Our last day put us on cloud 9!

4;15am. That is when our day started. We got up, threw on some clothes and were picked up at 4:45. We drove almost an hour to a little town called Camden. We had some coffee and signed a waiver. We were getting ready to go hot air ballooning! 

We had to wait around for a bit before we got into the vans to drive to the launch site because there was very heavy fog in the morning. We finally  started driving around to find out launch location at about 6:30. The four of us were driving with 3 of the staff members from the company and a local couple, Andrew and Amanda. It was pretty nice to have some time to have a real conversation with some locals. Most of our interactions with non-Ziemanns have either been really brief or with other tourists. 

We finally found our launch location and helped get the balloon set-up. Personally,  I was slightly uncomfortable going in the air in anything any of had a part in getting ready, but the staff seemed comfortable. Dad had the job of holding open the mouth of the balloon while they blew cool air in to get it to expand. Then they started heating the air and get it all upright. Then, at about 8am, we hopped in and were afloat!!

It was amazing. We were able to see Sydney in the distance and it looked like it was sitting on clouds. We got up to over 1400 feet and were going at least 25 miles per hour at some points. It was just loads of beautiful views. We flew over a lot of fog which made me uncomfortable, but everyone else was all right with it. At one point, right before we landed, we were quite low and dragged a bit in the trees. We ended up having a very soft landing back at the airport. 

We all then helped pack the balloon back up. My job was to stand at one end of the balloon and help hold it tight while the other got to push all the air out. It was pretty warm. Suddenly, we were swarmed by little bugs. We think they were attracted to the warmth inside the balloon and then all got pushed out. It was gross. 

After packing the balloon, we went back to the launch office and everyone on the trip had a really nice breakfast, complete with mimosas. 

Once we returned home, we discovered it was not even noon. Gross. We headed out to Paddy's Market, which is kind of a flea market of souvenirs. There was some interesting and reasonably priced stuff, but it was crazy crowded and really warm in there. 

Now it is not even 4pm and we are back at the hotel. Our last evening in Sydney is probably going to be a quiet one. We have part of the day tomorrow before we begin the long flights back to Chicago. We are all really sad to leave Sydney, but I think we are all ready to get home and see the rest of our family and friends. It has been an amazing trip. Don't fret, there will be one or two more posts as we wrap up the trip and post some pictures.