Waking up early

On Easter Sunday I woke before 5am and readied myself for an outing with my friend Donna.  You see for my birthday, Donna had gifted me, quite generously,  a hot air balloon ride over the mountains. Here you see Pumicestone Passage, Bribie Island and then the Pacific Ocean in the golden light of dawn.

The trip remained overcast but dry as we headed north towards the mountains. For my overseas readers, our mountains in this neck of the woods are actually volcanic plugs, remains of a super volcano from back in the Dreaming. 

 

I just love the sight of them.  

We took a direct course here, straight over the first hill and then in between the other mountains - which are much taller than the hill. Distance distorts their size here.  Our path was quite convenient too as my sister and her family were chasing us in the car for photos and for the little ones to wave and watch.  Very exciting!  If you click this link you can pop over to Susan's blog and see my trip from her perspective.

Looking straight up into the balloon was just so cool. Not literally. For those of you who have never done a balloon flight - it's as hot as blazes up there. The circle right at the centre is an little adjustable piece that helps the balloonist to release the air from the balloon upon landing. Getting closer to home now we go by Beerwah Mountain..........

and land in farmland very close to home.  In fact, if they were not whisking us away for breakfast, I'd have been able to enjoy a jaunty little walk home.

Thank you so much Donna!  It was a lovely way to celebrate a belated birthday. :)