Early morning Ballooning (twice!)

Every year the Canberra Balloon Festival takes place in March.  When I was younger I went most years and remember lots of cold and early starts, people all rugged up and eating breakfast watching the balloons inflate and take off. I hadn't been in years though. I did think about taking Astrid last year but she was only 9 months and I figured she wouldn't get much out of it.

This year she was almost 21 months and loved all thing balloon so we decided to take her out and see what she thought.

The Festival started over the Canberra Day long weekend but we avoided all 3 days as it was likely to be very busy.  The Wednesday after the long weekend had a good weather forecast so we planned to make an early start and see if we could catch some balloons.  We told Astrid the night before we were going to see the balloons in the morning and she seemed intrigued.

The balloons start inflating from 6am and usually launch around 7am. At 5.30 we checked the weather forecast and their likely location only to find out that they probably weren't launching from the usual spot near the lake due to wind conditions. We didn't find out exactly where they were launching from though other than a helpful 'West of Lake Burley Griffin'. At any rate we got the munchkin up at 6am, she had a cup of milk, got dressed and jumped in the car.

We decided to drive around and see if we could find the launch site. Of course it was still quite dark. There was a lot of traffic near our house, an unusual amount for that time of morning and we wondered if they were heading to the balloons. We followed some cars for a bit but didn't find the balloons and headed towards the lake, keeping our eyes out.

Once we got the Lake launch site we found there were a few of the tethered balloons inflating but the majority were taking off that day from Stromlo, right near our house. It turns out most of those cars were probably going to the balloons and we had just missed the location in the dark.  Undeterred we decided to show Astrid some balloons inflating.

Because it was quiet there was plenty of opportunity to learn about the balloons and the kids were allowed to touch them and run under them. Astrid thought it was fabulous! After we watched one inflate we headed over to get some breakfast of pancakes and coffee and see the two or three other balloons there that morning.  Astrid was quite content to watch them all from her dad's shoulders while eating her turkey and cranberry sauce sandwhich for breakfast.

Anto had to head off to work so Astrid and I drove up Red Hill to see if we could locate the other balloons that should have been heading in that direction. We did find them but they were back over Tuggeranong and I decided by the time we got to them there wouldn't be much to see.  Instead we headed home with promises of finding 'more balloons' the next day.

Thursday morning was another beautiful Autumn morning. The balloons were supposed to be launching from near the Lake, so we got up even earlier and headed over that way.  It was still dark when we arrived, and there was quite the crowd and plenty of balloons of all shapes and sizes already inflating.

We headed over the find the more interestingly shaped balloons that we hadn't seen the previous day. Sure enough, Darth Vader and the giant peacock were particular favourites of Astrid's.

Before it was even 7am, the balloons started launching, and all of a sudden the sky was filled with balloons and colour.

Darth Vader did look quite cool, hovering above the crowds..........

Then we headed over to watch the giant (and very cute) turtle, Bup, inflate. Astrid did seem to particularly like him.

Finally we watched the last of the balloons take off over the Treasury building before we headed of for some early morning Dutch pancakes and coffee, where the lines were much longer than the day before!  It was time for Anto to head to work, and no balloons were left, so we headed home. Astrid was still keen for more ballloons, but there is always next year!

Favourite photo Friday (late again) - 31/3/13

A four day weekend, filled with getting some gardening done and some other jobs around the house made me totally forget to post my Friday photo. Or maybe I just waited til today because Easter Sunday is an awesome time to post photos of delicious home made hot cross buns :)

Most Easters we make at least one batch of hot cross buns. Sometimes we eat them all and have to make more........

These pics are actually from a couple of years ago. We did make a lovely batch of hot cross buns last weekend but Anto declared them unworthy of photographing. Mostly because he gave one to Astrid to eat before I had a chance to grab the camera. They looked pretty good to me and they tasted even better.

From memory the buns that appear in the photos also tasted pretty good! Love the shiny sticky syrup on them.

D80 with Tamron 90mm f2.8
ISO 400, focal length 90mm
Exposure: 1/400 @ f/11

D80 with Tamron 90mm f2.8

 ISO 560, focal length 90mm

Exposure: 1/30 @ f/11

7 years and counting

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary. It seems to have gone by so quickly!  This time 7 years ago we were about to head to the airport, off on our month long overseas honeymoon......... that was a huge adventure and definitely doesn't seem like 7 years ago.

Below are a few of my favourite wedding pics.  I really should get onto getting them all into a wedding album. It's 2/3 of the way there, I might get it done by our 8th anniversary!

We do look rather young in our photos, or maybe I just look rather old these days!

Favourite photo Friday - 22/3/13

This week it's a collection of 4 photos I took the other day of a late blooming dahlia in my yard.  I couldn't pick just one photo, so you get 4 for the price of 1 today.

These are such fun flowers to photograph, I never get bored of them. The colour of this flower is really pretty and really suits the late Summer/early Autumn feel of the garden at the moment.

 

Photo details:
D7000 with Tamron 90mm f2.8
ISO 320, focal length 90mm
Exposure: 1/400 @ f/4.5

The Beach - Part 2 - The big beach

We had been hanging out to go to a proper beach, but sadly the weather had been uncooperative for most of our visit. While Astrid was perfectly happy with the little sandy cove near my parents apartment, I wanted to take her back to a 'real' beach. On our very first trip to the Sunshine Coast with Astrid in tow, we had taken her to the big beach. On that occasion she was far from impressed with the sand, the waves or the noise, as is evidenced from these photos from November 2011 when she was 4.5 months old.

We had been back to the Sunshine Coast twice between that visit and this one, but during Autumn and Winter so we hadn't ventured to the beach on either occasion. Now it was February and I figured we should give it another try.

I was hoping for a lovely sunny day so we could have a swim and some fish and chips on the beach. Sadly the weather didn't cooperate, so we waited until our second last day, when the rain had finally stopped for a couple of hours and made a dash for it. The beach was less than inspiring and looked like this.........

Astrid seemed undeterred, as did half the population of the Sunshine Coast, who were out in force with a break in the rain. I wasn't sure whether Astrid would be scared of the bigger waves, and the roar of the ocean on a rough, windy day, but she seemed quite fascinated. Here she is checking it all out........

Next it was time to sit in the waves and let them wash all around her......... apparently that was pretty good!

Feeling brave she stood up, with Gramps, and did some wave jumping. Despite the waves being quite forceful and coming in above her waist height, she had a ball........

Yep, she definitely enjoyed the big beach, we had to pry her away with promises of a swim in the pool and other bribery! She would have happily stayed for hours...... Maybe next visit, the weather might cooperate and we'll have a longer visit to the big beach.