Task number: 22.
Go up in a hot air balloon.
Date: 24th June 2011.
Location: Leeds Castle, Kent, UK.
Attendees: Belita Pilcher.
This was top of my mums bucket
list. From as early as I can remember my mum had wanted to go on a hot air
balloon ride. It was always so expensive though.
6 months previously I had
received an unexpected bonus at work & I decided to do it. My mum had
battled Cancer the year before & I was so excited to be able to give her
this gift & give her a perspective on life again.
As you can imagine, it was an
early start & I was staying with some friends, in Surrey, so an even
earlier start for me, with an hours drive ahead. I had to get a taxi there
& after putting the address into his sat nav, it transpired that my stupid
cab driver at dropped me at the wrong entrance of the castle grounds. Of course
I only realized this AFTER he’d driven off!
Leeds castle grounds are rather
large & I had never imagined that it would take the best part of an hour to
finally find the gate I needed to be at. I’d had various conversations with my
step-dad, on the phone, trying to locate where I was. By the time I got there,
I had just missed the closing of the gate & watched the last of the cars,
full of exited balloon goers, driving through the entrance in the distance. By
this time, I couldn’t get any signal on my phone & no One was answering on
the gate telecom. The balloon was going to leave in 10 minutes! I decided I had
to be a complete yob & climb over the security monitored gate. Within 5
minute they were on to me & a car screeched up beside me. “I’m so sorry, I
was um…., this balloon & um…. Locked gate & ummm….”. I couldn’t get the
words out. I was so stressed. I couldn’t miss this. My mum would be so
disappointed. What a start to the day. This was supposed to be a relaxing life
experience that would leave me struck with awe & wonder! Instead, I would
be left wondering around the middle of nowhere. As it turns out security were
looking for me. They had been trying to locate me on CCTV, so that they could
pick me up & get me to the right place.
The flight was tremendous. We
soared over the Kent countryside, taking all the sights from London to the
south coast. We even saw the wind farm, by my mum’s house. It’s a very strange
experience. You are high up, like looking out from a high building, but you are
moving like a plane, only there’s no sound of an engine. Complete peace &
tranquility. After a couple of glasses of Champagne & a few photos later,
we crashed landed in the middle of Headcorn gliding club. A rather abrupt end
to such a graceful trip, but laying on our backs staring up at the sky, mum
& me knew we’d just done something special & she had finally
accomplished her life long dream.
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