Balloons still flying high over the Mudgee region

Balloon Aloft have been offering hot air balloon rides to locals and visitors alike in Mudgee since since April last year.

It may not seem like it, but almost 12 months have passed since some amazing pictures of the view from above the town appeared in the Mudgee Guardian after a photographer and journalist were hoisted up in the air in much tinier baskets than passengers travel in now.

General Manager and pilot Matthew Scaife said everything had been going really well over the past 12 months, with many of the monthly flights over the Mudgee Valley selling out in advance.

“It may be pretty brown out there now but Mudgee has some amazing scenery, like the vineyards, and passengers have had a lot of fun,” he said.

Mr Scaife said that while the company was kind of willy nilly about when they travelled to the region during the first few months, coming whenever they could but not really having a set date, that had changed with the number of people who had called asking when the balloons would arrive.

“We’ve set it in now that we come on the first Saturday of every month. It’s kind of like a monthly market really, makes it easy to remember,” he said.

Recently Balloon Aloft took a the camera crew and actors from the television series PLONK over Mudgee, giving the series some incredible shots of the town centre and vineyards that will be used in the show when it airs later this year.

“I think they got some really amazing shots while they were up there and there’s a video on youtube from the flight,” Mr Scaife said.

“It looks like it’ll really bring some people in to have a look on their own,” he said.

As the Balloon Aloft website says “Mudgee was made for ballooning”.

via – Mudgee Guardian.