A couple of months ago Adam let me know that Mick Thomas, the lead singer of our favourite band in the 90s, was going to be playing in Canowindra. It was going to be on a Thursday night, so it was a perfect excuse to take a couple of days off work and have a break. Unfortunately James had school and Saturday sport, so I had to leave Kath and James behind. So I packed the kayak and balloon on the car and headed West.

Since there was no particular rush to get across to Canowindra on Thursday, I decided I would kill some time by going for a paddle on the Hawksbury River. Rather than just getting in the water in Richmond or Windsor, I decided to head a bit further North and looked for a launch spot somewhere deeper in the bush. I aimed for the Colo River, but unfortunately it was flowing a bit quick and I would have struggled to get back to the car. So I launched where the Colo met the Hawksbury. By this time it had got pretty warm, so I only paddled for a couple of hours, but it was a great chance to chill out.

After a leisurely lunch and a short snooze in the Blue Mountains, I headed across to Canowindra.

The Mick Thomas gig was great. It ended up being a fairly intimate affair, with a sit down meal and oh about 40 people in the audience. Very different from the old days of jumping around in Weddings Parties Anything mosh pit.

Adam, Mick Thomas and me

After a leisurely (hot) day in Canowndra on Friday, we decided to go flying on Saturday morning. It is very rare to go flying this early in the year in Canowindra, because it is normally too hot and bushfirey. However we were treated with a relatively cool calm morning. The grass in the paddocks is very short at the moment, so there was no fire risk.

Adam kindly volunteered to drive while I took his wife, Robyn, for the maiden flight of the new balloon. Adam set a couple of goals to fly to, but really it was a chance for me to get used to the new balloon.

First flight

As we took off, Adam came over the radio informing us that the car would not start. It ended up being a flat battery, so after sitting around for an hour, his mum eventually picked him up and took him back to get his car. So by the time he got to us, we had just landed.

The balloon is fantastic. I need to get used to its responsiveness (being brand new), but it was really nice to fly. I got within 20 metres of the goals, but I was not really pushing it too hard. I can’t wait to get into it solo and see what it can do.

So it was a great few days off. A much needed break from work and great to get some flying done, considering the Nationals are only a couple of months away now.