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many government buildings and foreign
embassies. Canberra is famous for the
way it is laid out and was designed to
be navigated easily and logically, and
the best vantage point to see all of this
is from the air. The event was a success
and I flew almost every day except for
a few which had to be cancelled due to
bad weather.
After the festival, I went back to
Sydney to pack the balloon so that it can
be air freighted to Kuala Lumpur, ready
for its next appearance at the balloon
festival in Putrajaya. The freighting of
the balloon was straightforward as DB
Schenker did most of the groundwork
for me. A few days later I dropped the
truck off at the port and packed it for it
to be shipped to Port Klang, Malaysia.
Again no problems arose – thankfully!
Over the following months, I will be
travelling through Malaysia, Thailand,
Cambodia and Laos. Stay tuned to
next month’s issue for a scoop on my
future flights. If you like the Flying
High For Kids World Balloon Project
and would like to know more or make
a donation, please go to our website at
www.flyinghighforkids.com, or follow
us on facebook at www.facebook.com/
flyinghighforkids project.
FireFlyz | 35
Research after research, I slowly see a
clearer picture of where this project could
be flying to. Once the basic information
was established, it was time to plan on
more specific areas. I broke the areas into
Australasia, South-East Asia, Central Asia,
Middle East, Europe, Africa and North
America, Central America and South
America, and did further in-depth
studies.
The most exci t ing
moment came when
I finally could order
the ba l l oon and
make a purchase
for the truck. Also
s u p p o r t i n g t h e
project was Kubicek
Balloons, the third
largest manufacturer
of hot air balloons based
in the Czech Republic, who
was kind enough to donate the
balloon, which arrived in New Zealand
in December 2013, just in time for the
launch of the project on December 9 at
the Balmoral School in Auckland.
It was amomentous day and it tookme
quite a while to believe that it was actually
happening after so much time and effort
had gone into it, not to mention it being a
goal of mine since I was inmy early teens!
The balloon was tethered on the
grounds of the school and the media was
present. Children made postcards for me
and these would be shared with other
children in schools that I would be visiting
along the way. This will give the children
an opportunity to see a different way of
life from their own and to help create a
global community.
Following the launch of Flying High
For Kids World Balloon Project were three
flights over my home city, Hamilton,
before the balloon was packed and
shipped to Australia for its next flight. The
move went smoothly thanks to the help of
DB Schenker who sponsored a large part
of the cost of shipping and handled the
logistics of the balloon to Australia. They
also funded the shipment of the truck and
balloon from Australia to Malaysia.
In Austral ia, I stayed in
Brisbane for a month as the
truck had to be bought
and the balloon had to
be cleared through
Australian Customs
and Quarantine. The
truck was a six ton,
4WD Mi t sub i sh i
Fuso. I bought i t
second hand from a
couple who had driven
it to Europe and Africa and
arranged for modifications to
be made to it so the balloon could
be stored in the back. The truck is an
off-roadmotorhome and is self-contained,
complete with bedding, bathroom,
cooking facilities, water tanks, long range
fuel tanks and winches, to name a few of
the features. It is set to be my home for
the next four and a half years.
The first official engagement in
Australia was at a high school in Brisbane.
I put the balloon up for over 400 kids and
some of them made more postcards for
me to pass on. From there, I carried on
to Grafton, which is a rural town in the
north of New South Wales. The balloon
was put up at the local airfield and around
600 kids walked down from the primary
school and kindergarten, which was just
down the road. I also talked to the whole
school in three lots and the kids were very
inquisitive. They asked many questions
and shared things with me, telling me
stories about their family and
such. It’s very satisfying to
know that I have made an
impression on these kids and
it will be something that they
will be talking about for years
to come.
Heading down to Sydney
required a long drive and so
was the journey to the capital,
Canberra, for the annual
balloon festival. I joined 30
other balloons over the skies
of Canberra for the week-long
event. It is a rare opportunity
to fly over a capital city with so