CANOWINDRA HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL

 6^th April, 2016

We arrive in Canowindra late morning and check into the showgrounds camping area.

Every year this small country town hosts a Hot Air Balloon Festival and people come from all over for the fun and festivities. In the afternoon we take a stroll along the main street and check out the suspension bridge over the creek.

Wok takes a walk on the suspension bridge at Canowindra

It's not far to Cowra from here so we take a day trip to see the sights. Cowra is a much bigger town so most of the country folk in the area shop for their groceries and other necessities here. We call in at the Information Centre and spend some time in the hologram theatre where the breakout of Japanese World War II prisoners is told. It's done really well! From there we visit the Japanese Garden which was built in 1979 to commemorate the Japanese prisoners of war who died at the Cowra breakout. The Garden is located on the site of the World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp.

Part of the Japanese Garden at Cowra

It is a wonderful garden with lots of different nooks and crannies. It stands in stark contrast to the dry Australian bush that surrounds the site. We wander along the paths at the old prisoner of war camp. After reading this sign we decide not to stray off the track.

There is nothing left of the buildings that once stood here – only remnants of footings. The Cowra breakout is a tragic story for both the men who lost their lives trying to escape and the men who died trying to stop that escape.

The weekend has arrived and we are up before sunrise to watch the hot air balloons take off from the oval opposite the showground. Our son Trent has joined us for the weekend but a heavy fog has descended on the area and is delaying the take off of the balloons.

Yep ... it's foggy!  And judging by the looks of it - cold too ... !

We wander among the balloons as they wait for the fog to lift. This 'whale' balloon has come all the way from the USA

I'm a whale ... ! 

and is letting people get up close and personal inside the balloon – minus their shoes of course.

Is this how Jonah got into the whale ... ?

After an hour and a half there is no sign of the fog lifting, so we walk back to our campsite and have some breakfast before making our way back across the road to the oval. The fog has finally started to lift and the balloons are inflating and taking to the skies. The following photos are just some of the many that we took :-

 

 

 

 

It's so hard trying to work out where to look ....

 

The balloons are not just going up and having fun. They have a set course to undertake and have to drop bags of flour onto targets on the ground. Points are awarded to the closest to the targets. As mere observers we are not told where the targets are located so we go to a lookout on a nearby hill and can see a couple of balloons heading to the north. By the time we locate the target the balloons have already come and gone. Oh well! It was fun chasing them anyway. As it is now lunchtime we head for one of the hotels in town for a pub lunch. An old Cobb and Co coach is giving rides around town and the sleepy main street is now full of people wandering up and down.

Cobb and Co coach in Canowindra

After lunch we spot a gourmet chocolate shop. We try to resist but it is no use. Chocolate is calling to us. It even knows our names! We settle for a rum and raisin concoction and Trent seems to have got the Willy Wonka version with his dark chocolate.

Trent is keen to taste his gourmet chocolate ...

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and then it was off to the oval again for the night time entertainment. Lots of mobile food vans with a variety of things to sample, a small market and a local rugby match to watch. Then it was time for the grand finale. All the hot air balloons paraded around the oval and then inflated their balloons. The music started and to the beat of different tunes the balloon operators opened the gas jets causing flames to leap up into the balloons and light them up. It was a wonderful 'Sound and Light' show which enthralled all the kids and adults as well. Sunday morning dawned and no fog! We made our way to the oval and once again enjoyed watching the balloons take off. Again we took heaps of photos and these are a few of those :-

 

 

Nothing beats flying with a rocket strapped to your back ...!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After watching the balloons we headed back to the van for a much needed breakfast and then said goodbye to Trent. It was a long drive back home and he needed to be under way. The following morning the balloons were off again but this time they were launching from different spots around the town. We drove to a paddock just north west of the town where a long pole had been placed in the ground with a giant sponge finger sitting atop. The balloons were to make their way to this paddock, swoop down and try and grab the sponge finger off the pole. The first one to accomplish this task would win a cash prize.

This balloon is making its way to the pole (far right of photo)

We watched as the balloons manoeuvred themselves into position to try and achieve this task.

Hot air balloons jockeying for position to snatch the finger

Some were too high, some too low, some to the left and some to the right. Finally the skills of one operator shone through and the finger was seized. The competition was over and so was the festival. We thought we would head back to the campground for a well earned breakfast but one ballooner had other ideas.

Traffic jam - Canowindra

Well ... we are in the country where things don't always move at city speed and once he had exchanged gas bottles the balloon was up, up and away again. We spent the next couple of days relaxing and getting over our 'before sunrise' outings before heading out. We've enjoyed our time in Canowindra and the hot air balloons were magical. We hope our American 'whale' balloonists enjoyed the outback hospitality. We sure thought their balloon was brilliant!

Having a 'whale of a time' at Canowindra