balloon inflates, but doesn’t try to float away.

Once filled with air, the pilot in the laid down basket opens up the burners to start pumping in the hot air and as if by magic, the balloon raises itself up to ‘standing point’. At this point, we all leapt in the large rectangular wicker balloon basket and before we knew it, the ground was falling away and we were floating up.

Being in a hot air balloon really is a surreal experience. You kind of expect to feel the wind in your face, but you don’t. It really is very calm and serene. You can even hear all the usual everyday noises below you, from traffic whooshing by to sheep bleating, but they all look like toy miniatures.

Of course, when the burners are going you certainly know about it and as the pilot deftly manoeuvres the balloon down to earth using the burners to control the descent, it takes a lot of skill to scale those tree tops and come to rest with the basket (and everyone in it) still standing.

The balloon is then kept floating above the basket until the support team arrives and starts pulling the guide rope which gently brings the balloon back to laying down. Good fun at the end, as we all got to walk along the balloon to push the last bits of air out before she was packed away and loaded onto the trailer ready for another busy day of hot air ballooning.

I can honestly say it was a superb day out and, despite the ribbing I get from the lads, hot air balloon rides are without doubt, the perfect 40^th birthday present for me! Cheers boys!