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Company Name: Outback Ballooning Pty Ltd
Company Type: Ballooning Company
Company Profile
Your ballooning adventure begins in the cool pre dawn darkness as you are picked up from your accommodation in Alice Springs. During the 15-minute drive to our desert launch site you will get to know the crew as they make final weather checks and explain the routine for the morning. At the launch site gas burners are used to inflate the balloons just as the sun lights up the rugged MacDonnell Ranges.
Once floating gently in the air you will appreciate the vast remoteness of the Australian Outback. Wildlife, particularly big red kangaroos are seen nearly every day as the balloon crosses spinifex grasses, mulga scrub and cattle stations.
After landing you may become involved in assisting the crew or taking photographs as we pack the nylon balloon back into its bag. Our buses will then travel along remote tracks to our bush campsite where you will be served a fresh cooked breakfast. This is accompanied by champagne and tropical fruit juice cocktails.
Between courses of honey glazed sesame chicken drumsticks, quiches, fruit baskets, cheese and homemade chocolate cake you will have the opportunity to purchase photographs taken earlier in the morning. A large range of Outback Ballooning souvenirs are also available. Vegetarian and other dietary requirements should be notified at the time of booking.
Transfers back to your hotel, the airport or another tour, and a commemorative flight certificate completes your morning with Outback Ballooning.
About Company
Early starts can be daunting, but in the capable hands of the “Outback Ballooning” staff your excitement for the morning to come will quickly build. Once picked up by the crew chief you travel along the Great Western Highway for 30-45 minutes heading to Roebuck Plains Station. On arrival at the selected launch site you meet your pilot and balloon.
The real excitement begins with the start of the inflation fan. Watching the balloon fill with air you start to appreciate its size. With the balloon ready to go, everyone safely aboard and the morning sun promising to peep over the horizon at any moment, off we go. The balloon floats so gently into the sky that if you closed your eyes you would not know you were flying. First we stay low then steadily climb higher to appreciate the vast 280 square kilometer open grass plains of the station and the bush and bay beyond.
Some mornings a misty layer of soft fog reflects the first rays of the sun whilst on others the light quickly changes the colours of the plains below. The sun is a ball of red and orange in the east with the many subtle shades of the sky and Roebuck Bay to the West. This is as close to walking the skies you can get.
With 22,000 head of cattle spread out on the station below you will appreciate the enormous challenges of Australia’s pioneering stockmen.
With red dirt, endless flat plains, and cattle on one side, and the bay and ocean on the other it is an inspiring environment. After an exhilarating decent and smooth landing, the history of ballooning unfolds. It’s all hands to squeeze the balloon back into its bag. Kites, bush turkeys, the occasional brolga and wallabies are common sights on the short drive to our breakfast sites either on the bay or under the ti trees.
The gourmet picnic breakfast is the perfect way to complete your adventure. Your crew will then return you to your accommodation saying their farewells and presenting you with a commemorative flight certificate.
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