Hot Air Balloon Experience with Virgin Flights

My fiancé and I finally decided to go on our hot air balloon experience. We've had a voucher for at least 3 years now and we kept putting it off because of other commitments, so the day finally came and I was excited and nervous, more excited! We chose High Wickham as our site which was suggested as a good location by one of the Virgin staff. We have previously tried to book this flight, but due to weather change it had been cancelled, so be warned guys, there might be a chance that it could happen to you. The staff were very helpful and each time they cancelled they extended the voucher, so we could pick another time and place. 

On the day of the actual flight, there were some changes to the flight plan. The morning session was cancelled and our flight location had changed to one of their other landing sites. Luckily for us our laziness meant that we picked an evening slot for the flight, so instead of waking up at 5am and finding out the flight had been cancelled we were able to enjoy our bank holiday and sleep in a bit. They have 3 sites and we had moved to the backup site in Aylesbury. Luckily we hadn’t already gotten on the train, we called to confirm and got our train tickets extended for the massive cost of…60p. What hassle you say?? It was a bit, but it was worth it in the end. We had the loveliest time!

There were 10 others in the group and we all watched on as they blew up the balloon in front of us. Before we took off they went through the safety procedures and a test run of where everyone was going to be placed and how to get into the basket. Once the balloon was properly upright and ready to go, we had to rush to get into the basket before it floated off without us. Then we were off…

Once we were up in the air, the higher we went the colder the air got outside the balloon, so maybe it is better to layer up if it is not a sunny day. The views throughout were amazing (we could just about see the Shard), but the views at 5,000 ft were absolutely breath-taking, even something mundane like farmers’ fields looked amazing and almost carpet-like. It was fun watching people go about on their daily business.

The flight is meant to last one hour, however luckily for us, it turned into a 2-hour flight because we could not find a place to land. Eventually, we found a spot to land on a nearby airfield. Once on the ground, we all chipped in to help pack away the balloon. A few people were a bit annoyed at having to help with this, though once we got started we all found it surprisingly fun. The night ended with a glass of champagne and some extra pictures and a little certificate to say, we did it!

It was an amazing experience and I enjoyed every bit of it. The staff on the day were so helpful, they even gave us a lift to the nearest station :), that’s what I call dedication! I would strongly recommend using Virgin balloon as the staff were so helpful from start to finish. The group also included people who were scared of heights but they still managed to enjoy the experience, so I wouldn’t let this put you off from enjoying a hot air balloon flight!

xSx

Fun Day Out at Mudchute Farm

Mudchute is a hidden gem in the middle of London, located in the Isle of Dogs and easily accessible from Crossharbour and Mudchute station. The farm is run by a community charity, with stables, a children’s nursery and a wide range of education activities. It provides a wonderful day out for the family, with friends or on a date. I love animals and so me and my partner decided to go visit a farm, Mudchute being the closest to us.

Having been to many farms and animal sanctuaries, I can say that the animals are well looked after and have enough space to frolic in, which is surprising to find in the centre of London. There is a great collection of animals with the usual farm animals plus llamas, alpacas and small animals too. There is also a farm shop which sells fresh garden vegetables and seafood at the weekend. 

 

You can feed certain animals special nibbles that you can purchase from the shop and all the proceeds go towards the maintenance of the farm. When I was feeding the animals  pellets from my hand, the intial worry of being bitten immediately goes when they hoover up the food. As soon the animals see you with the bag of pellets they come running over to get food, which can sometimes mean the little ones are left out but luckily with some distraction techniques you can soon feed them (like Linden in the above pic :))

 

    

We also went for a stroll through the park and there were various routes to choose from. In the summer the park is a great place to sit down with some friends and family for a picnic or just to sit and admire the view.

 

When you are all walked out you can grab some food at the lovely little cafe which serves breakfast, sandwiches, paninis and much much more. The staff were pleasant and the food was very reasonably priced too. I went for the vegetarian breakfast whilst my other half went for the farmers breakfast, thumbs up from both of us and the portions weren't skimpy either. 

I had such a lovely day out with my fiancé and we really enjoyed walking around, feeding and petting the animals. I loved the little walks that they had all over the park which is a nice addition. I highly recommend visiting Mudchute farm, it is an excellent day out for a couple like us and a nice way to escape from city life for a few hours. To top it all off, it's free entry!

xSx