Day 95 - Cessnock, 30th September 2025

Best day ever!! The alarm went off at 3.30am to get us down to the Blaxland Inn for our hot air ballooning adventure. We were taken by bus to the paddock where the balloons would take off from. There were four balloons and our pilot Danny gave us our takeoff and landing instructions. 


Then they started to blow up the balloons. 


Ian tried to help.



Up we went into the sky, this was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.







It was so serene and still and the view over the Hunter Valley was magnificent. There was cloud cover and as we floated higher we went through the clouds…


…and then came out the other side. It was magical.





Back through the clouds and we floated over some of the wineries, including the $2000 a night one that Oprah apparently stayed in.


We landed safely in a paddock and were greeted by a herd of cattle. 


A few more happy snaps….






…and then it was time to pack it all away.



Back at the Blaxland Inn we enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast and toasted our anniversary with glasses of champagne!!

Back at our camp and while Rach and Shaun took the van into Newcastle, Ian and I had a snooze to catch up on some sleep.
When they returned we let them have a snooze …


…and then we went to check out a couple more wineries. We needed up back at Small Mouth for Ian to try as Shaun was driving and then back to camp. Rach & Shaun went back in to Newcastle to pick up the van (still not fixed) and then we headed out to dinner to celebrate 24 years!


What a wonderful day celebrating our anniversary.












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 161 - Streaky Bay, 5th December 2025

Image
We reluctantly said our goodbyes to the farm this morning and to the koalas and horses and set off for Streaky Bay. Stopped in at Point Kenny to grab our lunch, We turned off just before Streaky Bay  to check out Murphy’s Haystacks, a 1500 million year old geological wonder. Buried by calcareous dune sand 30,000 years ago, erosion has revealed the pink granite forms standing on the hill top. According to local legend, a Scottish agricultural advisor saw these landmarks in the distance and thought they were baystacks. It was only a short drive to our beautiful camp at Streaky Bay. It wasn’t right on the beach but it was pretty close. Ian went to do some fishing and I went for a walk into town. I found Ian out on the beautiful old jetty. He had caught a couple of fish but nothing worth keeping. Back at the caravan park we sat and had dinner on the beach and watched the sky change colour as the sun started to go down. It was beautiful. We even had rainbows. It just got better and bett...
Read more

Day 168 - Kalgoorlie, 12th December 2025

Image
 We set the alarm early this morning to head out onsite.  We had to check in and get our visitors passes and our PPE before we could get entry onto the mine site. Then Waz took us on a tour of the site, explaining the process…. …before we had to don our hard hats and safety glasses to enter the Gold Room. Once inside the first room, we had to remove our boots and scan our cards to gain entry to the next room. Then we had to put on their boots before we could enter the viewing area to watch the gold pour. It was like a big cauldron full of molten gold that was then poured into the tins like loaf pans. It was amazing to watch. Then they cooled them before tipping the gold bars out and cleaning off any excess slag. Then….we were allowed to hold them. I could barely lift it with two hands, it was so heavy. The one I held was bar number  57657. The biggest one was 17 kilograms worth about 3.5 million dollars. The pour we watched was the first of two they were doing that day. T...
Read more

Day 121 - Mount Field, 26th October 2025

Image
No need for alarms today, we had a sleep in and headed off for our walks mid morning.  We checked out the visitor's centre and then headed off on the 6.1 kilometre Three Falls Circuit.  It started with a short walk to Russell Falls, through some beautiful forest…. …before we came to the falls which were just stunning. We then climbed a bit higher…. ….to Horseshoe Falls. The walk continued on the Tall Trees walk which took us through the forest and showcased some magnificent old trees.  Last but not least was Lady Barron Falls.  The walk wasn't too difficult but there was a couple of steep staircases with quite a lot of steps....I hate steps! We walked back to the vans and on the way we ran in to some local wildlife.  He didn't seem bothered by us at all and certainly wasn't in a hurry, just poking around looking for food. We had some lunch while sitting in the sunshine.  We decided to go up to Left of Field campgrounds to have a look.  We had heard it ...
Read more