Family bitten by ballooning bug

CRAIG SIMCOX/The Dominion Post

ON A WING AND HOT AIR: Peter King and his 85-year-old mum Nola King inflate his balloon ahead of this weekend's festival.

Relevant offers

They are kings of their own floating castles – a family of hot-air-ballooning enthusiasts who float together over the Wairarapa plains.

The King family, Peter, his wife Annette, his mother Nola and his sons Dan and Ben, bought their first balloon in 1989, and another two since.

Their Carterton home is littered with collectors' items from balloons and of engineless aviation. Sweeping paddocks and manicured lawns make the perfect take-off and landing spot for family fun occasions – and a good practice spot for this week's Wairarapa Balloon Fiesta.

Nola, at 85, is a skilled grounds-woman and crew member, tossing around the heavy furled bags of fabric like a weightless sack.

She keeps fit, not just for own sake but to keep pace with her "eccentric" family.

"I have an exercise machine at home, and I work out every day, and a group of the ladies and I go to the pool once a week.

"I don't mind this heavy work. Peter has me running backwards and forwards and all over the place at festivals. I just love it," she said.

Mr King said seeing the world from a calm and serene position gave people an incredible freedom.

"People say to me, `I'm not going up in your bloody balloon', and I say, `Get in anyway'. You have got time and you can see everything. There's no feeling of going up and down, no wind, noise or jerking. You're not scared, as you can see this huge bag of hot air supporting you."

Ballooning was a true family affair.

"The boys were just tiny toddlers when I first caught the bug in the late 70s. They would come out with us at the crack of dawn and pitch in. It didn't take long for them to get the flying fever," he said.

Elder son Dan, 34, started flying at 14 and was in sole control by 17. He worked for years with a commercial hot-air-balloon operator before his fulltime job in the film industry confined his love of ballooning to part-time social outings.

The fiesta's planned mass liftoff of 18 balloons to mark the start of its 11th year was scheduled for this morning. The event runs through to Sunday, with a variety of competitions at locations throughout the Wairarapa.

- © Fairfax NZ News