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
