A bunch of stories about ballooning in Western Australia on the hot air comp circuit – from then (2017) til now (2023)
A Week in the Life of a Competition Balloonist


A bunch of stories about ballooning in Western Australia on the hot air comp circuit – from then (2017) til now (2023)

Flying over the Victorian High Country where Global Ballooning was born thirty years ago, Kiff Saunders’ prodigies carry the family business forward, sharing the wonder of ballooning with visitors to the region and the people who live here.

A piece I wrote for We Are Explorers and Global Ballooning Australia on Man From Snowy River Country, having spent a lot of time here the last couple of years. Whether you’re looking for a chill weekend away or an epic adventure-fuelled holiday, Mansfield has you covered.

Jenn Mulkern grew up with aviation in the family. Her father is a helicopter pilot, and she had her first ride in an R22 at the ripe old age of six weeks. “As soon as I could reach the controls, he started teaching me how to fly the BH206, and any time he had room [...]

The theme for today is one of pure joy. Meet @captainaomi – helicopter pilot and wedding celebrant. Joy is her middle name. Naomi Mowbray had never considered flying until six weeks before she signed up and committed to her Commercial Pilot's Licence course, marking the beginning of this aviation chapter. "I had never even been [...]

Lots of us spent hours in the workshop with Dad as kids. Likely in charge of holding the torch, we'd gaze longingly out the door at temperate Saturday afternoons, shifting from one aching leg to the other and suffering a constant fear of being yelled at for letting the beam of light drift or – on a good day – amassing a good collection of thrilling new swear words. But Faith Ortega was a dream child, and she and her dad got along great.

Talking aviation and living at altitude with Heli Meg, Australian High Country pilot, all-rounder and the face of Snowy Mountains Helis

Georgia Croft, female Commercial Hot Air Balloon Pilot, starts up new operations location for Global Ballooning Australia based in Mansfield in Winter 2021, during the height of a global pandemic

The twists and turns of one's career and life are always a curious thing. Is it best to act through conscious choice? Do we subconsciously open ourselves to opportunities based on our thoughts and beliefs at a given time? Or is it all just a collection of happy coincidences? Whatever it is, Natalie Davies-White's life so far has been immense and an interesting one to watch...

It's every pilot's nightmare – the possibility that, after investing hundreds of hours and however many thousands of dollars in a license, it could all be dashed away in a second. For Leah Murphy, partway through her CFI training, that dreadful dream became a reality.