Hot Ait Ballooning!

My friend, Fiona, and I went hot air ballooning yesterday! Something both of us have always been keen to do.

We met up at 5am and were driven out to a farmer's paddock in Richmond. While the balloon was being set up, we got to watch a beautiful sunrise. It really is such a gorgeous time of the day to be up.

It was such a peaceful experience floating around in the sky. Not scary at all. For take off, you just slowly start floating upwards and our landing was really, really soft.

We got up to 3,000 feet high, travelled 55kph and covered 28km in distance on our 1 hour flight. It was really interesting looking down at the World with a birds eye view. One thing that was consistent throughout our journey were the barking dogs! Really drives them nuts.

Baz was really keen to try and meet up and show Lachie the balloon landing. Not an easy thing to tee up though as the Pilot has a rough idea of where we'll end up but it's not an exact science. I sent a sms to Baz every now & then when our Pilot would give the ground crew an update and on limited instruction Baz managed to follow the balloon for the last part of the flight and saw us just after we landed on a private schools oval, complete with white picket fence around it.

Lachie was beside himself as he ran over to me and was so excited when he was allowed to have a little run around inside the balloon and "help" us to pack it up. Bless him.

I can definitely recommend it to anyone who is thinking about doing it - if you do however, remember to take a hat - the heat from those burners is intense!!

Here is the sunrise we were greeted with while waiting for the balloon to be set up


And here is the balloon slowly being filled up with air


Firing some heat into it to help it stand up


Almost there...


Our view from the basket


The balloon had a camera hanging from it's side which took this great pic


Here are 2 of Fiona and I


Once landed, with the balloon semi deflated and laying on its side, they let us go inside


Baz, Lachie & Ryan had just arrived after the above picture was taken
and was so excited to come in for a quick run around in the balloon

Santa

Santa has arrived already he seems to be everywhere we go.

Lachlan was very excited to see Santa and was quick to tell him that he "wanted a screw-driver for Christmas so I can make holes in my sandwich, please." Hope he is not to disappointed when he gets his first bike!

Ryan loved Santa's big beard and having his photo taken with Mr Claus.

Afternoon at the Dams Cliff

With temperatures reaching 42 degrees here yesterday it was a relief to get up to the mountains where it was only high 30s. Conditions weren't ideal for climbing but it was a great opportunity for me to check out a new area (the Dams cliff) and have a go at an old Dave James route called Siesta.

I had arranged to catch-up with Steve L, Adrain and another Steve in the afternoon as I had things to do in the morning. The boys were a little late arriving as they did some routes at Medlow Bath in the morning so I climbed with a German guy and did some easy warm ups. Then we moved onto a 22 and finally Siesta.

Siesta is an awesome line with something for everyone. The route is bouldery with a thin section down low, then some powerful underclinging and finally a long lock after a small roof (photos of the three sections below). We all had a go on at redpointing the route but without success. I look forward to getting down there and trying Siesta again once its cooler and I am a little fitter.

Daddy Daycare

40 degrees Celsius today so dad and the boys gave the backyard and the park a miss and went to an indoor kids playground. Luckily there weren't to many feral unsupervised kids so Ryan also got to have a crawl and play in the ball pit. Both boys had a great time though Ryan was a little upset when, hard as he tried he just couldn't eat any off the toys (lets see what nasty sickness he has next week).

More Routes at Planet Clare

We had a good afternoon in surprisingly cool conditions. Some nice climbing was done and I even took a nice size winger when a foot hold broke.

Steve and I started on the Pint Wall doing the three completed routes, two 16s and a 17. Steve onsighted both 16s and then proceeded to traverse terrifying far right on the 17. After that we moved onto the descent gully wall where we knocked over a nice little 18 and another new route that is graded somewhere between 16 and 20 - needs a few more ascents to decide the grade.

After that Gav and myself had a go at a new line on the Lust For Life Wall (photo above). A funny little climb requiring thrutching to the first bolt, bridging to the second, chimneying to the third, laybacking to the forth and then a nice few face moves to the top. After both having a dog on it - I had a go at redpointing the route. Reaching for the top of the crag a footer broke and I took a small lead fall, next time (still needs lower-offs anyway). Strange route should go at 21.

Next up Steve stole my prize line up the slab. I was going to call it Beefcake because you need to be a powerhouse to tick this little number - now we have to see what name Steve believes befits such a line. Anyway it is stitched up slab with 6 carrot bolts and a top out - it goes at solid grade 12. I bolted it to be the ideal first lead for newbies.

The day finished with some sieging by Gav and I on Rappers Delight 24 (below). This is on the same slab as Beefcake but a tad blanker. It is an awesome line with a hard crux pulling on to the slab at the first bolt, from there it is beautiful padding up a slab with nice ringbolts every 2-3m. I think it is a three star 24 route but even better as 19 with a batman start of the first bolt. Gav nabbed the first ascent just as rain threatened to fall, some quick lowering and fast belaying by Steve saw just enough time for me to get the second ascent, then badlight and rain bought a good days play to an end.

A Day At The Beach

The warmer weather has arrived so yesterday Dad and the boys escaped the heat with a day at Granny's. We had a great day down at Clareville Beach. Lachie enjoyed playing in the sand, swimming and watching the boats, he even got to see a big jellyfish.Ryan wasn't so keen on the water after Granny took him for a dip so he mostly just watched all the other kids while sucking on his spade and chewing sand.

Ryan Crawling!!

Ryan has been doing a shuffle for a few weeks but now he has mastered the art of crawling. He can move in any direction he wants and covers ground quickly often leaving the safety of the carpet and banging his two new teeth on steps and furniture. Hope you enjoy the video below of Ryan on the move.