Balloons over Waikato is a festival which takes place each year. This year it was at the beginning of April. Each morning the 31 balloons entered are inflated at Innes Common, Hamilton soon after dawn. Fantastic sight.
The first hot air balloon which carried passengers was launched in Septemebr 1783. The passengers were a duck, a sheep and a rooster. Within two month the first manned untethered balloon ride was made. The heat was generated by a fire of straw, kindling and rotton meat: although the balloon finally caught on fire the pilot had achieved his aim. Balloons were used in warfare from 1874 to 1945 as trasnfport, surveying and communication. Their biggest advantage was that they made no noise.
The altitude record for a hot air balloon is 65,000 feet set by Per Lindstrand in 1988. He was also the first to fly the Pacific when he flew with Richard Branson from Japan to Canada in 1991, at times reaching speeds of 245mph.
"There's something in a flying horse,
There's something in a huge balloon" - Williams Wordsworth in 'Peter Bell'
We will work on the flying horse another time.
Meanwhile Easter if not far away. Sending Easter Eggs by mail in dodgy as they can so easily break. But these Queen Anne Easter Eggs are less fragile. They are filled with dense delicious marshmallow and a big enough for the hungriest appetite.
Enjoy Easter.
Dione
Kiwigiftsonline
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