Hello again world.
While the blog has been pretty quiet since we returned from our travelling, life really hasn’t!
Amongst my frequent forays into creating weird and wonderful beers (which I plan to start documenting here), I was also kindly given the opportunity to try my hand at some other brilliant activities. These ranged from a day Blacksmithing, through brewing workshops and theatre visits to riding a balloon over England.
With summer long gone, and the autumn in full swing, I had only days left to redeem my Virgin Balloon flight without needing to schedule for the following year. Given a choice of departure points, I opted for my local county of Oxfordshire and wondered if I had left it too late in the year to get the most out of it. After-all, Balloon Flights are traditionally a summer activity right?
Well I shouldn’t have worried as the day was warm and the environment staggeringly beautiful. We took off from just outside the picturesque town of Henley-on-Thames and floated North-East over the river valley. Our pilot kept the balloon low for much of the flight allowing us to skim the woodland canopy which was bursting with bronzed colours. We passed the small village of Hambledon which seemed like a small toy village from my childhood, and looked down on farm animals, horse riders and even rowers practising their form. I even spotted an Alpacca running full-pelt away from the sound of our burners, which cut through the quietness of the countryside.