Alice Springs OMM – May 2018

Alice Springs located in the Northern Territory is the home to Outback Ballooning and our friends Jason Livingston and Andrea Lehman who had kindly invited a group of balloonists to join them in outback Australia for 4 days of ballooning with one-man hopper balloons.

After a 2 hour drive to Sydney airport and a 3 hour flight I saw myself landing at Alice Springs to be met by Outback Ballooning pilot Duncan who transferred us to our accommodation the lovely Crowne Plaza Lasseter’s. This little social meet up saw pilots from all over Australia make the trip for what would be 4 days of fun flying over the amazing desert landscape of Alice Springs.

Day 1

At 5am we were collected from the hotel by bus before heading to the south of the township towards our launch site named the “hollows”. The bus was full of excitement with everyone keen to get in the air. A quick check of the winds and a hive of activity erupted around the trailer with pilots grabbing their equipment and making quick work of setting up the balloons. The balloons launched in quick succession and tracked to the north towards to airport back paddock. Flight time was about 45 mins with all balloons landing within 1km of each which made for an easy retrieve. After a quick pack up we headed back to Alice Springs for some breakfast. Our breakfast choice was the Watertank Café on good word from the locals which did not disappoint.

During the afternoon I joined Steve and Paul Gianniotis on a small road trip to the west of town where we explored some of the amazing gorges, gaps and chasms where we watched the sunset before heading back to town to join the rest of the balloonists for a fun dinner at a local pizza restaurant.

Day 2

With awoke bright and early and ready to fly again after such a great first day. After a quick wind check we headed for the “hollows” launch site again. Wtih limited tie off options we helped each other launch in quick succession as we encountered some stronger surface winds making for some fun launches. This flight provided the longest distance of the week landing in the airport back paddock again with minimal winds. After a quick retrieve we headed back to town for some breakfast and a rest after a big first 2 days.

Day 3

Still buzzing with excitment we boarded the bus at 5:00am and set off towards the “hollows” launch site again with the same winds yet again. A bit more organisation saw us set up a winch cable between the bus and car allowing for a large static launch line to be used and some great photos of the balloons bunched up ready for launch. Light surface winds meant the balloons tracked along quite close making for awesome viewing from both air and group for all involved. The flight for this morning lasted for about 1 hour landing at the airport back paddock again.

After a quick trip back to the hotel we joined Jason & Andrea at their home for an afternoon BBQ and drinks which provided plenty of laughs and a great chance to catch up.

Day 4

Our final flight for the trip would see us launch to the east of Alice Springs airport and track back towards the airport. A shorter flight in distance but lots of fun with drainage winds made for a great flight with most balloons landing the west of the airport. Once we had finished packing up we enjoyed a final champagne celebration and debrief of the past days with most chat about when the next meet up would be as it had been 3 years since the last. Too soon the end had come, and we were heading back to the hotel to pack our bags and make the trip back home after what was an absolute blast.

This is the second time this meet has been hosted and with growing popularity it is set to become a bi annual pilgrimage for Australian balloonist. I would like to thank Jason and Andrea for their wonderful hospitality over the week and for allowing us to come and join them flying over the beautiful Australian outback. I will definitely be back for some more outback flying!